Pat, you were right about the alignment notches. i used the frame to measure to the center of the axl ends and it was off by almost a 1/4". Unfortunatly that didn't fix the problem. It's got to be a stretched chain. theres just nothing else i think it could be. I don't know why i didn't notice it before the tire swap, but somehow i must have simply not felt it. I'm about to go out and lift the bike so i can turn the wheel and check for tight spots in the chain. Are the stock chains very cheap? At 8.5k it just doesn't seem like it should already be shot, especially since i don't ride hard most of the time.
