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Introduction: Bicycle Design
Why Upright Bikes?
Why Recumbents Cost More
Types of Recumbents
Seat Height
Handlebars
How Much To Spend?
The Importance of Wheels
Types of Wheels
The Importance of Weight
Frame Materials
Frame Alignment
Parts, Derailleurs etc
Brakes
Suspension
Are Recumbents Invisible?
Acclimatizing to a Recumbent
Hills on a Recumbent
Clip-On Pedals
Racks & Mudguards
Bicycle Trailers
Trikes
How to Ride a Tandem
Credit Card Touring
Information Sources
Vancouver, British Columbia
Contact TALU

Frame Alignment

The bicycle frame should be built straight in the first place without having to be aligned (also known as “cold-setting”) at the manufacturing stage. Cold-setting can introduce internal stresses into the frame which may later reappear as problems.

The primary and most critical alignment points are between the rear dropouts and the head tube. Many people mistakenly use the bottom bracket as a primary reference for alignment.

Simply measuring the alignment of a static bicycle frame is only a measurement of the alignment when the frame is not actually being used for its intended purpose. When the static frame is loaded with the weight of a cyclist the alignment may be different on the same frame. The most important alignment measure should actually be made under dynamic load with a perfectly symmetric cyclist exerting perfectly symmetric forces while pedaling.

Of course, humans are not symmetric (that is why a slightly mis-aligned bottom bracket has no effect on performance) so accurate dynamic alignment measuring with humans cyclists is impossible. The purchaser must rely on the skill of the framebuilder to manufacture a frame that is properly aligned when it is being used in the real world.