Originally Posted by
cny-bikeman
If you took the bike to a shop and the "mechanic" could not tell you what was wrong with the frame, and could not simply put a dishing gauge on the wheel to determine if it was OK, then you need a different mechanic or shop. It's fairly simple to check a frame for alignment and child's play for a mechanic to check a wheel for proper centering (dish). Pictures will not help at all - need to measure.
In their defense, they are a small-town LBS that mainly works on Wal-Mart cruisers and mountain bikes... But I was afraid this might be the case; I was certain there was some way besides a truing stand of checking if a rim is centered over the hub. (Does a truing stand even tell you that, or does it only show if the rim is straight?)
I'll try and do a string test sometime this weekend, and I may end up packing up and heading to a larger bike shop to have them take a look at things. Nearest one (including the one I bought the frame from) is about 50 miles away...
Thanks!