[Closed] Do/should you comment?

In general: If already chatting, yes; if not, no.

Yeah I would. And I have a mini multi tool I always carry on my keys, so would offer to put it right too.
Would be like riding a different bike! 👍

I pretty much always have allenkeys with me.
have offered to sort out strangers fitted the wrong way round forks many times.
no one yet has refused my offer.
Everyone has thanked me.

I know I'm not the norm here though.

sorted...

😉

Definitely. A friend fitted his Pace forks the wrong way round once and snapped the drop-out. Big face plant, thankfully at slow speed.

I told a family about their son’s bike as he was checking into the same go-tri event as my kids.
Nice bike, all the kit but the forks the wrong way round...when I pointed it out and offered to change it they were very confused.
Eventually had my way and the son said that he could go round corners now because his toes didn’t hit the front wheel! 😳

Yep, once flipped a lads handlebars over. He'd somehow fitted them upside down so brakes were reversed and shifters upside down...

Always. I once removed a kid’s set of kidney corers (aka bar ends) at forest of dean and replaced the ends with plugs. They were pointing straight back at him. When I pointed out the possible danger to his parents, I cannot tell you how grateful they were.

Yep comment but just make sure they aren’t Manitou reverse arch before commenting (I have some older Manitou on my HT and had the “they are backwards” comment).

How is the situation remedied with a multitool? Scratch off the offending Spesh branding and send them on their way, safe in the knowledge that the humiliation is over?

I find a quick 'belming' and pointing to the offending part is the polite way to help out.

How TAF do bikes end up like that? BSO from flat packs I can understand, but decent brands - I guess they arrive flat pack as a 'bargain'..

How TAF do bikes end up like that? BSO from flat packs I can understand, but decent brands – I guess they arrive flat pack as a ‘bargain’..

If you buy them online, even from a 'proper bike shop' the only thing the buyer has to do is fit the pedals and bars. They're free to turn in the frame of course. I supposed if you're that green to it, or at least don't pay much attention to bikes you've got a 50/50 chance of getting it right.

I'm sure my Dad did the same thing for my sisters one and only bike when she was small. He said "it didn't look exactly right, but I thought, what difference can it make?".

At The Heb race last year, one foreign racer's bags and bike didn't arrive at Glasgow airport and he ended up in a mad scramble to pick up a hire bike from Fort William on his way to Mallaig for the ferry. I don't know whether it was when he picked it up, on the train, on the van from the ferry or just having a brainfart on the first morning of the race but his forks ended up like that. I spotted the problem at the first bike drop for a run loop, and rather than wait until he got back then ask, I just told the marshal what I was doing, grabbed an allen key out of my car, and sorted it out. When he got back from the run I told him I'd done it and his first response was 'ah, I did think it felt weird at the start'...

Yes, probably. I wouldn't offer to fix it though, cos I know what a "5 minute job" on a bike can turn into.
I once told a shop (Sportsdirect, iirc) person that the forks on their display bikes were all on backwards. Didn't offer to fix that either.

That spesh though - I mean the brake stuck out like that... don't these people have to minutae of intelligence to check things look right on the bleedin internet?

I once correctly fitted a set of forks for someone, they said the bike had come out of Halfords like that.......

Have done, twice.

Once I got "I know, I like it like that" and a glare. I suspect I wasn't the first to make comment.

The other time, it was at Sherwood Pines and the rider was on a brand new Boardman that he had just picked up from Halfords.  I sorted it for him.  I saw him later on and he was very pleased it had been sorted and the bike felt much better.  (I wasn't surprised!)

I wander what happens to the brake arch under full compression, would imagine it could make contact with the downtube.  Manitou and Pace reverse arches sweep back to avoid this.

No, if your daft enough to make that mistake you need removing from the gene pool 🙂

I once correctly fitted a set of forks for someone, they said the bike had come out of Halfords like that…….

Ditto, on a friends daughter's bike, I'm not sure how any shop can be in business flogging bikes like that.

No, if your daft enough to make that mistake you need removing from the gene pool 🙂

Everyone makes mistakes. You're not perfect.

Everyone makes mistakes. You’re not perfect.

😆

Yep, in general I point stuff like that out. I once pointed out to a chap that his expensive helmet was on backwards. He was embarrassed, but thankful.

No, if your daft enough to make that mistake you need removing from the gene pool

You're one to talk

It's not just the forks though, is it? I know one's probably a consequence of the other, but that QR lever on the original pic is asking for trouble. Wouldn't take a lot to flip it open, with 'interesting' consequences to the wheel (lawyer tabs notwithstanding)