Bicycle Mechanics - Rear wheel spacing in frame off.. (chainline perfect)

Well, so I used some spacers on the right side of the wheel to perfect the chainline, but then the rear wheel is not spaced in the middle of the frame.

Is this a problem?

Thanks :)

If it's only off by a little bit and it doesn't bug you then no, it's nothing to worry about too much. If you have a brake back there, you might want to get it addressed. Since you're worrying about chainline, I'm guessing this is a fixie or SS and likely doesn't have a rear brake, so...

Yes it is a fixed gear. I just put it together today. :)

How can I address it?

Assuming that there are no interference issues like your tire rubbing the frame then it is just a matter of how the bike handles. Be aware of potential for things like the bike pulling to one side or high speed shimmy or difficulty riding no handed. It's unlikely that these things will happen from doing what you described though.

if you're 100% happy with the spacing and won't need to adjust it from here on out, just redish the wheel. This is basically shifting the rim sideways on the hub to center it in the frame after doing exactly what you have done. If you're handy and have a spoke wrench, you can theoretically do it yourself, but it's not the kind of thing I would personally want to attempt if I had a nice wheel out of fear of screwing it up.

Yup, redish your rear wheel. If you have experience truing or building wheels. If not, have someone else do it. It's easy enough, really - if you have good spoke tension as is, you just need to loosen the spokes that come into the rim from one side of the hub, and tighten the ones that come from the other side, so that the rim is pulled over in the direction that it needs to be. You can do this easily enough yourself and keep the tension even, and if you're not running a rear brake, it doesn't matter if the wheel ain't perfectly true afterwards.

What's your rear-spacing now? Isn't the proper way to adjust chainline is to get BB with correct spindle-length?

Well, so I used some spacers on the right side of the wheel to perfect the chainline, but then the rear wheel is not spaced in the middle of the frame.

Is this a problem?

Thanks :)

Whether its a problem or not depends on your expectations. I've done a simmilar thing on my beater but hey, its my beater.

If the bike was properly aligned before you added the spacer then you will have put the alignment out and you will find that the bike pulls to one side when riding no hands. You could theoreticaly re-dish the wheel but that costs money if you don't know how to do it and if by chance you have a double sided hub the alignment will only be correct for one side.

Its best to remove the spacer and adjust the chainline by adjusting/replacing the bottom bracket. Singlespeed/fixed bottom brackets are usualy pretty narrow and/or designed for specific cranks that effectively have a narrow chainline.

Regards, Anthony

^^^Thats a good place to start..unless he's not replacing the BB for the conversion. OP, put the spacers between the locknut and cone if you didnt already. Also, it is possible to have too much dish in a wheel and your spokes wil not remained properly tensioned if there is.