Weird Fork Spacing Issues

I'm scratching my head on this one… I have a pair of used Gios forks that I bought for a refurb project, they weren't in bad shape but there was some pitting to the chrome so i had them re-chromed, they came back looking great ready to fit.

I never actually checked the spacing when I bought them which is pretty daft but just didn't think on. I've come to try the wheelset tonight (should really be in the pub) and low and behold, too big… these are modern 105 hubs on open pro rims, tried another wheel from a donor bike, same problem, even tried the wheel from an old Dawes touring bike and still the spacing is too big, measured the fork, 110mm spacing! - now, obviously I'm no expert but i did't think road forks came in that size?

I've tried pushing the forks inward to see if i can get them to go but only move a few mm really, gutted, was gonna build up tomorrow whilst the Tour was on tv but not sure what to do now, probably get drunk!

Any help or knowhow would be kindly received!

Re:

Give it a proper squeeze, it will end up ok

I'm not sure if anything has changed since I worked in a bike shop in the 70's but front forks were always set against a jig to make sure the wheel stayed in the middle...

Shaun

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Not sure if the forks may have warped during the plating process or maybe even when they've been polished but they are absolutely true and appear fine visually... Just 10mm too wide!

Did also wonder if perhaps they were knockoffs, but they have the Gios pantographing and stamped ends, matches my frame, quality seems great... Could they be defective from the manufacturing process?

May go back to the guy I bought them from and ask the question, is a while since I bought em though but worth a punt, cheers guys

Bob Jackson will do it for 30 quid or less so I'd personally just get them tracked at 100mm by a frame builder and move on.

Shaun

Amazing, there not too far from me, I'll give them a call, couple of pics attached of the offending articles!

Blimey that's nice looking chrome, who did it?

Shaun

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Yeah, he'd done a good job, I used a guy in Sheffield called Martin, he's based in Portland Works, he actually only does polishing work on Motorcycle parts usually but he also turns his hand to smaller jobs with bikes… as long as he likes what he sees! - top bloke, just don't ask him to polish any car parts! haha

Is the drop-out still for a 9mm axle?

My thinking is that older track bikes had a spacing for 110mm, so perhaps the front
fork was cold set to allow a rear wheel with a different sprocket size.

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Ah, interesting, it is a 9mm axle I believe, wonder what the performance gains would be doing that, stability perhaps? Fork is bang on 110mm so must have been altered, I've been in touch with Bob Jackson in Leeds so see what they make of it, hopefully it can be fixed without emptying my pockets of much more cash, cheers