I've seen a handful of frames from a certain US frame maker (who used to only weld aluminum frames and is now making carbon frames) that were extremely misaligned. IIRC, 3 or 4 out of the 9 (maybe 10?) frames we bought from them had the seatstays 3-6mm offset to one side so we would have to flex them sideways just to get the shock installed. The inherent sideloads on the shock made us cringe... Though once installed and aired up, the suspension ran smoothly enough. I also don't recall hearing of any premature shock failures.
April 18, 2020, 10:31 a.m. - Pnwpedal
I've seen a handful of frames from a certain US frame maker (who used to only weld aluminum frames and is now making carbon frames) that were extremely misaligned. IIRC, 3 or 4 out of the 9 (maybe 10?) frames we bought from them had the seatstays 3-6mm offset to one side so we would have to flex them sideways just to get the shock installed. The inherent sideloads on the shock made us cringe... Though once installed and aired up, the suspension ran smoothly enough. I also don't recall hearing of any premature shock failures.