> I need a source for frame alignment. Anyone have any
> suggestion? Perhaps a shop within driving distance of
> Cincinnati-Columbus-Louisville-Indianapolis?
>
> Thanks for any leads.
>
> Aldo Ross
> Middletown, Ohio
Aldo,
Your question may be as simple as who is the closet to you and can do the job the fastest and cheapest or it may involve secondary advantages like is this an excuse to see or do or meet something or somebody interesting? Besides all the competent guys already mentioned (including myself) there is John Cherry in Lafayette, Indiana (Purdue University country). I'm 5 hours away from you taking I-74 or I-70 to Indianapolis and then straight up US 31. Niles is just past the Indiana border. However, if you want to make the trip interesting, taking back roads, it is not really out of the way to stop in New Bremen, Ohio and see the excellent bicycle museum there. There is also another one just west of me in Three Oaks, Michigan. Perhaps stop in Amish country in Shipshewana, Indiana. Do you like to see interesting old frames? I've got some Ellis Briggs from the early 50's, a few Hetchins of my own and others. A Masi or two and a Claude Butler among other frames. Some of these are in various stages of being refinished. I've also have a few nice bicycles of my own, some with fancy and other with plain lugs. How interested are you watching the process? Usually I use the alignment table that was Johnny Berry's but if you like to see digital readouts and watch the numbers change while bending it to our will, we can do it on my Bike Machinery (an Italian company) alignment table. I charge $50 for this service - the same I did back in 1975. Hmm, maybe it's time to think about a price increase.
Another option is that in past years, the Fit Kit sold alignment apparatuses to bike stores. They were marketing cleat alignment systems and discovered you couldn't get the cleats right unless the frames were correctly aligned. One of the key issues isn't handling but rather a leaned over seat tube will be straight up when riding and put stress on your knees with the now crooked bottom bracket shell angling the cranks. There must be a number of bike stores in Ohio that still have these systems probably gathering dust with the popularity of unbendable carbon frames. A lot of classic frames are way out of alignment. I can tell a lot about a frame while bending it. Some are like butter and others can take 2 people to move. For example I was spreading a Peter Mooney lately to 130 spacing. It started dead on in alignment and it took a lot of force to widen the back end. Others can move with only one hand. If the tubing was baked while brazing, it can be an easier to bend. Not all Columbus SL frames are the same difficulty to realign. Don't get in a panic about bending tubes. Your fork blades, for example, were straight in the beginning of their life.
Doug Fattic
Niles, Michigan
269-684-6761