Originally Posted by
SJX426
Drop bars have multiple radical bends! I don't know if they are annealed after bending or not. I suspect not, so what is wrong with bending them back? Work hardening of AL is an issue but they were bent severely to begin with!
Has anyone seen stress crazing or fractures on new bars from the forming process? Does anyone know what the process yield is for material failure as opposed to dimensional deviations?
I have spent my adult life working with metal and built up hundreds of vintage bicycles. One thing that I do know for sure is that aluminum does NOT like to be bent. Fractures are all but guaranteed. With that in mind, there is no way that I would attempt to bend the bars back, even if they were something special. Too dangerous, in my opinion.