Recently finished my first build, everything is beautiful and it rides wonderfully.
After reading up on frame alignment, I’ve been struck with anxiety about my own frame.
the rear forks seem to be slightly leaning towards the drive side.
At first i thought this was because it used to be an old geared racing bike, and it didn’t matter. It looks like it is supposed to be that way.
With a track hub, my wheel is now a little bit out of cool with the rest of the frame, most notably on my rear brake.’
I’m a broke student guy, finding a frame that would take the same parts would be pretty non-radical.
you’re right, road bikes designed to fit a 7, 8 or 9 speed cluster on the back will usually have the rear triangle offset to the right. the dish of the wheel makes up for this, so a non-dished, (ie. track) wheel will be out of whack with the frame.
the biggest problem would be trying to run a brake on it, that doesn’t sound good at all. other than the brake issue, you’d expect the handling to be a bit weird, though not the end of the world. i rode a conversion with the same problem for a few weeks before i realised. when i figured it out i gave the frame a bend and it worked out fine.
see the threads on frame re-spacing and cold setting. assuming it’s an old steel frame your’re not fussy about. easier than you’d think.
With the possible exception of the Surly Pugsley and any other experimental one-offs, I have never known this to be true.
Multispeed wheels are dished so that the rim remains in the centre of the axle locknuts, putting it in the centre of the frame, which has evenly spread stays.
An offset frame to allow a non-dished wheel would work, but you’d have problems with the rings/crank hitting the chainstays, and interchanging wheels / frames would be a nightmare.
you’re right, road bikes designed to fit a 7, 8 or 9 speed cluster on the back will usually have the rear triangle offset to the right. the dish of the wheel makes up for this, so a non-dished, (ie. track) wheel will be out of whack with the frame.
Awesome answer
This seems to conform to my situation pretty darn well.
I like it because it means 1: it’s not too big of a problem and 2: i can fix it without too much hassle.
If this is your situation, your frame is bent and has had significant damage in the past.
Read this, specifically the section on alignment, about 2/3 of the way down. Measure your frame, and if it’s off (and steel), you may be able to realign it with some careful cold setting.