chain alignment q.
 

Whats the proper way to get chain alignment? adjust the rear wheel? adjust the bottom bracket?

I'm not super far off as is, but I get quite a bit of chain noise which leads me to think i'm getting a little binding.

How new is your chain, chainring, and cog? Worn parts can make a racket too. At one point I changed out my chain/rear cog and everything got significantly quieter.

Have you measured your chain line front and rear? What is "Not super far off?"

A too tight chain makes all kinds of ugly noises too.

Sheldon Brown describes it far better than I could, explore his site and prepare to be enlightened!

Am I the only one who has never even thought about their chain line?

If it's loud it's probably too tight.

I originally thought it was too tight, but having it be pretty saggy didn't help.

The cog is new, prob about 200 miles on it, the chain and chainring are unknown. ( bought the bike used )

Try replacing the chain.
I have one of these super cheap chains on my bike and like I said, it's super quiet. It made a huge difference when I replaced my old chain (like you, mine was used and I had no idea when it was replaced)
https://www.retro-gression.com/colle...kmc-z410-chain

If it doesn't make you say "Damn" when you look at it, it's probably not a problem. You most likely a worn/dirty chain.

Has the chain always made noise or is this something new?

The condition (wear) of the chain or the "tightness" (adjustment) can change over time, the alignment of the chain won't.

There's limited room on most hub shells to move a sprocket. However, you can (usually) move the shell on the axle by switching spacers around. Unfortunately moving the shell on the axle means having to redish the wheel to compensate.

Moving the crank may be as easy as moving spacers, or call for a new spindle.

In the end, it's not which is better, but which is more practical for you. Just another example of the devil being in the details.

BTW- unless your line is off far enough that it's visibly obvious when sighting along the chain from the back, I suspect that it's NOT the cause of your noise.

Question, How diligent were you about getting proper* chain tension?



* proper chain tension is NO tension, you need slack. Less slack is better, but you must have slack.

I've never thought about chain line either, but I've only owned three SS/FG frames, and I guess none of them have been real fringe cases. One was a road conversion.

I'm no expert, but I'm inclined to agree with this in regards to chain line.

I guess maybe it could be the chain, i have no idea how old it is.

as far as my tension, its tight, but still has about 1/2" of up and down play.

That's too tight. There should be visible sag.