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I received a GMC Denali road bike today, and it doesn't look like the pictures displayed online.

The problem is that the front tire overlaps pedal, and I found it very dangerous.

enter image description here

So my question is, is this normal? Or should I get a refund?

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    While the cause in this case appears to be be reversed fork, there are indeed racing bikes made with about that much overlap. And, as you have found, they are very tricky to ride, and not for the faint of heart. (I don't recall the arguments for having such overlap, but it seems there's always a "market" for any conceivable bike variation.)
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Commented Jun 5, 2014 at 11:10
  • @DanielRHicks some track bikes used to be made this way, but I don't know if that's still the case.
    – arne
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 9:06

1 Answer 1

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The fork is fitted the wrong way around. The brake caliper should be in front of the fork, not behind it. The way it is, the bike will be very, very hard to ride because of the negative rake, making it very nervous. The negative rake is also the reason for the pedal overlap. Normally, you should at most get some toe overlap.

Loosen the bolt in the top of the stem, turn the fork around 180 degrees (it will only go clockwise because of the brake cable to the front brake) and tighten the bolt when the stem and wheel are aligned.

Thanks to @MichaelT, here's a picture of how the fork is supposed to look like:

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  • Beware to not get the bolt outside. Loosen it for ~1cm, then, if the stem do not turning yet, hit the bolt with a hammer.
    – Alexander
    Commented Jun 5, 2014 at 7:31
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    There would appear to be just enough slack in the front brake cable that a determined person probably could rotate the fork the wrong way around. Obviously, nobody sane would do that, but still...
    – Ilmari Karonen
    Commented Jun 5, 2014 at 17:24
  • If you do not trust your mechanical skills, it might be a better idea to give the bike back and get a refund instead immediately. If you damage something during your repair, and then ask the seller for a refund (for what reason ever), he could refuse it.
    – Uooo
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 4:38
  • Or take it to your friendly neighborhood bike shop; they should be able to fix it correctly.
    – Jeremy Friesner
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 6:11
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    If it would help the answer: an image of the fork of the bike properly fitted with the resolution to see the way the bolt and associated parts fit together.
    – user11524
    Commented Jun 6, 2014 at 14:43

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