Bikes are okay, I guess.
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Richmond, Virginia
Posts: 6,938
Bikes: Waterford Paramount Touring, Giant CFM-2, Raleigh Sports 3-speeds in M23 & L23, Schwinn Cimarron oddball build, Marin Palisades Trail dropbar conversion, Nishiki Cresta GT
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Back in my shop days we did test rides after every assembly and "hands off" was one of our test modes. If the bike did not track straight we'd tweak the fork (in the bike) to fix it. Bike goes left, tug fork blades left; bike goes right, tug fork blades right. A few millimeters was usually sufficient and we always realigned the fork tips afterwards.
By "tug" I mean that, with the bike in the stand, you first measure the distance between the dropouts so you have your ground zero, then brace a knee against the fork crown and pull the nearest blade toward you; that is, you tug the right blade to move it to the bike's right. Then you tug the left blade to close up the gap you just increased. You'd work from the opposite of the bike to go in that direction. Good luck! It's not difficult.
As mentioned by others, there might also be issues with differing fork blade lengths or bends.
Last edited by thumpism; 03-27-20 at 09:02 PM.