Pro tip: check the frame alignment on every used bike that comes in

I was chatting with a mechanic from a shop in Portland, and she said she caught a cracked seat tube on a bike that looked fine from the outside. She told me, 'We assume the frame is straight, but we should assume it's not.' That hit different because I had a customer's bike come back last month with a shifting issue I couldn't solve, and it was a bent chainstay I missed. How many of you do a full frame check as a standard step?

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3 Comments

patw856mo ago

Total waste of time on most bikes.

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stella_murray6mo ago

That "total waste of time" feeling is everywhere now. I get it with so many new kitchen gadgets and phone apps that promise to fix problems I never even had. It's like we're adding complexity just for the sake of it.

1

lopez.karen6mo ago

Nah, @stella_murray, it's not a waste of time at all. That quick check can save you a massive headache later.

4