yeah, that's right. Everything's back to the original configuration.

The left drop is bent slightly inward, but I believe it's only the drop itself that's bent... Between the drops measures exactly 120 and I find it hard to believe that the entire back of the bike is bent to the left... I would think I would be able to see that. I'll have to check.

well since your wheel is bolted to the dropouts, and he dropout is bent, it doesn't really matter if the rest of the frame is bent.

Your bike probably had 126mm spacing, and if the left drop is bent in 6mm, leaving the drive side drop normal, that would account for the cog being about 6mm out.

I'm not sure if that makes sense.. I was trying to figure it out last night.
The left drop of the bike (when you're on it) is bent inward... if it were the right side that would make more sense, but it's the left that's bent so I'm not sure where all the space it coming from.

I'm going to drop by my LBC later today to see if we can figure it out.

If the entire frame is slightly bent, is there any problem with me simply bending it back? or does it need to be rewelded?

You're right I was thinking backwards. that would tend to put your chainline 6mm outward of the crank, but you are saying the crank is too far out.

straightening the frame is not a simple job, but it shouldn't require welding, but don't get too worried about it. Chances are this is a simple matter of getting the correct length of bottom bracket for the crank you have. you never did say what crank it is. That makes a difference. Sheldon Brown to the rescue once again. he has a database of cranks & bb lengths. Go there find your crank. It will tell you the bb, and chainline it weas designed for. then subtract to get the bb length you need for 42mm chainline. https://www.sheldonbrown.com/bbsize.html From looking at this page I can see most doubles are designed for 43.5mm chainline, and most triples 47-50mm and doubles are measured halfway between the rings if that is the case you should be able to get pretty close to 42 using the stock bb, and the inner ring. If you want to use te outer ring you need a slightly shorter BB than stock. In your case though I don't know if you have the stock BB length or not. I beleive you said you got a 110, so a 103 should get you there. cranks designed for 103 bottom brackets are unusual, but they are out there.

I'm not sure that I quite follow what you're saying... but that's because I know nothing about this.
The BB was 110, I don't know anything else about it except that it was from IRO I believe it's standard and it has square tapers. I didn't have the right tool to put it in myself so I had my LBS do it for me, so I have no way of pulling it out to check what it is.

this is what the IRO sites says:
Crank......................IRO 130bcd with alloy 46 tooth ring
Bottom Bracket.....IRO 68X110


When I get home I'm going to measure more closely, last night I did it pretty quickly, so it's around 5.5mm off.

OH. If you got the IRO crank AND bottom bracket they should be a correct match. sorry I misunderstood.

If I understand you correctly, you measured your chainline like this and got a measurement of about 47.5mm. If that's true something is not right probably with bottom bracket or crank instalation. If it measures closer to 42mm, but the chainline is not straight I would suspect a bent frame.

this is getting to be a little frustrating. Last night I measured everything and came up with 5.5... earlier today I measured again and multiple other times until I was sure about the numbers... My eyes are telling me the crank is further forward than the cog, when I site along the crank to the cog it looks lined up, and my measurements show that it's about 1mm off from what it ought to be. If the frame is bent I can't tell, so I've decided to trust the numbers and say it's close enough. I think looking at the chainline from above is screwing with my eyes anyhow...
I measured: 43.5 BB, 42.5 Hub to cog, or whatever it's called.

However, there is still the clicking noise I mentioned. It's not a regular clicking, it's more like a static sound with occasional louder clicks. I'm just wondering how much of that is normal... I sprayed some WD40 on it, but it didn't seem to do much. Is there something special I'm meant to be putting on the chain?

Thanks for the help btw.

so you're off by 1 mm on your chainline? I'd be perfectly happy with that.

as for your noise....
- chain tension too high? sounds like it could be binding.
- stiff links in chain?
- something completely different (ie. chainring bolts, seatpost, pedals, BB, stem/bars - check these for tightness)

oh yeah, and WD40 isn't lube.

The noise itself is definitely coming from the cog. I did put the chain together myself, but that would only account for two links on the entire thing that might be a little stiff.

I don't know if I was clear with the way I said it, but there is a constant static clicking sound and then some louder ones... though it's louder than I would expect it to be, which is why I'm concerned. There's no sound at all when I'm just peddling it slowly, but it becomes louder the faster I peddle.

I think lube will help some though.

Make sure your wheel is aligned properly, and your chain tension is good. Your first one, with vertical dropouts? these 2 items can certainly be an issue. And buy a bottle of good chain lube. Don't spray WD-40 on all your problems! There will always be some noise: there are parts of the chain continously colliding with parts of the chainring/cog. The most obvious manifestation of this is noise. The cog tends to be louder since the chain makes a tighter turn here than it does on the chainring.

Alright, well thanks everyone. I went a bought the rim tape, the patch kit, and the lube.. and now my bike is purring. I just took it on an exhilarating night ride.

New problem though, the cog and lockring keep slipping. I've heard JB weld mentioned, so I might have to give that a try as soon as I can get some. Any other suggestions?


Oh, and I would like to apologize to my bike for ever doubting it. After browsing fgg I've decided that though my bike may not be as sexy as many, it's not as shoddy as some of them either. I'll post pics if I can.

cog slipping? you're using a track hub, right? hopefully you haven't stripped it yet.
hold off on the jbweld for now.

before you start riding again you'd better make sure that you've tightened that cog/lockring down properly.
take cog/lockring off.
inspect threads for strippedness.
if not stripped, then clean and grease threads.
install cog - TIGHTEN WITH A CHAINWHIP
install lockring - TIGHTEN WITH A LOCKRING TOOL
ride
check lockring tightness again.

what cog/lockring combo are you using? some cogs/lockrings are too thin to provide adequate tightness against each other.

if the cog was not torqued down hard enough, it would have been impossible to tighten the lockring properly, and it will loosen up after you ride it around a bit. one good way to get the cog tight if you don't have a chainwhip handy is to ride it up a steep hill, and not apply back pressure on the way down, then tighten the lockring down TIGHT.

Seeing as I don't have a chainwhip or lockring tool I could have some problems... I bought the cog and lock ring together from IRO and it's also an IRO hub so I would assume it would all work together.

I just pulled off the back wheel, and the lockring came off without any trouble... but try as I might to get the cog off it seems to be stuck. I swear I was feeling slipage though. After skipstopping a few times when I started to accelerate again there was some pretty noticable slipage. Maybe the chain has tightened it itself? I'll just have to make sure the lock ring is on tight now.

no tools = stripped hub waiting to happen.

take it into a shop that knows something about fixed gears and have them tighten it for you. If it just shifts a bit when you transition frop forward pressure to back pressure, and you haven't done that too much or too hard it should be fine. use the front brake a lot, and no back pressure until you can get it tightened, and get it tightened ASAP.

you can apply way for force with your legs than you can with your fingers. if you felt it slipping, it probably was backing off up to your loose lockring, then tightening itself back up again.
if you spin the lockring on now, the cog probably isn't seated properly and it'll still be loose when you go ride.

get the proper tools.

Buy a chainwhip or make one, and tighten that cog as instructed. Then do the lockring. Don't ride until you do those things, otherwise you may strip it -- if you haven't already.

Never assume that a product comes in bolt-on-and-go condition. People make mistakes, bolts come loose, bad things happen. All innertube-based wheels should have rim tape; all threaded parts should at least be checked out.

Alright, well I don't have enough spare chian to make a chainwhip so I'm going to have to take this to my LBS tomorrow and have them do it.

The learning curve is a bit steep here...

Properly aligned there should be silence.

Also, chains are packaged in grease to prevent corrosion. It's not the same thing as chain lube. So when you get a new chain, the proper procedure is to remove it from its packaging and degrease it. Then install it and lubricate it with the lube of your choice.

Tie a rope from one of the pedals holes (remove pedal first)to the top of the seat tube (where the seet post meets the seat tube. Rotate the wheel up firmly and gradually till cog comes loose. Only recommended for sturdy steel frames.

It works for me every time.

No chainwhip? Rotafix.

https://204.73.203.34/fisso/eng/schpignone.htm

Works like a charm, and unless you have a chainwhip with a 2 foot handle, it works even better. Don't believe the BS this link gives you about not needing a lockring with it. You still do. It's just a good method for getting your cog on real snuggly.

Lockring tools are necessary, however. The only fudge you can do for that is the ol' hammer+screwdriver. Not recommended.

The bad chainline is probably causing some of the noise, but you said you've only been riding it a few hours right? Even with a near perfect chainline, lube, chain tension, etc... it could still make noise for the first few days of riding. I couldn't figure out why mine was so noisy but it went silent after a few hours.