Originally Posted by
unterhausen
20mm at the contact patch is not the seat tube, unless the notion is that the rear axle is perpendicular to the seat tube. However, this is doubtful. I'm sure there are tons of bikes out there that are that bad and being ridden every day without any issue. The thing that I have found for bikes that are out of plane is that they will shimmy violently at low speed if ridden no hands. Most people don't ride no hands though.
I know it is not the seat tube; the rear wheel and seat tube are coplanar, therefore the rear axle IS perpendicular to the seat tube. This is a hardtail MTB, with Boost through axles (not dropouts). The issue is the head tubes appear to be ~1.5° misaligned to the seat tube (and hence the rest of the bike frame).
Likewise. I'm sure there are many bikes that are bad and few people notice; doesn't make it acceptable, or without issues though.
However,
what is the acceptable tolerance for a brand new bike from a major manufacturer? Pretty sure 1.5° ain't even close...