Originally Posted by
Six jours
I build frames and also have no clue what I'm looking at. There's nothing in those pics that jumps out at me. The top tube may be bent, but it also appears as though the level is simply not being held parallel to the tube. So it all gets a heartfelt "?" from me.
Now, assuming that the OP doesn't experience the same problem with every bike he rides (A surprising number of cyclists will note that any frame will pull one direction or the other while riding no hands, because of imbalances in the rider) then the frame is indeed misaligned. This is generally not a difficult thing to fix, though if the OP isn't up to doing it himself, he will have to expect to lay out $100 or so for the task.
I don't build frames and this makes sense to me. It appears the gap is oriented on the top of the top tube and it may or may not be the manner in which the level is being held to the tube ? I'd be for holding the level on the sides of any of the tubes to see whether the frame turns appreciably. I'd really take the wheels off and then using twine to determine how straight the frame is laterally. That much side to side might make a difference, but vertically, the level might be misapplied to the top of the tube and creating more gap than is actually there ? I bought an internet SS/FG and determined the fork was off and got a replacement for it. The rest of the frame tracked straight and with the new fork it was near perfect. The bike is a hi-ten Chinese cheapo bike, so I didn't expect it to be perfect, but not nearly as bad as the original bike came. It rides just fine to this day.