Alignment and Toe In on your tadpole
 

I am actually heading in to the shop today to deal with some chain length issues while I am at work. I am looking to find a simple way to find center for the wheels AND handlebars, as well as to set the Toe In.

I have watched a few vids, and read the manual for the CT we have and it seems so simple...yeah...assuming everything is somewhat straight to start with. I am honestly a bit fed up with this situation. Apparently, the previous owner bought this from, or built it themselves, a totally incompetent builder. I sat here for hours last night fixing "minor" build issues. The last thing I am down to (that I know of) is getting the bars and wheels STRAIGHT and toed in properly.
I don't see anything on the headsets that would indicate center to use as a guide for the bars being set the same. As a result of what was done before and what I attempted to do everything is askew just a touch to one side and getting it lined up right is turning out to be quite the challenge.

Let me hope that the shop (which we really don't do much with 'bents) will know a trick or two. Our mechanic is a wizard.

Precise alignment of the h'bars/steerer, beyond eyeball, is pointless precision. Set your toe-in, eyeball the h'bars and RIDE RIDE ride.

Well---------I am of the opinion that handling and tire wear is at risk if alignment and toe in is not done right. It is not really rocket science, make one wheel straight forward with the frame, and adjust the other wheel to it with the manf suggested toe in.

I made a gauge of all thread and couplers to allow checking front to back. The tape was not happening. There was a recent discussion on this issue at Bent Rider on Line (Trikes). Did you see the video over at the TerraTrike site?

If your trike has scary handling at speed, check the toe in. Do not assume it came from the factory or dealer with the correct setting - with perhaps the exception of HP Velotechnik. 1500+ on the Scorpion and no handling or wear issues.

Not when you are OCD. It bugs the ever loving hell out of me to be riding down the road with one hand closer than the other, just one of my ticks.


I found a vid on You Tube that suggests using a TV antenna. I borrowed an extendable rod w/ magnet end from work and will go after it with that tomorrow. The Toe was so off that you could actually see the tires bowing out and the wear was palpable on the ride. I set them much closer last night, but want it to be as close to exact as I can get both to minimize wear as well as to satisfy my OCD.

D'you mean to set the toe-in?

Make a trammel bar of scrap wood with a nail near the end and another nail positioned so that both nails are at roughly the center of each tire. Wrap masking tape around each tire and level the tapes with the axle ahead. Poke the nails through their respective tapes. Level the tapes with the axle to the rear. Put one nail in a hole already made, poke the other nail into the other tape. The distance between the holes in "the other tape" is the toe-in, positive and wrong it the new hole is outside the old, and negative and right if the new hole is a few millimeters inside the existing hole.

I hope that you will tell us how you satisfy your obsession to be compulsive disorder in setting the handle bars parallel to the average line of the wheels.

GAAAAAAA!!!!!!

Lol, for real, I will have to try that. It was suggested to me to use a wooden template and the nails seem like a good addition to that idea. The TV antenna trick didn't work worth crap. I have things much closer than they were by using a yard stick centered on the frame and eyeballing the tire tread, which I know is inconsistent. By my best guess I have them within 1/8" of being right. The issue that I find is that unless you tighten the ball joint each and every time you make adjustment that the slop there alone can easily mask 1/4" out. It would really have been nice had CT made the connecting rod adjustable independent for each side w/o having to take off the ball joint. It appears from the video I watched that they were at one time, or are now, but not on this bike.

My previous adjustment resulted in a palpable pull to the left when I took my hands off the bars so something was well out. I am hoping it is much closer now, but won't know till I get a chance to ride again on Thursday.

ICE rod end bearings are in left-hand threaded/right-hand threaded pairs, so the lock nuts are released and the rod itself turned to adjust total length.

'CT's' are just too much teasers to deal with.

My approach is to begin with the suggested toe and then work back towards zero until stability seems compromised. With four different trikes -- ICE, Greenspeed, TT and Cat -- nothing more than the very slightest amount of toe was required. The riding satisfaction difference between too much toe and just enough can be major.

If you have access to a nice smooth surface that has a bit of sand or other grit on it you have a quick way to fine tune your alignment. The sound difference between near-zero toe and too much is major. This method insures that the rider is on the trike when the adjustment is made. At least with some trikes that's important.

This winter when I do yearly maintence on my bike and trike, I intend to make myself an alignment tool for the trike. I will probably buy the needed length of readi bolt and a turnbuckle to do the measurement.

Doing this yourself, and checking the alignment ever so often will reduce tire wear, and ensure good handling.

Can't tell you about a tadpole but Hase has detailed instructions for adjusting the toe on a Kettweisel.

Since the wheels are cambered and the boom isn't parallel with the ground, the toe in can vary if you extend or retract the boom significantly. Hase says to set it at 0 and plus or minus 5mm is acceptable.