Frame alignemnt question

[David Kirk]

Very cool that Mr. Zank can take a look at it. He'll be able to tell what is wrong in short order.

FWIW - someone above said this is merely a cosmetic issue. I couldn't disagree more on this. It appears the frame has a structural misalignment and it manifests itself in a few ways -

When the wheel sits off-center between the seat stays (assuming the stays themselves are equidistant from the frame center-line) it has a seldom talked about effect. When the rim is off to the left at the top that means it is also off to the right at the bottom by the same amount. This means that if the bike is dead vertical that the rear wheel will not be and will lean to one side...and...that the contact patch of the tire is not directly under the center-line of the bike. This means that in order for the rider to balance over the bike that it will need to lean to one side slightly so that the riders center-of-mass will sit directly over the tire's contact patch. This lean will make the bike turn slightly to one side (bikes change direction by leaning) and in order to go straight the rider will need to constantly steer the bike in the opposite direction.

This ends up making it so that when the rider is going dead straight that the rear wheel will not follow exactly in the path of the front but instead will be off to one side. This is often called "dog walking" because it can resemble the look that some dog have as they walk slightly sideways.

Will a bike like this still be rideable? Of course....the rider can pedal and go and squeeze the levers and stop and lean the bike and it will change direction. Will it handle as it should at speed? No, it will not.

I hope Mike can put the bike right for you and/or you can get a full refund. The frame should be fixed or replaced.

If I can help in any way please let me know.

dave

[Ralph]

Just depends if it's really out of alignment or not. Could be just sloppy build.

[Cicli]

Kirk and Zank.
Zank and Krik.

Some of the people that make this place great.

[bikinchris]

I always check every frame a build for alignment. Once when I took a Ti Serotta out of the box, the rep was there. When he saw that the rear triangle was out by just a little less than 1mm, he was a little surprised, angry and was adamant that it go back in the box to go back to Serotta.

That's why I liked Serotta for so long and wanted to sell them.

Personally, I would send this frame back.

[yashcha]

Guys, many thanks to all of your responses. As many of you have experienced with your own custom orders there is a sense of financial and emotional investment to these orders. I am glad to have had a chance to discuss/vent this issue here, I feel a lot better. Eventually I would like to have a frame that is the correct color, staight, and is the right size. This rather simple request seems to be very difficult for this company to fulfill.

[yashcha]

Well this is the response I got back so I think that they are not willing to accept their mistakes.

Dear Yash,

I 'll talk with Diel tomorrow, I don't have the feeling that this is a main problem.
Was the rest of the frame as you wanted it?
This is a hand made frame Yash, 2mm difference on the top of the wheel means that there is less than 1mm difference on the axle. This is more then acceptable.
You can read this in our general terms and conditions in attachement.

I would appreciate if you would assembly your frame first and check how it rides before you send us this kind of complain mails.

[Cicli]

If you sent a respectful message and got that back, those guys suck.

[yashcha]

Originally Posted by Cicli

If you sent a respectful message and got that back, those guys suck.

I sent them a brief email telling them that the frame appears to be out of alignment again and that I was surprised that it had passed the quality control like this.

[DarkStar]

Originally Posted by ultraman6970

It will suck what I'm going to say but if you know you will have problems getting your money back I would just leave it like that.

The other detail just because I have not seen anybody saying it (maybe somebody said it)... well if could be a problem with the drop outs not being aligned, not a frame problem. Get the drop outs straight is not that hard, you can do it at home with a couple of axles and bolts, or any lbs can fix that.

Seen this before and actually had a track frame made with the problem, like 1 mm off just like yours, put it in a table and perfect, dropouts perfect as well. Never had a single problem with it either, since I needed it and since builders in my country built with no jig I never bother to even find out why.

Seen Italian brand name frames with stuff like that as well.

Build it, and see how it goes, after you install the brakes I doubt you or anybody will even notice.

All the custom Colnago frames built for the 1980 Canadian Olympic road team had alignment issues. Marinoni set them straight.

[weisan]

Originally Posted by yashcha

Well this is the response I got back so I think that they are not willing to accept their mistakes.

Dear Yash,

I 'll talk with Diel tomorrow, I don't have the feeling that this is a main problem.
Was the rest of the frame as you wanted it?
This is a hand made frame Yash, 2mm difference on the top of the wheel means that there is less than 1mm difference on the axle. This is more then acceptable.
You can read this in our general terms and conditions in attachement.

I would appreciate if you would assembly your frame first and check how it rides before you send us this kind of complain mails.

Best regards.

Kurt

Completely unacceptable response especially the last sentence.

[ntb1001]

Originally Posted by DarkStar

All the custom Colnago frames built for the 1980 Canadian Olympic road team had alignment issues. Marinoni set them straight.

True..I've heard that before as well. Actually way back then in '81when I was 16 I was talked out of buying my first Italian bike...a Colnago for that very reason.(I bought a Pinarello instead)

Although, in this day and age with all of the options available to us..to accept this kind of workmanship an unwillingness to make it right is unacceptable.

This builder should defiantly step up more with their customer service relations.

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

[gone]

Given their reply and the fact that this is their second attempt, Jaegher has been placed at the front of my "I'd never buy one of those" list.

Jerks.

[rallizes]

Sounds like a terrible builder.

Inexcusable and unforgivable.

So many builders and options out there why would you treat a customer like this.

Sorry, but I say spread the word far and wide.

[yashcha]

Their response was not what I was expecting. I am dissapointed and irritated but I now realize that this is the BEST work that they can produce and they do not see anything wrong with this frame.

[weisan]