Since it's come up so often - and since properly aligning a frameset is sometimes overlooked when it shouldn't be - it seems natural to have a thread all about it.

I'll start it off with a few recents:

Gitane Professional TdF



No idea why it got kinked over this far; it doesn't look like an amateur's attempt to hit 126mm, as the left is kinked in. Was a bit of a pain to get right as the brake bridge wanted to come along for the ride.



Don't install the BB before doing this like I did. Brain fart; I usually soft-jaw the BB shell directly.

It's straight now, but it's clear the bridge wasn't jigged up well and was cockeyed from factory.




1952 Raleigh Sports

This one obviously took a hit on the left at one time; possibly falling onto a curb, as the rear rim is original to it and dead straight.

If this was high-end tubing, I would have called it a goner, but this soft, heavy steel from back in the day can deal with something this significant:



The big Park FFS-1 / FFS-2 isn't really ideal for a bend like this, as you need to keep both the bridge and dropout in the same place while affecting the middle only. It's a lot more manageable and easier on the tubing to use one of these stay straighteners (Park SS-1, since discontinued).

The SS-1 isn't always accurate and you can get into trouble with it if you're not careful - it's easy to fall off plane with the direction of the kink depending on the angle - but it's still the most ideal tool for the job until something better comes along.




1950 Raleigh Superbe Sports Tourist

Early in it's life, this bike was converted with a Cyclo 3-speed adapter on a Sturmey AG hub. It's clear that the shop that did the conversion obviously had a loose understanding of what "centering" a rear wheel requires.



Had to eyeball the rear drops using the Park adjusters set for the front fork, due to Raleigh's narrower dropouts used to accommodate Sturmey-Archer axles.



-Kurt