Bicycle Mechanics - Ouch...my new bike damaged. Help!

Two months ago I bought a Ritchey Break Away cross bike and brought it over to Italy with me. I went for a ride today and stopped at one point to relieve myself on the side of the road. I leaned my bike against a street post and when I stepped aside a gust of wind knocked it over. I was bummed that it had a scratch on the derailuer but figured it was no big deal. I started riding and it worked fine, then started shifting rough. Next thing I know I am coming to a halt because the derailuer got hung up in the cassette. It mangled the derailuer and bent the dropout tab in quite severly. I am wondering what to do. Anyone straighten a badly bent tab? I have little in the way of tools since I'm far from home but I do work at an Italian factory and could possibly borrow some of thier tools. I'll look for a vise tomorrow, only thing I can think of is put it in a large vise and bend it back.

Two months ago I bought a Ritchey Break Away cross bike and brought it over to Italy with me. I went for a ride today and stopped at one point to relieve myself on the side of the road. I leaned my bike against a street post and when I stepped aside a gust of wind knocked it over. I was bummed that it had a scratch on the derailuer but figured it was no big deal. I started riding and it worked fine, then started shifting rough. Next thing I know I am coming to a halt because the derailuer got hung up in the cassette. It mangled the derailuer and bent the dropout tab in quite severly. I am wondering what to do. Anyone straighten a badly bent tab? I have little in the way of tools since I'm far from home but I do work at an Italian factory and could possibly borrow some of thier tools. I'll look for a vise tomorrow, only thing I can think of is put it in a large vise and bend it back.

I'm not familiar with that bike, but does it happen to have a derailuer hangar, which are designed to be sacrificial and easily replaced.

Check out this site: http://www.derailleurhanger.com/ Unfortunately, it doesn't list Ritchey bikes.

No, it doesn't have a replaceable one. I wish it did, would have snapped off, I think.

Looks like I am not alone...http://mountainbike.about.com/od/basicbikemaintenance/f/Der_to_spokes.htm

Two months ago I bought a Ritchey Break Away cross bike and brought it over to Italy with me. I went for a ride today and stopped at one point to relieve myself on the side of the road. I leaned my bike against a street post and when I stepped aside a gust of wind knocked it over. I was bummed that it had a scratch on the derailuer but figured it was no big deal. I started riding and it worked fine, then started shifting rough. Next thing I know I am coming to a halt because the derailuer got hung up in the cassette. It mangled the derailuer and bent the dropout tab in quite severly. I am wondering what to do. Anyone straighten a badly bent tab? I have little in the way of tools since I'm far from home but I do work at an Italian factory and could possibly borrow some of thier tools. I'll look for a vise tomorrow, only thing I can think of is put it in a large vise and bend it back.

Too much information.

If the dropout is steel, then yes, you can bend it back. Use a very large adjustable wrench to grab the dropout and bend it back.

How about trying an Italian LBS. Surely they could do that for you without the risk of you not getting it straight.

+1

Italians have been making and repairing bikes for many years. Any decent bike shop should be able to put things right again.

I don't trust some of the bike shop owners around here. Italy is a strange place. The shops I do like, and trust, are in a town 2 hours south of me, the area I am in now is all new to me.

There is a large tool that screws into the hanger like a derailluer and is used to bend the derailleur back into place. It is also long enough to reach the rim and is used to reset the alignment. If the shop has one of those then odds are they know how to use one. Italians know steel bikes and how to fix them. Find a shop with a mechanic older than 40 and they can probably do a good job. If they tell you that the tab can't be fixed because it is too bent then you will need the rear triangle of the bike replaced. A good mechanic will "feel" how the metal responds to the bend back when cold setting the steel. Good luck.

PS: How do you like the Ritchey breakaway? I am thinking of getting one (cross) for travelling and rough road riding. Send a private message if you will.

There is a large tool that screws into the hanger like a derailluer and is used to bend the derailleur back into place. It is also long enough to reach the rim and is used to reset the alignment. If the shop has one of those then odds are they know how to use one. Italians know steel bikes and how to fix them. Find a shop with a mechanic older than 40 and they can probably do a good job. If they tell you that the tab can't be fixed because it is too bent then you will need the rear triangle of the bike replaced. A good mechanic will "feel" how the metal responds to the bend back when cold setting the steel. Good luck.

PS: How do you like the Ritchey breakaway? I am thinking of getting one (cross) for travelling and rough road riding. Send a private message if you will.


Thanks, I may drive down south. I know one old guy that is real nice, doesn't gouge like some shops here. I have been in his workshop before and he has lots of stuff.

I love the bike, sad that this happened after just two months. I kinda wish I had bought the ti model though. All my other bikes are ti but the price seemed steep for a bike I wasn't sure I would like. One reason I always go ti is no paint to scratch. I get a painted bike for once and guess what...I have lots of scratches now.

I really like the fact it's a cross bike also. Being able to ride with larger tires helps in places like this where the roads can get rough. Another good thing is you can disconnect the brakes easier if you put an old fashioned hanger on the brake straddle cable. With road brakes you have to remove the front and use a quick disconnect on the rear which scares me.

What happened is that when the bike fell over it hit on the RD (thus the scratch) and bent the hanger out of alignment. Now you know: When the bike falls on the drive side, the hanger alignment is the first thing to check. Mk.I eyeball works good, but bending it back isn't always easy without the tool.

Where are you that they are friendlier in the south?

I'm in the Foggia/Manfredonia area. I wouldn't say they are friendlier in the south, maybe opposite, just that I know a guy that is. It's hit and miss here. Some people are very cool, some are not. "Foreigner" is a bad word in some parts of the world. I actually had some bike shop owner in Martina Franca refuse to even serve me because he didn't seem to want to deal with me and my poor Italian. Some guy named Longo in Ostuni is real helpful. He is the '93 Italian champion, has his own line of bikes, but doesn't look like he does much work on bikes, shop is a mess too. The guy I mentioned before is in Monteasi, Bici Mania is the name of the place. I'm sure he can fix it.

Ritchey told me they wont replace the rear triangle. They said try to bend it or have a frame builder braze on a new dropout/hanger.

Hey - Imagine this thread is still alive - I am assuming somewhere in Italy - If still there consider going to a small shop in Vicenza - Liotto bike shop - You want to talk to one of the frame builders - Preferably over a liter of wine and two calzonies...