Fine, but in this case there are structural issues that are only aesthetic and ones that are more significant. It doesn't seem to have fixed anything to make my quote more ambiguous. I was trying to say that in the case where the only thing that the problem was effecting was how it looked up close, then it didn't necessarily need to be replaced especially if replacing it would mean time away from the bike or actually paying for a new frame. Your edit made it seem like I was asserting that the frame was perfectly fine and I wasn't. His description made it seem like the problem was very minor but maybe it isn't.

Fair enough.

Here are a couple of shots to show what I'm talking about FYI. I know it isn't much, but it's enough that I noticed it.

http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=271298
http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=271299

And you say its centered near the chainstays though?

As near as I can tell, yes.

So the great carleton has decided this is the appropriate place to ask a question about my chain tensioners, even though I don't see how it has anything to do with my uneven chainstays... When I'm tightening down my wheel, I find that it shifts slightly rearward. So if I adjust my chain tensioners so the wheel is where I want it, after I tighten it's slightly farther back. This can make my wheel slightly off center, and/or make my chain too tight. It also means the chain tensioners aren't flush against the axle anymore and slightly wiggle. My question is two-fold. First, is it normal for the wheel to shift slightly rearward when tightening, or am I doing something wrong. Not sure how you can mess up tightening the axle nuts, but I've also never had this issue on previous bikes. Secondly, should I go ahead and tighten the chain tensioners against the axle after I tighten down the wheel, or should I just leave them as is?

Centering rear wheel?
 

Do you track nuts?
http://harriscyclery.net/merchant/37.../tracknuts.jpg

The kind with free spinning washers

Yes I do.

Wow, very professional carleton. Not an abuse of your power at all...

Dude, it's obvious that he and quite a few other members are annoyed with how many threads you make around here. Even though you say that each question you have doesn't belong in the other threads you created doesn't really matter around here. You're better off making a 'Smurray's question thread' at this rate.

Edited, unnecessary commentary.

With it off centered that much, just ride it, unless of course you can get it warrantied.

Which special power did I invoke to post that jpeg?

This one:
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_li...7deco1_500.gif

Do you have a picture of your "chain tensioners?" are we tugnuts on track ends?

How is carleton posting a funny pic an "abuse of power"? Anyone could have posted that. Considering chain tensioners are very often used to aid in centering a wheel, I would think the thread you already started about centering your wheel seems like an appropriate place to ask. You need to stop being so sensitive.

Using the built-in chain tensioners on your 277TS and tightening your axle nuts is not rocket science. Can you really not figure it out without the help of the entire internet?

I would really like to move on from this, but since people keep bringing it up I feel the need to respond. When I said what carleton did was an abuse of power, I didn't mean that only mods can post insulting/condescending jpegs. What I meant is that, as a mod, he shouldn't. It's not really fair to insult someone who can't do anything in return without fear of being banned. If someone is in a position of power it's their responsibility to set an example for everyone else. It would be like me going around at the school where I teach humiliating all the students knowing that they could never say anything back to me or I could just suspend them. That, to me, is an abuse of power.

As for your comment Scrod; maybe I'm a moron, because I did find tightening my rear wheel without it shifting in the dropouts to be difficult. My only experience up until now has been with road bikes with forward facing dropouts and a derailleur, which doesn't have this problem. Luckily someone posted the information about how to "walk the wheel" back to ensure it stays centered, a technique I had never heard of before.

I think it's kind of a shame that when people like me who know next to nothing about fixed gear bikes come to this community for help, they get ridiculed by people who have obviously forgotten what it's like to be incredibly excited about something that is new to them. It's especially sad when the people doing the ridiculing are the people who are supposed to be moderating the forum.

Finally, I feel the need to address the issue of me supposedly "creating too many threads". I'm not denying I create a lot of threads. I'm also not denying that most, if not all, of my threads have to do with the same bike. What I am denying is that it makes more sense for me to ask every single question I have in one giant thread. My justification is this... I asked the question because I obviously couldn't find an answer on my own. I also assume that I'm not going to be the last person to ask the question. I figure that if, a few months down the road, someone else is wondering the same thing I am it would be easier for them to search and find a thread with the specific question in the title and the specific question right there at the top of the thread. The alternative would be to have to dig through pages of irrelevant information just to get to the little bit that applies to them. In this specific example, someone would have to go through two pages of posts talking about the defective seat stays on my frame just to find out the correct way to tighten a rear wheel and the proper way to use chain tensioners.

In the end, why the hell does it matter how many threads I'm creating? They're all relevant to the topic of the forum.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...gned-need-help
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...hain-Tensioner

Literally 1 minute of Google-ing

Both threads contain links and further information from Sheldon Brown website, as well as other references.

http://sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html

Second link when Google-ing, has information on both questions.

Dude, really? I do understand that "everyone was a noob once" but have you no mechanical skills or concept of physics at all?

Tightening axle nuts is among the easiest procedures when it comes to bicycle repair/maintenance. There isn't a forum on all of the internet that needs a thread about it.

You were sniveling about carleton wanting you to post in this thread - where it is still relevant - instead of cluttering up the board with a thread about axle nuts and chain tensioners. He said "cry me a river".

As I said, stop being so sensitive.

ftfy.

ftfm

Bat - they look like this:

http://fixedgearshop.de/images/produ...ages/927_1.jpg

I had a frame with the same kind of misalignment only somewhat more pronounced. It made it difficult to ride with no hands and also caused one of my brake pads to wear way faster than the other (cantilever brake touring frame).

This problem with the frame was the answer to my naive question of "wow how did I find such a nice essentially NOS vintage frame for so cheap". Ended up having a local framebuilder use a dremel to file the top of one dropout so that the wheel would center itself in the seatstays.

OK, that makes sense.

OP: Which nut do you tighten first?

Are your nuts greased? Assuming they have integrated washers, are the washers moving freely? Is the face of the washer knurled?

I tried tightening each side first, didn't seem to make any difference. Nuts are greased, and washer are moving freely. Face of the washers are knurled.

I think part of the problem is with the direction I was pushing/pulling the torque wrench. Since I don't have a stand I had the bike upside down sitting on a piece of carpet. To tighten I would orient the wrench so I was either pushing towards the floor or pulling straight up. I think switching it so I'm always pushing towards the front of the bike (into the chain tensioners) might help. I'm hoping that doing this, combined with the "walking the wheel" technique, will make it easier from now on.