AKRX

I am not too sure if it was like this when I got it, but it seems weird. My rear tire has plenty of clearance from the chainstay on the drivetrain side, but on the disc side, there is very little. This becomes a pain when I'm in the mud. Could this be part of the bikes design, or does something smell odd about this? Could there be something wrong with the hub's alignment, or is it a bent frame? Can you fix a bent aluminum mountain bike frame?

I can't see whether or not the wheel is aligned with the seatstay. The toptube obstructs my view.

Retro Grouch 

My bet is that your rear wheel's "dish" is off. A quick, dirty way to check is reinstall your wheel in the frame backward. If the clearance is now on the non-drive side you need to have your wheel's dish corrected.

SweetLou

Flip the wheel and see if you have the same problem with the other side.

Bill Kapaun

If the QR isn't tight enough, you can "pull" that side forward under hard pedaling.

Retro Grouch 

I doubt that's it in this case. I haven't seen any rear disc brake bikes with horizontal dropouts.

sivat

The surly karate monkey is that way.

AKRX

Well, I flipped the wheel, and when I do, it is almost centered (there is still a bit less on the left chainstay, where the disc would have been.

So... bent frame AND unaligned wheelset? I think I might just take it in to the shop and have them set up the wheel so the clearance centers.

Servo888

I was going to post a similar thread; but I think I have the same issue. If I look down the back of my bike, and the rear wheel is 1/4" off center from the top tube. I'm 100% sure it's not a bent frame, because the wheel is on there perfectly (parallel to the frame), it's just 'pushed' to one side. The interesting thing is that I'm also 80% sure (still need to double check) that the wheel fits perfectly on my other frame.

SweetLou

Check to see if the frame is straight. I doubt if you have the tool, but you can use string. Take the rear wheel off the bike. Tie a piece of string around one of the dropouts, take the string to the other drop out, then up to the head tube, around the bike to the original dropout, then tie the string off to something. Make sure the string sections from the head tube to the dropouts go through the drop outs at the same place and nothing is causing one to be pushed out. Measure the distance from the seat tube to the string on both sides, they should be equal.

SweetLou

Well, if the wheel is dished correctly, then you should have the same problems with both bikes. If not, then one of your bikes' frame is bent. Or you have one of those strange offset chainstay bikes. Do the string test that I mentioned above.