Mudguard fettling, file fork crown

[alexnharvey]

Hi, the underside of the fork crown seems to be uneven and pushes the front of the mudguard down and to one side so that it hits tyre no matter how I adjust the rest of the guard.

Is it ok to file this lip so that the guard fits better?

[Brucey]

not really.... there has to be a better way, surely...?

Photo?

cheers

[alexnharvey]

When I say crown, I mean that it appears the bottom of the steerer tube is not cut cleanly and so a lip at the front presses on the mudguard. Looks a bit like the bit that remains when metal bends off at the end rather than being cut cleanly all the way through. I have tried bending the metal mounting tab and adjusting the rest of the guard so that this clearance is maximised. I think that I would face the same problem with other guards too.

Could i heat the guard and bend it up?

[foxyrider]

A picture would help but from your description yes you could file that bit back. IME many unicrown forks suffer from the same issue and it can be a PITA when fitting guards or sometimes even just reflector brackets.

But that picture will allow us to check in your case.

[531colin]

..........Could i heat the guard and bend it up?

Yes. Warm it up with a hot air gun.
I use an electric paint stripper which is a bit keen, in that the guard can get very floppy.
I haven't tried the wife's hair drier, it might work. I don't think boiling water is hot enough, but I haven't tried!
Once the plastic is soft, its readily possible to (for example) mould it to the shape of the fork crown.

[alexnharvey]

Well, no forks were harmed. A hair dryer was involved but not sure if it was the critical factor or if the readjustment of the position of the mount just behind the crown followed by resetting the stays got the front end into the right place.

[peetee]

I hate to put a fly in the ointment but are you happy that rough spot on the base of the fork crown isn't touching as it could start a fracture in the mudguard.

[alexnharvey]

It's a funny thing peetee, when I took the guard off and looked again it wasn't really how I've described it above at all but a perfectly neat cut. The guard is touching the underside of the fork crown. I'm not worried about it cracking there.