1980's Frame Misalignment
05-09-24, 03:53 PM
#26
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That people are willing to wait for years to get some of his work can be taken as a testament to his skill and reputation. Not everyone was happy about the wait though, because it wsn't made clear at the outset how long it could end up taking. Usually when this happens the cause is some business or personal setback the builder experienced, like loss of a key employee* or house burned down, divorce or some such. No idea about Mr. Bilenky's business or personal life, I'm remembering some other custom framebuilder situations I've been aware of over the years.
* I did that to an employer once. Our custom tandems got a glowing review in Buycycling Magazine (they said it was the most "advanced" tandem they'd ever seen) and soon we had a 3-year waiting list. I was the only person there making the tandems. The owner hired a manager for the frame shop, and the new manager's first action as manager was to give me a 50% pay raise (from $4 to a whopping $6/hr, no joke!) and for a brief time I was able to actually pay my rent and eat. (BTW this was after working there for 5 years, and I was already an experienced journeyman when I was first hired.) Then the owner figured out why he was signing these larger checks, and he busted me back to my old wage! Somehow he was surprised when I didn't lay down for a 33% pay cut, and instead gave my notice. The shop I moved to paid me $8/hr to start, so it was a no-brainer for me (it was a cooler/better shop too). The old boss complained, something like "what am I going to do about all these tandem orders?" and I had to shrug and say it's not my problem. He hired a new apprentice, I trained him as my "notice". Nice guy but a beginner, so the frames that those people in the waiting list ended up getting weren't nearly as nice as the one they read about in Buycycling. I'm sure most people never noticed, however the people with the fork that separated (steerer came out of the crown) definitely noticed!
Moral #1: stay away from tandem frames made by a new apprentice with little to no oversight by anyone experienced. Corollary: know who is going to actually build your frame.
Moral #2: think hard about buying any custom frame, versus one you can test-ride before buying, and ride away the same day, versus a multi-year wait. I don't take that advice myself, I'm too much of a bike snob to ride off-the-shelf bikes for the most part, but I'm a weirdo, and I build them myself. I'm sure 99.999% of riders will be better off getting a stock frame.
Wow I guess I digressed from the topic at hand there, sorry!
05-09-24, 05:08 PM
#27
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Bilenky has a good reputation. Call them and ask what they will charge for alignment.
Brent
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05-09-24, 06:51 PM
#28
Full Member
I dont think it was the top level bike they had available but from my limited knowledge it sounds like it was made with some pretty well repped components and had good reviews. Does the paint typically have to be done when the frame is aligned? I found a local shop doing online research that was recommended by the now defunct Spectrum Cycles of Tom Kellogg but the price the link shows seems fairly high , its called Bilenky Cycles . I tried to post a link to the page Im talking about but Im too new to the forum. Not sure if a lot of that stuff is overkill for what I need but it sounds like it would be almost 1000 to get it done up by them
I dont really plan on doing any racing but im starting to do a lot of regular 20-50 mile rides around Philly and my modern hybrid bike is not as good as putting on the miles as this. I was kind of regretting purchasing a Hybrid since I already am outgrowing it with the distances Im doing and was worried I might have to stick it out and get a better road/gravel bike next summer but then I remembered I had this bike. I rode it yesterday and it rides really nice and eats up the miles. Im not doing any racing so I figured I might as well get this tuned up and start riding it regularly rather than getting the itch to buy something new
It does have a little click noise that I feel as I go through the pedal stroke and I accidentally smacked it off a pole while slowly coming onto a sidewalk but I dont think it did any other damage than destroying the vintage cat eye reflector where I hit the pole . It feels like it rides fairly straight but if I look at the wheels they both look a little misaligned in the frame. Im fairly novice to actual cycling , I mostly just rode bikes around the neighborhood as a kid so any advice is majorly appreciated. Biking as an adult feels like a whole new world, especially with the great trails Philly has. I never realized before how easy it is for me to zip downtown and back to the suburbs and all on a bike. Can ride down and get a beer at the park without dealing with any of the traffic , its honestly amazing
I dont really plan on doing any racing but im starting to do a lot of regular 20-50 mile rides around Philly and my modern hybrid bike is not as good as putting on the miles as this. I was kind of regretting purchasing a Hybrid since I already am outgrowing it with the distances Im doing and was worried I might have to stick it out and get a better road/gravel bike next summer but then I remembered I had this bike. I rode it yesterday and it rides really nice and eats up the miles. Im not doing any racing so I figured I might as well get this tuned up and start riding it regularly rather than getting the itch to buy something new
It does have a little click noise that I feel as I go through the pedal stroke and I accidentally smacked it off a pole while slowly coming onto a sidewalk but I dont think it did any other damage than destroying the vintage cat eye reflector where I hit the pole . It feels like it rides fairly straight but if I look at the wheels they both look a little misaligned in the frame. Im fairly novice to actual cycling , I mostly just rode bikes around the neighborhood as a kid so any advice is majorly appreciated. Biking as an adult feels like a whole new world, especially with the great trails Philly has. I never realized before how easy it is for me to zip downtown and back to the suburbs and all on a bike. Can ride down and get a beer at the park without dealing with any of the traffic , its honestly amazing
Engin Cycles in Chestnut Hill might also be able to help.
Enjoy your riding there. I dearly miss my days in Philly. It's so easy to get on a bike and "accidentally" wind up in Phoenixville.
EDIT to add this small anecdote: I just got my frame back from being aligned. I'd checked it over myself but turns out it needed a little love. I don't live in a very hot bike area these days and my searches were all dead ends. I happened to spend enough time in the Mechanic and Framebuilder sections of this forum and found a local guy who was up to the task. If you search/ask around those spots you may get lucky.
Last edited by The_Joe; 05-09-24 at 07:02 PM.
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05-09-24, 08:58 PM
#29
Newbie
There's no one better than Bilenky, except I heard a couple stories of extremely long waiting times for custom frames, like years. But that probably doesn't apply for repairs than can be done in a half-hour. Just try to get some commitment on how long it'll take.
That people are willing to wait for years to get some of his work can be taken as a testament to his skill and reputation. Not everyone was happy about the wait though, because it wsn't made clear at the outset how long it could end up taking. Usually when this happens the cause is some business or personal setback the builder experienced, like loss of a key employee* or house burned down, divorce or some such. No idea about Mr. Bilenky's business or personal life, I'm remembering some other custom framebuilder situations I've been aware of over the years.
* I did that to an employer once. Our custom tandems got a glowing review in Buycycling Magazine (they said it was the most "advanced" tandem they'd ever seen) and soon we had a 3-year waiting list. I was the only person there making the tandems. The owner hired a manager for the frame shop, and the new manager's first action as manager was to give me a 50% pay raise (from $4 to a whopping $6/hr, no joke!) and for a brief time I was able to actually pay my rent and eat. (BTW this was after working there for 5 years, and I was already an experienced journeyman when I was first hired.) Then the owner figured out why he was signing these larger checks, and he busted me back to my old wage! Somehow he was surprised when I didn't lay down for a 33% pay cut, and instead gave my notice. The shop I moved to paid me $8/hr to start, so it was a no-brainer for me (it was a cooler/better shop too). The old boss complained, something like "what am I going to do about all these tandem orders?" and I had to shrug and say it's not my problem. He hired a new apprentice, I trained him as my "notice". Nice guy but a beginner, so the frames that those people in the waiting list ended up getting weren't nearly as nice as the one they read about in Buycycling. I'm sure most people never noticed, however the people with the fork that separated (steerer came out of the crown) definitely noticed!
Moral #1: stay away from tandem frames made by a new apprentice with little to no oversight by anyone experienced. Corollary: know who is going to actually build your frame.
Moral #2: think hard about buying any custom frame, versus one you can test-ride before buying, and ride away the same day, versus a multi-year wait. I don't take that advice myself, I'm too much of a bike snob to ride off-the-shelf bikes for the most part, but I'm a weirdo, and I build them myself. I'm sure 99.999% of riders will be better off getting a stock frame.
Wow I guess I digressed from the topic at hand there, sorry!
That people are willing to wait for years to get some of his work can be taken as a testament to his skill and reputation. Not everyone was happy about the wait though, because it wsn't made clear at the outset how long it could end up taking. Usually when this happens the cause is some business or personal setback the builder experienced, like loss of a key employee* or house burned down, divorce or some such. No idea about Mr. Bilenky's business or personal life, I'm remembering some other custom framebuilder situations I've been aware of over the years.
* I did that to an employer once. Our custom tandems got a glowing review in Buycycling Magazine (they said it was the most "advanced" tandem they'd ever seen) and soon we had a 3-year waiting list. I was the only person there making the tandems. The owner hired a manager for the frame shop, and the new manager's first action as manager was to give me a 50% pay raise (from $4 to a whopping $6/hr, no joke!) and for a brief time I was able to actually pay my rent and eat. (BTW this was after working there for 5 years, and I was already an experienced journeyman when I was first hired.) Then the owner figured out why he was signing these larger checks, and he busted me back to my old wage! Somehow he was surprised when I didn't lay down for a 33% pay cut, and instead gave my notice. The shop I moved to paid me $8/hr to start, so it was a no-brainer for me (it was a cooler/better shop too). The old boss complained, something like "what am I going to do about all these tandem orders?" and I had to shrug and say it's not my problem. He hired a new apprentice, I trained him as my "notice". Nice guy but a beginner, so the frames that those people in the waiting list ended up getting weren't nearly as nice as the one they read about in Buycycling. I'm sure most people never noticed, however the people with the fork that separated (steerer came out of the crown) definitely noticed!
Moral #1: stay away from tandem frames made by a new apprentice with little to no oversight by anyone experienced. Corollary: know who is going to actually build your frame.
Moral #2: think hard about buying any custom frame, versus one you can test-ride before buying, and ride away the same day, versus a multi-year wait. I don't take that advice myself, I'm too much of a bike snob to ride off-the-shelf bikes for the most part, but I'm a weirdo, and I build them myself. I'm sure 99.999% of riders will be better off getting a stock frame.
Wow I guess I digressed from the topic at hand there, sorry!
I might ask at my local shop first that I’ve been using and see if they offer it. The guy there is super knowledgeable but it’s not super big of a facility so I’m not sure if they have the tools or not .
regardless I’m pretty excited to get it tuned up and start riding more. Prob need new grip tape as well, it’s peeling and also my hands were super sore today after the 40 mile ride yesterday. My pinky on the left side has been fairly tingly all day lol
05-09-24, 08:59 PM
#30
Newbie
they told me about 150 if it was a bare frame. I emailed them back to see ballpark what the cost is with disassembly and reassembly and will see what they say. Definitely glad I live in an area that is within riding distance of an experienced builder
05-09-24, 09:01 PM
#31
Newbie
Bilenky is a fantastic builder. Might be a touch of overkill for what you're needing, though I wouldn't hesitate to let anyone there touch my bike. Top notch.
Engin Cycles in Chestnut Hill might also be able to help.
Enjoy your riding there. I dearly miss my days in Philly. It's so easy to get on a bike and "accidentally" wind up in Phoenixville.
EDIT to add this small anecdote: I just got my frame back from being aligned. I'd checked it over myself but turns out it needed a little love. I don't live in a very hot bike area these days and my searches were all dead ends. I happened to spend enough time in the Mechanic and Framebuilder sections of this forum and found a local guy who was up to the task. If you search/ask around those spots you may get lucky.
Engin Cycles in Chestnut Hill might also be able to help.
Enjoy your riding there. I dearly miss my days in Philly. It's so easy to get on a bike and "accidentally" wind up in Phoenixville.
EDIT to add this small anecdote: I just got my frame back from being aligned. I'd checked it over myself but turns out it needed a little love. I don't live in a very hot bike area these days and my searches were all dead ends. I happened to spend enough time in the Mechanic and Framebuilder sections of this forum and found a local guy who was up to the task. If you search/ask around those spots you may get lucky.
05-09-24, 09:35 PM
#32
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Most of the bikes I've owned and worked on were 1970's era Raleigh's and all have had misaligned frames. This is the second bike I've worked on from the 1980's and both have misaligned frames. First was a ROSS Signature, this one is a SCHWINN Traveler.
How common is this?
How common is this?
As a mechanic who cut his teeth repairing hundreds of those mass-produced bikes in the early ‘80’s the answer is: we weren’t looking that closely. As long as the wheels turned and the gears shifted, the bike was going out the door. Pry apart the dropouts to mount the wheel? Sure! The customer probably won’t be removing the wheel themselves anyway.
This was also long before indexed shifting, so derailleur hanger alignment wasn’t all that important. If the derailleur was visibly bent, we bent it back with a Crescent wrench, adjusted the stops, and called it good.
That Traveler and that Ross probably weren’t checked that closely when new.
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05-10-24, 04:02 AM
#33
Full Member
If you get on the SRT in Manayunk you keep heading north/west. When you get to conshohocken the trail splits. One direction (I forget which) brings you to Ikea, the other gets you to Valley Forge. Pass Valley Forge and then you get into another trail that will bring you in Phoenixville. It's a little tricky if you're unfamiliar but if you use a GPS you'll figure it out.
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05-10-24, 08:19 AM
#34
Newbie
Somehow this discussion got hijacked into the realm of 753 and other high-end custom frames.
As a mechanic who cut his teeth repairing hundreds of those mass-produced bikes in the early ‘80’s the answer is: we weren’t looking that closely. As long as the wheels turned and the gears shifted, the bike was going out the door. Pry apart the dropouts to mount the wheel? Sure! The customer probably won’t be removing the wheel themselves anyway.
This was also long before indexed shifting, so derailleur hanger alignment wasn’t all that important. If the derailleur was visibly bent, we bent it back with a Crescent wrench, adjusted the stops, and called it good.
That Traveler and that Ross probably weren’t checked that closely when new.
As a mechanic who cut his teeth repairing hundreds of those mass-produced bikes in the early ‘80’s the answer is: we weren’t looking that closely. As long as the wheels turned and the gears shifted, the bike was going out the door. Pry apart the dropouts to mount the wheel? Sure! The customer probably won’t be removing the wheel themselves anyway.
This was also long before indexed shifting, so derailleur hanger alignment wasn’t all that important. If the derailleur was visibly bent, we bent it back with a Crescent wrench, adjusted the stops, and called it good.
That Traveler and that Ross probably weren’t checked that closely when new.
05-10-24, 10:24 AM
#35
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Somebody find me some crow to eat. I hear it tastes like chicken.
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