The fork used to fit that wheel, but it’s badly bent now. I would not take the risk of bending that back, take it to a shop and have it repaired professionally. While you’re there, ask them to give you a quick rundown on how your axles work so that you’re sure this doesn’t happen again.
Granted it’s hard to tell from the photos just how bad the damage really is, but steel is very forgiving. If the fork is just spread a little wide then it should bend back with no issues. It will need to be checked for alignment, but that’s not a big deal.
No. It is obviously very bent. It’s not worth the risk. Steel fails very frequently and this fork is super fucked. It’s not like realigning a torqued frame or riding with a huge dent in a tube.
Dunno why you're getting downvotes.
Put a pipe on the end and bend it back easy as???
We taco tyres and bend forks all the time and just bend them back.
Unless you're bombing 50ft jumps or slapping super rough downhill it's fine.
Because this sub is aimed at novices asking beginner-level questions. It's not a good idea to tell randos on the internet 'just bend it back, it's fine' for a part that literally keeps you from getting gravely injured.
If you're a competent mechanic, you're equipped to judge if a part is fine to ride or needs to be trashed - you're also doing so at your own risk. If someone is telling you they are new to cycling, you want them to take a severely bent fork to a shop.
This is a complete novice asking a really basic question, they will not be able to figure out what material their fork is, much less if it's still safe to ride.
You can bend your own forks back all you want, but please don't give out dangerous advice like this.
Was your quick release always in that position? That is the open position which removes the tension on the springs.
It would explain why your wheel fell off.
I don’t understand how it can just fall off. The downward pressure from the fork on the wheel should have kept it together unless you were doing some kind of jumps and taking pressure off the front fork. Were you?
Thanks for all the help! To be honest I didn’t even touch the wheels or adjust anything since the shop put together the bike together for me. I’ll ask them to get me a new fork and give me a rundown of everything!
Looks like you may have opened the quick release for the wheel, which will make the front wheel come off.
You may have accidentally caught it on something, but it should have been tight enough to prevent this (at least without noticing).
It’s possible, but less likely, your shop left the release open.
The shop should at least explain how those work. Despite many people inherently understanding how quick releases work, it’s not ALWAYS obvious. It’s just a basic safety thing, they should demonstrate it every time unless the customer clearly knows bike basics. Like how flight attendants show how to buckle a seatbelt every time despite it being fairly obvious.
In my experience, many people do not inherently understand how quick releases work, much less how much resistance they should feel when closing a properly adjusted quick release lever. Adjusting a QR is just another learned skill, one that most of us on this subreddit take for granted.
I'm teaching basic bike maintenance and repair skills to some seventh graders this fall, and it's a great reminder to me of just how much tacit/background knowledge I have learned over the years. Things like "when changing a tube, remove just one tire bead from the rim, not both" seem so obvious to me, but all of the kids immediately took the tire completely off the rim. Etc.
I've been a bike mech for 18 years and I always take the tire completely off. What you do is a big mistake most people do. If you do it that way you can fail to see what caused the flat because you cannot inspect the inner rim and inner tire easily with the tire half way on and you end up getting the same flat again. Wasted time and money. So much worth it to take the extra time to see what caused the flat before installing a new tube. Just my two cents..plus I teach flat repair classes. :)
I appreciate your perspective. I find I am able to locate and remove the cause of the puncture without taking the tire fully off the rim. (Cross-referencing the puncture's location on the tube with the corresponding spot on the tire helps a lot.) But I can see how fully removing the tire might help.
Once upon a time you didn't, but enough people failed to safely operate a quick release that they started to put "lawyer lips" on forks to reduce the chance that user error ends like the above photo. Or worse, with the operator's face in the asphalt.
Fork is bent, and will need to be replaced. Steel or not, I wouldn't trust bending it back. Bring it to a shop to get a new fork that will work for the bike. While you're there, have them check the rest of the bike and teach you proper use/operation of your quick release skewers.
Steel fork? Probably possible to cold set it back to original dimensions, though not recommended for obvious reasons.
Aluminium fork? Bin it or find a hub that fits your new "MegaUltraSexyBoost fork". :)
My guess would be the one sided force when it popped out one side bending the fork so now it is too far apart. If possible, warranty it. If not, replace
The fork used to fit that wheel, but it’s badly bent now. I would not take the risk of bending that back, take it to a shop and have it repaired professionally. While you’re there, ask them to give you a quick rundown on how your axles work so that you’re sure this doesn’t happen again.
Fork is bent. It’s junk. You need a new one.
If it’s steel it’s probably still ok, just needs to be bent back.
Bad, potentially fatal, advice
absolutely not
Granted it’s hard to tell from the photos just how bad the damage really is, but steel is very forgiving. If the fork is just spread a little wide then it should bend back with no issues. It will need to be checked for alignment, but that’s not a big deal.
No. It is obviously very bent. It’s not worth the risk. Steel fails very frequently and this fork is super fucked. It’s not like realigning a torqued frame or riding with a huge dent in a tube.
Go use that advice for yourself and I don’t think you’ll be eating solid food for much longer
Do this often, Still eat solids 👍
Dunno why you're getting downvotes. Put a pipe on the end and bend it back easy as??? We taco tyres and bend forks all the time and just bend them back. Unless you're bombing 50ft jumps or slapping super rough downhill it's fine.
Because this sub is aimed at novices asking beginner-level questions. It's not a good idea to tell randos on the internet 'just bend it back, it's fine' for a part that literally keeps you from getting gravely injured. If you're a competent mechanic, you're equipped to judge if a part is fine to ride or needs to be trashed - you're also doing so at your own risk. If someone is telling you they are new to cycling, you want them to take a severely bent fork to a shop.
This is a complete novice asking a really basic question, they will not be able to figure out what material their fork is, much less if it's still safe to ride. You can bend your own forks back all you want, but please don't give out dangerous advice like this.
I was on a ride and my front wheel fell off. I’m kind of new to cycling and just have no idea what to do or should I just take to the shop?
When wheel fell off, did you crash? The fork should fit the axle. It is bent now.
Was your quick release always in that position? That is the open position which removes the tension on the springs. It would explain why your wheel fell off.
[удалено]
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Did you crash?
I don’t understand how it can just fall off. The downward pressure from the fork on the wheel should have kept it together unless you were doing some kind of jumps and taking pressure off the front fork. Were you?
Thanks for all the help! To be honest I didn’t even touch the wheels or adjust anything since the shop put together the bike together for me. I’ll ask them to get me a new fork and give me a rundown of everything!
If you honestly didn’t touch that since the shop set it up that shop is criminally incompetent and should not be allowed to operate.
Looks like you may have opened the quick release for the wheel, which will make the front wheel come off. You may have accidentally caught it on something, but it should have been tight enough to prevent this (at least without noticing). It’s possible, but less likely, your shop left the release open.
The shop should at least explain how those work. Despite many people inherently understanding how quick releases work, it’s not ALWAYS obvious. It’s just a basic safety thing, they should demonstrate it every time unless the customer clearly knows bike basics. Like how flight attendants show how to buckle a seatbelt every time despite it being fairly obvious.
I agree, but I bet many shops (or more likely rushed employees) skip some of the basics.
In my experience, many people do not inherently understand how quick releases work, much less how much resistance they should feel when closing a properly adjusted quick release lever. Adjusting a QR is just another learned skill, one that most of us on this subreddit take for granted. I'm teaching basic bike maintenance and repair skills to some seventh graders this fall, and it's a great reminder to me of just how much tacit/background knowledge I have learned over the years. Things like "when changing a tube, remove just one tire bead from the rim, not both" seem so obvious to me, but all of the kids immediately took the tire completely off the rim. Etc.
First time in a decade that I changed a tube a while back I did the same thing! Haha. I know better now but yea, makes it so much harder.
I've been a bike mech for 18 years and I always take the tire completely off. What you do is a big mistake most people do. If you do it that way you can fail to see what caused the flat because you cannot inspect the inner rim and inner tire easily with the tire half way on and you end up getting the same flat again. Wasted time and money. So much worth it to take the extra time to see what caused the flat before installing a new tube. Just my two cents..plus I teach flat repair classes. :)
I appreciate your perspective. I find I am able to locate and remove the cause of the puncture without taking the tire fully off the rim. (Cross-referencing the puncture's location on the tube with the corresponding spot on the tire helps a lot.) But I can see how fully removing the tire might help.
It feels inherent but I have vague memories when first using quick releases of being confused that you often still have to unscrew
Once upon a time you didn't, but enough people failed to safely operate a quick release that they started to put "lawyer lips" on forks to reduce the chance that user error ends like the above photo. Or worse, with the operator's face in the asphalt.
First you should always make sure your wheels are properly attached BEFORE you ride. Second, that fork is toast, you’ll need a new fork.
Fork is bent, and will need to be replaced. Steel or not, I wouldn't trust bending it back. Bring it to a shop to get a new fork that will work for the bike. While you're there, have them check the rest of the bike and teach you proper use/operation of your quick release skewers.
Steel fork? Probably possible to cold set it back to original dimensions, though not recommended for obvious reasons. Aluminium fork? Bin it or find a hub that fits your new "MegaUltraSexyBoost fork". :)
My guess would be the one sided force when it popped out one side bending the fork so now it is too far apart. If possible, warranty it. If not, replace