This $220 DNR Designs Tool Will Help You Align Your Handlebars
DNR Designs have released a new tool that takes away the guesswork from achieving a perfect handlebar alignment.
The 'Keep it True' tool clamps onto your bars using bands at either side of the stem clamp, and the tool then runs down to your fork stanchions. You simply need to adjust the bars until the two prongs at the bottom fo the tool touch the stanchions evenly. Although not a necessary tool for home mechanics it does look to massively simplify the process of getting a good alignment between the bars and front wheel.
The DNR Designs Keep it True tool is available now for $220. You can find out more here.
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TL;DR - You would have to see up to a years worth of bikes come through the shop to break even on this tool.
Not a single eyeball out there can guarantee a straight pair of bars. But the tool can. Simply look your client in the eye and say "We set the bars as best we could with our untrained eyes. We have a new tool, but there's a $10 service fee to 100% guarantee they are indeed straight no matter what you think your eyes or grip or balance are trying to tell you. If you'd like. We can set the bars with it first tune up at $5 for you. I'd feel better if we did. So you want me to do it?"
Some guy just handed you between $50 - $150 bucks to install a headset or cut a steerer tube. Is he going to tell you "NO...I'll take the eyeball alignment" Plenty of guys will hand you $5.00. 40 bikes and you profit.
Most importantly, you've just added a level of accuracy to the service department that people didn't know they needed, they now trust you more & they're going to send their friends to you. If you "work" for a shop and are talking down about the tool, you need to go to your shop owner, discuss your compensation scale and ask for training to get you to a better mindset so you can help customers and your shop stay in business.
This isn't available from YT or Canyon right?
Part 1 - Issue. Looking at the production model on their website (has a threaded bar clamp mechanism)...... an experienced bike technician would have the bars straight and torqued to spec in the time it takes to put this contraption on and take it off. Setup and removal time may out-weight the benefit of the tool in a professional environment.
Where this tool may be useful is in new bike assembly as each bike would need the headset preload checked and bar/stem setup?
Analysis. At a $90/hr shop rate you're looking at $1.50/min. To answer the question, if this tool somehow saved 30 seconds per bike it would take 293 bikes to recoup the $220 initial cost.
Side note... Why would they make an advertising video using a prototype bar clamp which varies from the production model? I get the fun in a father son business, but if you're going to ask a premium price, at least try to have a somewhat professional appearance.
However, if the technician isn't able to align the bars by eye, that would be a concern for me as a customer and/or shop owner.
I'd see it more so as a tool to differentiate the shop from another. We have this tool and the other shop doesn't.
And still, 220$ is massively overpriced for this thing. It's just some anodised aluminium plate and a few blocks that wrap around the handlebar.
Do these "techs" also need an alignment tool for the saddle? Do they run a feeler gauge between the tool and the forks for perfect alignment?
While I’m there getting the job done I’ll probably pick up a few things too.
Equation could be improved to take into account the average amount of time it takes without this tool.
or... spend a few seconds aligning bars, tighten.
I think we have a clear winner.
That was my point, that he is dividing the cost of the tool by the labor to use the tool, but not take into account the time to do it without the tool.
E.g.
With hypothetical number here...
With tool: 60s
Without tool: 90s
ROI needs to then be calculated in 30s intervals, not 60s. To reach the ROI will take a whole lot longer than just dividing the time it take to align the bars with the tool by the gross profit from the labor (cannot use the labor rate directly either). Just saying that the ROI analysis take into account too few factors.
Without tool: 15s
With tool: 60s (fetch tool, install)
There is no ROI if you factor in time.
Your bars either have no backsweep, or are perfectly centered in the stem and the tool is perfectly centered around the stem. Does it guarantee a straighter bar that most people can provide by eye? Probably. Is it perfect? No. There's too much variability in clamping, placement, and how previous parts of the bike are set up.
Personally I'll take my chances lining up my bars by eye, but you make a good argument.
Let the shop manager or owner work with the customer and build value for the service and go fondle a micrometer while the people who comprehend the value proposition take care of the customer.
cyclingtips.com/2017/11/tune-spurtreu-stem-alignment-tool-review
I give you the Tark Pool SAG-1
i.imgur.com/oT5lbnj.jpg
Is it made in canada or US?
Currently using my eyeballs for bar alignment as they are us made.
has the trade never seen what precision tools cost? Whats next, Allen sets that cost 2x more, $30 adjustable wrenches, $15 dollar screwdrivers? Come on.
If you can't put my bars on straight DO NOT touch my bike.
I've been a trade mechanic for over 15 years, im well aware of what tools cost, and im well aware of what an overpriced tool is.
I was saying that quality tools are expensive, they are worth it, and they must be evaluated for their purpose and quality independent of the brand stamped on them. Most tool brands source their tools from different manufacturers. Park tool is overwhelming garbage. Pedro's is not far behind. Quality tools are usually german or Japanese these days. And they do cost a lot. Abby is for show, I think their designs are terrible. I pick my tools by their quality and function alone. There is a wide range of brands in my collection. Also, I have been a craftsman of many trades, and a bicycle and ski mechanic for 17 years. Try not to jump to conclusions about what you know about me or my tool preferences...we probably see things more similarly than you realize. As for expensive screwdrivers, there are far more variables to consider than most people realize. What you plan to use it for, whether you need high quality for that or not, multifunctional reasons. Many tool decisions come down to how often it will be used, what you require of it when it's used, and how often you want to replace them. Quality tools pay off in the end if they are used enough and used in an appropriate manner.
bikemag.com/videos/bike-hack-get-straight-go-forward
- A wide scope of customer ranging from zero bike repair knowledge and little money to knowing a lot with a lot of money. And all the combos in between. The mere existence of this tool might have one of our customers demanding we have it and use it.
- A wide variety of tools. Some we still don't have and should, because we already have necessary tools that people in the comments section would expect a shop to have but only get used a couple of times a year.
Does this tool have a place and purpose? Sure. Does it for you? Maybe, maybe not. You can quit ragging on people's eyesight problems or lack of ability or a shop's ability to assess things for themselves. Having options in the world is a good thing (tools, cars, investments, cancer treatments, food), and things that don't work well will sort themselves out (tools, cars, investments, cancer treatments, food).
Post up your diy tools for assessment please.
I'll just wait for the Amazon-special rip-offs that make the same tool for $15. Maybe then they'll come down to something more reasonable, thereafter.
so it could be to one side and then its out of this fantastical alignment that you cant get without the tool?
I like tools but this is rubbish.
(looks at the flag pic an chuckles)
a dimple in the inner of the stem, which slides into a groove machined on the steerer tube.
Ocd solved.