me to? i can see it, u shaped piece of sheet on an ancle to the floor and a container on the low end to catch the runoff
i align the wheels not the chain? but many bikes with double sided swing-arms the adjustment marks can be out, how do you align the chain on a single-sider? shim? i admit never thought of chain alignment? all my life i have sighted the wheel alignment which is done by balancing the amount visible of the front edge of the rear tyre against the rear edge of the front tyre, (required because of different Tyre widths)
LOL @Breakout998 Damn I lost out on my multi-million pound idea by sharing it online! Although version two will have the ability to do up & down & change angle.
@GunZenBomZ - Mate THAT is brilliant!!! I like it a LOT! Thanks for posting man! and Wurth Dry... You are aligning the tyres, not the wheels. I also have a laser alignment system that bolts to the front and rear tyres - it is no good - tyres are not uniform in size or shape. If you want to align the wheels you need a laser system that mounts onto the wheel rims directly AND perfectly straight wheel rims. I don't bother with aligning the wheels now, I just make sure the front wheel is centred correctly in the forks before final tightening, and I align the front and rear sprockets with a chain laser as it has drastically reduced my wear rates on expensive chains and sprockets. I don't know how to adjust it on a SSA as I don't have a bike with an SSSA - they are too heavy - the carbon fibre BST SSSA is heavier than the OEM alloy DSSA
?? if you have good wheels, (which you should have, radially concentric, and normal to the axle); only then would the extra precision of the Laser alignment be of a net benefit, spin the wheel, check that it is straight. spin the wheel check the tyre is mounted properly on the rim and the mounting line (if it has one) is concentric with the edge of the Rim? line the tyres up? I appreciate the precision of your method, but it still fails and doesnt illuminate incorrectly mounted tyres and damaged wheels. I am also agreeing with you that chain and sprocket life will improve with sprocket alignment, but for sprocket alignment to produce perfect wheel tracking that is determined by the accuracy of the steering head /frame/ swing pivot, and swingarm, geometry? To set the handling of the bike by the chain geometry assumes the frame is true and the countershaft and sprocket and wheel sprocket centers are infact as designed. I suggest you check the bikes wheel geometry and then correct the chain geometry to suit. not the other way? My experience is ;25yrs ago when a motorcycle mechanic that the rear axle alignment markings were usually wrong? and at a minimum should be checked against ideal wheel tracking. Chain alignment will only cause service life issues if the links are side loaded and the pins bushes are out of plane to the sprocket drive surfaces. This is obvious if your Renthal... alloy rear sprocket shows more witness on one side of the sprocket anodizing if there is a sprocket misalignment I am interested to see if manufacturing accuracy of modern bikes is such that wheel alignment can be set by chain alignment? your idea has interested me? but respectfully i will not adopt it untill I have proven the accuracy of your method on every bike I try it on. Precision bike alignment services, jigs, lazers etc have only proven to me that every bike frame is different; due to manufacturing variance or cumulative damage resulting possibly from accidents
That's all well and good mate, reality is this - if you're not gonna get your frame on a jig built to the manufacturer's spec and get it straightened where necessary if it's out here and there then the sprocket method is good enough for me - as long as I have centred the front wheel as stated earlier, job done.
WD-40 Chain cleaner. Mega stuff and powerful. You'll only need to use a soft brush if your chain is really neglected. Follow up with either their Chain Wax (wet/dry weather) or Lube (dry conditions). I'm very impressed with all of their bike specific products.
