Jamg2412

I have a Trek checkpoint ALR frame that I got as warranty replacement. So, I swapped all the component to this new frame but I have an issue, the rear wheel if it is aligned to the seat post tube is close to the chain stay in the drive side. if I align the wheel to the center of the chainstay, it is out of symmetry with the bike frame. Is this normal, to be a little close to the drive side than the non drive side.




Drive side


Non drive side



Few millimeters to the left side, actual position in the bike.

chas58

My bike has the same issue (mine is a Canyon). I'm guessing its to keep 2x drive train and a narrow Q-factor. Probably not as big an issue on a 1x only frame. I dished my rear wheel to move it over about 1mm.

mstateglfr 

Based on the DS and NDS chainstays being different shapes, I wouldn't be surprised to see the wheel is set off center too.
Brands make all sorts of design compromises to shove fat tires into frames while keeping a short wheelbase(425mm here).

Super pinched chainstays that give up stiffness.
Different shaped chainstays to allow for a road double crank.
Dropped chainstays to give crank clearance.
Elevated chainstays to give crank clearance(pretty sure this also gives up stiffness).

Trek making the DS chainstay closer to the tire isn't a surprise. It lets a road crank be used while still fitting a wide tire and keeping the chainstay length short.


Some could view it as excellent design while others could view it as a compromise to allow for other compromises.

chas58

Ugh, its not a defect, it looks to me to be how the frame was designed. Please don’t go modifying your frame or filing anything.

Its not an uncommon design with Gravel bikes (i.e. running wider tires on road components). If you are running 2x, there just isn’t a lot of space between the small chain ring and the tire. Some designers resolve this by making the frame1x only, some by dropping the chain stay, some by using mountain bike bottom brackets, some by giving tighter clearance on the drive side. Its all a balance and compromise when you are engineering something.

mstateglfr 

Wow, if that's a manufacturing defect, it's a crazy one.
The chainstays arent even close to being the same bend- the DS stay is clearly bent at a lesser degree and the NDS stay flares put earlier from the bottom bracket.

I assumed this is due to clearing the chainrings combined with 425mm stays. If they were 440mm stays, there would be less need for the the asymmetry.

Jamg2412

Thanks for the replies. I went to the bike shop to compare the frame with others of the same model and the variation AL4. The AL3 and AL4 is slightly aligned to the center of the NDS and DS but more centered to the seatpost tube. Now, in comparison with the ALR4 in black and blue the wheel is closer to the DS, but with some extra space. So, I decided to move the wheel 1 mm. Another fact is that the rim is more or less centered to the frame only with a variation of 1mm, this can be due to the shape of the chainstay in both sides.

chas58

Makes sense. That is what I did. Pretty easy to dish the wheel 1mm.

Rubberdduck

Hi, I jump onto this thread because I recently purchased a 2020 Checkpoint ALR 5 frame set and ran into the same issue. Would you mind telling me what width the tires on the pics have? And what do you mean by "moving" the wheel 1mm?
An answer would be highly appreciated! Thanks!

unterhausen

I'm pretty sure by "moving" he meant adjusting the spoke tension to move the wheel. I'm not sure I would bother, it likely isn't hurting anything

Rubberdduck

Thanks for the reply. I managed to center the wheel between the seat stays and to the seat tube. To get a little more Clearance to the DS chain stay I moved the rear wheel almost half way of the possible adjustment of the stranglehold dropouts backwards. I only have the feeling that the dropouts are not "perfectly" aligned now because the throughaxle fits not as easy as on the fork dropouts. Also the threaded pins for the stranglehold adjustment protrude unevenly from the adjustment bolts (6 mm on the left to 7 mm on the right. So I tried to figure out wether the rear end of the frame is symmetrical by putting a lace through the dropouts (without and with the stranglehold bolts assembled) and guiding it arround the steerer tube and then measured the distance of the lace to the seat tube on DS and NDS. Turned out that the distance on the DS always is 2 mm bigger than on the NDS even with the position of the dropouts where the wheel is centered. Is that deviation normal or within the tolerance?

trailangel

True the wheel first on a truing stand.

Rubberdduck

The wheel is not the problem. I put it in another bike where it sits perfectly centered. I also put the wheel with the cassette on the NDS in the Checkpoint frame and it was out of center on the same side for the same amount.

trailangel

Repeat:
True the wheel in a truing stand first.

Anna_Sazzi

Are the front and rear tires aligned? If you find a long straight crack in the sidewalk or such, if the front wheel rides in crack, is the back tire also on the crack?

Rubberdduck

Hi Anna_Sazzi,
did what you suggested in the gaps of our sidewalk and it Looks that the rear wheel seems to be pretty good aligned to the front wheel. I attached two pics of my "measurement" of the rear frame though.

Rubberdduck

Seems that I am not allowed to add pictures...

mstateglfr 

get to 10 posts, then you can. go say hi to people in the introductions forum and post the pic here.

Rubberdduck

OK, here we go...

trailangel

I guess take the bike back where you purchased it for Trek's frame warranty.

Rubberdduck

I talked to the Trek support today. They say that this is as designed to improve chainline and stiffness on the DS. Hm...don't know what to think about this.

trailangel

Check another frame ... the same design in the bike shop maybe?

chas58

I thought we answered this 6 months ago. This is not unusual - it is how the frame is designed (and Trek isn't the only one).
If you want to keep road bike Q-factor, use large tires, and have a 2x compatible frame - you have to compromise somewhere.
Some put a thin metal plate on that part of the chain stay, some go 1x only, some drop the chain stay, some use a wider bottom bracket - pick your poison.

Don't true the thing on a truing stand. Just dish the wheel a little to move it over 1mm if you really want to squeeze the largest possible tire in there.

Rubberdduck

I am Not concerned about the asymmetry of the chainstays. It"s the misalignment of the seat stays that I worry about. Because independently from the asymmetry of the Chain stays the dropouts should bei symmetricaly behind the seat Tube or am I wrong? Ist the fact that the DS drop out is a bit more to the right a consequence of the asymmetry of the chainstays?

trailangel

I'd be concerned about this if it were my bike. Why should you have to dish a wheel specially for a certain frame?

eastsideride

Hey there, Mitch from Trek here. You should not need to adjust anything on your rear wheel. This is apart of the design for the Checkpoint to have the wheel off centered for the chainline as our team mentioned to you. You should just focus on riding and enjoying the bike! The Checkpoint is a lot of fun and such a capable bike if you like being able to ride more than one place.