Originally Posted by
3alarmer
...yes, certainly the commonest workaround for this is filing the one of the dropouts to allow the rim to center in the frame. Still not ideal, but certainly cheap enough.
I've heard about people bending one or the other seat stays, to bring the dropouts more into alignment, but I've never tried that myself.
Yes, filing the slot is an easy method. I've filed the very end of axles a few times too, just like when the axle is bent one would turn the axle in the dropout till the bent axle cocked the wheel just right. I heard of someone who hacksawed the long stay and sleeved it shorter. But filing the slot is by far the most common way.
There's about a 3:1 ratio of stay displacement to amount filed off. To attain a 1mm centering of the wheel about .3mm needs removing (or about 0.012"). I have wood tube blocks to hold the frame in a vise close to the dropout to reduce the "file's song". A 10" rat tail (bastard or medium cut) file is about the perfect fit. One could Dremel the slot but with power comes bigger oops moments...
Besides the wheel needing to be dished and true, to use as a gage, it's axle needs to be straight. This is easily overlooked if it's a minor (remember that .3mm) amount. When placing the wheel in the dropouts I have the frame upside down so gravity will settle it. If you rotate the axle, and it's bent, you can watch the rim shift side to side as the bent axle pushes the hub shell around. Andy