[dereksbelanger]

Our neatly stolen suspension guide says "-Front end alignment. Check wheel alignment with triple clamps. If out of alignment, fork geometry will be incorrect and steering will suffer."

Nice - but how is this accomplished? It seems to me there are only a few things that can mess up alignment.

Asuming there is no defect in the triples - I'd guess that front end alignment is up to:

* making sure your tube height in the triples is the same on both sides
* making sure your tubes are straight
* making sure your tubes are not bound in the triples

Yes? No? Missing something?

Thanks-A-Bunch!

 

[Thermass]

You got it, other than that just eyeball it. I have found the easiest way to do that is look down the fork tubes from the handlebars with the handlebars straight and if the wheel isn't straight, fix it.

 

[donniej]

I've been working on bikes for a long time.... I even took a year of tech school for it and raced for 2 seasons. In all this time I have never heard of checking front wheel alignment.

If I were going to check this I'd start with a "T" square on the triples to make sure they are square with the chassis. Then with the front tire removed, using 2 long straight edges against the rim, see how they line up against the "T" on the triples. If they are properly centered then you know everything is true (left and right anyway).