Is this frame ruined?

[icepick_trotsky]

Aluminum alignment question. Building up this Gaulzetti for the first time and put the rear wheel in. The alignment is off. Waaaaay off. Can this be fixed on an AL frame, or is it toasted? The wheel is in the dropouts straight in the pic below.

Honestly I've had so many problems with this frame already that I hate it before I've even ridden it.

[Cicli]

Flip the wheel over and recheck.

[dustyrider]

What does the dropout look like? Drive side picture!

[icepick_trotsky]

Wheel is dead true. Fits the same way forwards and backwards. Dropouts:

[old fat man]

That was supposed to go into the recycle box, not the shipping box

[Seott-e]

The pics are a bit dark, but make sure the Der hanger is positioned/seated in the dropout correctly.

[bewheels]

Gaulzetti is known for building fantastic frames. There must be more to this story...

Where did the frame come from?
What's its history?

[Peter P.]

Perform the "string test.

Tie a string around the drive side dropout. Run the string past the seat tube, around the head tube, pull it taut, and tie it to the non-drive side dropout.

Measure the distance between the string and the edge of the seat tube, measuring both sides. This test will tell you if the rear triangle as a whole is skewed to one side.

I don't know what's considered out of tolerance, but I imagine 3mm or more is no good. And you can't cold set an aluminum frame.

[icepick_trotsky]

Na

[dustyrider]

Originally Posted by Seott-e

The pics are a bit dark, but make sure the Der hanger is positioned/seated in the dropout correctly.

This is one of the places where I was going with the dropout pics.
Sure is hard to diagnose something like this without being able to handle and ogle everything. Fingers crossed it isn't what it looks like...

[charliedid]

Smooshed in shipping?

Professional bike should can help determine what's wrong. Hard to do via the internet.

Sorry for your bummer

[Hindmost]

Originally Posted by Seott-e

The pics are a bit dark, but make sure the Der hanger is positioned/seated in the dropout correctly.

From halfway across the country it looks like something's going on with the derailleur hanger.

[David Kirk]

Is it also off between the c-stays to the same degree?

dave

[FlashUNC]

Can't tell from the photo if its a replaceable hanger. It in square?

Otherwise, hanger get bunged up in shipping somehow?

[Doug Fattic]

Maybe. Take the skewer out of the hub and place the wheel in the dropout. Look carefully to see if the axle fits all the way into the dropout slot There may be something (like extra paint or a burr) keeping it from fitting all the way in.

It is also possible that the drive side seat stay is too long and the frame was not made properly. If you have no option to return the frame, the dropout can be carefully filed to make the slot longer. This will move the wheel by the seat stays to the center. However that will place the wheel off center by the chain stays since the slot is not perfectly vertical but rather angles back just a bit.