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Old 04-19-11, 07:08 PM
  #15  
triplechainring
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Originally Posted by briwasson
I based that comment on "easily" flexing our 1989/90 Santana Rio, 140mm spaced, to accommodate a modern 145mm rear wheel. Was easy to do by hand.
Gotta go with the conspirator on this one. I just completely rebuilt an '87 Arriva - wheels, down tubes to lever controls, new tranny, the works. The new hub is 145 so the rear had to be re-spaced from 140 to 145. I took the frame to my favorite bike shop in Indianapolis - the owner has a lot of frame experience. We started with the frame in a stand with two strong guys pulling on the stays. Nothing. We wound up with the frame on the floor with two guys holding the beast down and third pulling up with the stay setting tool. After a real struggle we got the required 2.5mm per side. Don't forget, after the frame has been spread slightly past 5mm, the dropouts have to be bent back to parallel or the wheel won't lock in properly. There are very expensive tools for this operation that most bike shops do not have. Like they say on the funny video shows - Do Not Try This At Home! - best left to frame pros.

Last edited by triplechainring; 04-19-11 at 07:09 PM. Reason: number error
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