Of course there will still be a ripple remaining after rebending the frame. The area that distorted (the ripple) has work hardened. It will not bend as quickly as another area near by that hasn't been as cold worked. I never said that the ripple would need to go away for a frame repair. I was trying to say that the tube has changed it's length in a way that won't be restored by simple rebending. Aligning won't remove the missalignment, just add another to try to compensate for the first. Now the more skillful the repair person the less the extra stress that's added and the closer to a workable new geometry that results. I do agree that there is a workable range of head angle tolerance for a given fork geometry (to have a handling goal achieved).

One of my concerns with "lay people" doing this kind of repair is that they don't fully understand the factors involved and when "good enough" is achieved. Sometimes bending over and over again adding insult to injury. These same people often will neglect to monitor the frame/fork over the future. While steel is a wonderfully resilient material it will fail over time and if not looked for, the failure will happen when one doesn't expect it.

BYW I do know what I speak of. I've been doing this stuff since the mid 1970s. Learned from a number of very experienced guys along the way as well as my frame building work. I haven't bothered to count the repair jobs and have learned that more often then not they're not worth doing. But there are always the exception and these I consider. Andy.