Before I would bend a frame I would want to eliminate other issues like wheels out of dish or a fork that's out of line.


To help understand alignment try this- The wheels should be coplanar with each other and with the main frame. The steerer and seat tube should be parallel in the frame's plane. The string test only tells if the axle's mid point is centered WRT the main frame. The wheel can be cocked one way or another but still have the axle centered to the main frame. Think of it as having one chain or seat stay longer then it's mate. The drop outs will be the right width apart and centered to the main frame but the rim/tire will be off plane. So too with the fork. The drop outs should be centered WRT the steerer's axis. Both blades should be the same length. But the axle and crown don't need to be parallel, it just looks better that way.


This alignment is what some will call the handling one. The way the bike steers/tracks consistently evenly side to side. But there's another aspect of alignment, the biomechanical one.


This second category of alignment is how the body is positioned on the bike, how one's movements are centered WRT the bike. So a BB that's crooked will result in one's legs pedaling in circles that are off plane to the bike. A saddle that's been whacked to one side will set the hips off center. Bars not centered or that are bent will cock shoulders.


A motivated builder can measure/assess all these factors and come back with much more info then most shop wrenches. What this info ends up meaning to any one rider... Andy


When many shop wrenches look at a frame's alignment they often don't have a handle on all the aspects affecting the handling or the