Originally Posted by
Peloton44
I have been in contact with the seller regarding my problems. He says he always ships his bikes the same way and has not had any problems. However, we both agree that rather than waiting for USPS or Canada Post to decide whose fault it is, that he will compensate me a reasonable amount for my troubles. So I am looking for some advise. Worst case scenario, the frame is bent and the dropout is cracked and needs to be repaired. Since my local bike shops are not able to do this work, and I won't be able to get to the city for some time, does anybody have any ideas about how much this type of work might cost? Thanks.
Good luck, if you bought on ebay, you should have already filed a claim. In my experience, carriers will blame the packaging on the damage, and they are probably right. Unless the seller supported that dropout, he packed it wrong IMHO. The fact he has gotten lucky in the past does not matter. And any carrier is going to want to inspect the box and all packaging materials.
I got a similar damaged dropout on an ebay bike, poorly packed (nothing to protect the dropouts).
New frames come packaged with a simple but effective plastic brace, that snaps right in. I get them from the local LBS and use them on my shipments. Even with that brace in place, the RD hanger is exposed, and protected as well.
I would either get it to a qualified shop right away, or return it. Until they inspect it and start the repair, it will be hard to guess the full extent of the damage. Looks minor to me, but I am just looking at a small pic of one drop out. Call your preferred shop and ask them for a quote.