Wheel Alignment

[tillson]

Is there a trick to aligning the front wheel of a bike within the forks? This has been a constant source of minor irritation for years.

The front wheel of my Pro Connect does not sit in the centre of the forks. It is off-set to the right by 6 mm. I have opened the quick release and re-set the wheel centrally, but it always creeps back to the 6 mm off set.

There does not seem to be any adjustment in the quick release spindle, but I can't believe that it is such a poor design. This must be a problem that has been encountered by many people and there must be a way of dialling out this 6 mm off-set. The trouble is, I can't find it.

 

[flecc]

It shifts since the spindle wants to sit up against the upper edge of the mounting slots. Two ways of dealing with this. If the wheel is definitely laterally symmetrical, i.e. the width of hub mounted components that sit inside the frame are the same both sides, then the upper point of the mounting slots is not quite the same both sides. A tiny amount filed out of the upper curve of lowest side (the fork side the rim is closest to) will shift the lateral point of the rim a considerable amount of course, so the modification is very small. Do it in very small steps since it will be a very small variation in height.

If the hub components width is not symmetrical, one side wider than the other, the correction is done by spoke adjustment to "dish" the wheel, best done by a cycle shop mechanic. Here's an extreme example where a back wheel is doing duty as a front wheel, you see the spokes on one side but not the other due to the offset build:

 

[tillson]

Thanks flecc, I'll get my file and, "tickle" a bit of metal out of the slot.

Such an obvious solution, but like many things, it only becomes obvious once it has been pointed out.