Bicycle Mechanics - Front & Rear Tire Alignment

Hi there!

what's the best way to ALIGN the FRONT with the REAR tire, for smooth riding?
Corsaire

what's the best way to ALIGN the FRONT with the REAR tire, for smooth riding?
Corsaire

I've never known this to be an issue except on an improperly-assembled or somehow bent bike.

Maybe you can say more about what problem your having?

RichC

I'd agree with Rich, as long as the bike isn't bent they should be aligned. The only way I could see a wheel not tracking properly would be if you were not using a quick release and tightened the bolts when the wheel was not in the dropouts properly.

Don't worry about alignment........just ride...

Unless the frame is steel it will be hard to align, and a set of frame alignment
tools is called for. Few shops these days bother, as aluminum, carbon and
Ti frames are harder to align (Al, Ti ) or not alignable (carbon). If the frame is
metal, you may need to track down the nearest frame builder and see if they
have the necessary tools and willingness to do so. Agree with other posters
otherwise. Steve

Nothing wrong, just read a book about servicing a bike, and they talk maintenace points: among them, making sure that both front and rear are aligned, just curios how to do it, but I don't think nothin is wrong with my bike.
Thanks anyway
Corsaire

If you can ride no handed without the bike leaning, wobbling, or turning, it probably is aligned just fine.

And remember, always wear your helmet.

Also, you could, and would need to realign the rear wheel if you have the adjustable type of drop-outs.

Ive seen cheapo MTB wanabe bikes with forks which were so out of whack, the front and rear wheels were rotating in different planes.
On most mid-range bikes alignment is acceptable-to-good.
Horizontal dropouts are pretty easy to setup, but you do need to check the space each size of the tyre at the stays.

At one time, and occasionally even now by one up frame builders, bike frames
were built using simple jigs to hold the tubes in place while they were brazed
or welded together. Depending on the skill of the builder this would result in
the wheels being parallel to each other and hopefully in the same plane when
the bike was assembled and the bottom bracket axle being at right angles to
this plane. In the past 20-30 yrs elaborate fixtures have been devised and
increasingly computer controlled cutters that precisely cut tubing to size and
curvature on the ends so they fit together with less than 1 mm gap between
the tubes before welding. The fixtures clamp everything together precisely
so the angles and spacings are held to less than 1mm or a few tenths of a
degree tolerances. Alignment is thus intrinsic to the manufacture, and in the
case of carbon frames which are molded, to the molds for monocoque frames.
Manufacturers can't afford to align after welding. Alignment means the front
fork wheel dropouts are parallet to each other and centered-equally spaced on
either side of the fork midline. The rear triangle dropouts likewise are parallel
to each other and spaced correctly for the axle width. All axle should be at
right angles to the plane of the wheels, and plane of front wheel should be the
same plane as the rear wheel and all axles (front, rear wheels and bottom
bracket) parallel to each other. If off, as noted there are alignment tools
that allow judgement of the direction and angles then, one "coldforms" or by
brute force, moves parts of the frame to improve the alignment. On steel frames this mostly involves bending the fork tips and dropouts, and altering
their angles and spacing. Al bikes don't tolerate this well, Ti frames are amenable but harder to set. These days frame alignment is like repairing your
CD or TV, maybe possible but rarely done. Brian's criteria are a good measure of alignment. Steve

The best way to align the front and back wheels to make for an enjoyable ride is to turn the handle bars. ;o