Front wheel tracking

[compo]

I just noticed this morning that the front wheel on my newly restored roadbike isn't tracking true. Looking down through the down tube you can see the front wheel slightly offset to the right. My first thought was the dishing may be off, but the bike continuously pulls to the left. If the wheel was true but slightly one sided then surely it would track straight. I suspect I have slightly bent forks. It is only half a tyre width or so at the tyre. I would welcome any advice, mainly about diagnosing the problem.

 

[lpretro1]

Put another wheel in that you know is good. If the problem is still there then you have bent forks. You may also feel a slight pul to one side on the steering too.

 

[Tim Hall]

Flip the wheel round and see if the offset moves to the other side.

 

[Ian H]

Bent frame is more likely than (sideways) bent forks.

 

[HovR]

Wheel could just not be set in the dropouts correctly.

 

[compo]

Thanks for the suggestions. To date I have flipped the wheel and it stays the same, which I assume eliminates a wheel fault. I wondered about the dropouts as the frame has just been powder coated, and I wondered if there was a paint build up on one side. I have cleaned out the dropouts, also without any joy. So, I am coming round to either a bent frame or one of the fork legs pushed backwards (or forwards) a few mm. It's an old Raleigh. Frames are not rare so if it comes to transferring all the new bits over to another frame I wont lose any sleep.

 

[gwhite]

It sometimes happens that the drop-outs on the fork are not aligned and your LBS should have a tool to check this. A few file strokes is usually all that is needed to make the fix. If the forks are bent then these can be trued with a bit of care remembering that that these are cold-set to begin with.
It is possible, if you have a good eye, to stand behind the frame and sight along the whole length in order to check that it is plumb. If it's not, then a long length of pipe and brute force is needed and that's not for the faint-hearted.

 

[compo]

I have now played with the forks, using brute force and ignorance, and now the wheel is sitting more or less square and centrally within the forks. I haven't ridden it yet, having only done the job half hour ago. If it is still not right I have access to an industrial lathe that will give me a solid flat bed to allow accurate measuring and the engineering gear to align everything (with expert engineer help!).