> I just got a new Merlin Magia. The mechanic measured the alignment using the Park alignment gauge
> (the one that checks from head tube to seat tube to dropout.) It was 3.9 mm out of alignment, the
> rear dropout spacing was fine though. Is this acceptable, should I get it put on a real frame
> table and measure the rest of it? Any advice would be wonderful.
If you're talking about the Park alignment tool that has the open square box design, I would not
trust it for meaningful results. It's too susceptible to damage over time from twisting. If your
frame is really that far out of alignment, a simple string test will verify it. Just tie a piece of
string from one dropout, up around the headtube, and back to the other. Measure the difference
beween the string and the seat tube on each side and compare. Even this isn't the best way to do it,
since it really doesn't matter if the seat tube is perfectly centered to a mm with respect to the
rest of the bike, and if it's off, that will make it appear that the frame's out of alignment. If
we're defining out of alignment as a condition in which the front & rear wheels don't track each
other perfectly, neither a string test nor the Park tool will do the job. However, the string will
at least make sure you're in the ballpark.
This brings up an interesting point though. What *is* the definition of proper frame alignment? What
are the various things to be considered that actually have something to do with the way it handles &
shifts gears?
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles www.ChainReaction.com
"andrew" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I just got a new Merlin Magia. The mechanic measured the alignment using the Park alignment gauge
> (the one that checks from head tube to seat tube to dropout.) It was 3.9 mm out of alignment, the
> rear dropout spacing was fine though. Is this acceptable, should I get it put on a real frame
> table and measure the rest of it? Any advice would be wonderful. Andrew
