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Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,009
Bikes: SOMA Grand Randonneur, Gunnar Sport converted to 650B, Rivendell Rambouillet, '82 Trek 728, '84 Trek 610, '85 Trek 500, C'Dale F600, Burley Duet, Lotus Legend
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Two reasons to cold set the frame (which is easy to do): 1) So that it is less of a pain in the butt to change a tire at 4 am after you've already ridden 220 miles, and 2) So that you can adjust the angle on the dropouts slightly if you're concerned that having it wrong will provide undesired torque on the axle. The "spread it with your hands while installing the wheel" method only works really well when I can use a third arm to slide the wheel in while using my right arm to hold the derailleur out of the way while pulling the frame to the right, and my left arm to pull the frame to the left. Otherwise, if a third arm is not available, it can be a little tricky.