zendot

I'm building a bike for a vintage festival in three weeks' time (L'Eroica Britannia) and have just spotted that the dropout on the rear drive side is significantly bent inwards. The wheel goes on OK, but the derailleur sits at an angle and I'm pretty sure it's not going to shift properly, if at all. I'm guessing that my options include (i) get the dropout bent straight again, (ii) bend the rear derailleur hanger to offset the bend in the dropout and (iii) use a shim of some sort to attach the hanger to the dropout straight. If I try bending the dropout straight am I likely to damage the paintwork? It's not the end of the world if it does, and it's clearly the best long-term solution, but I won't be able to get it touched up in time for the festival. Are either of the other options worth trying? Are there any others? I'd appreciate all thoughts. Thanks.

AnkleWork

Maybe torque the wheel nut onto it and see what happens.

dsbrantjr

Straighten the dropout. Besides causing poor derailleur performance it will put undue stress on the rear axle and bearings. People have dropouts/derailleur hangers straightened all of the time without problems. If the paint hasn't gotten damaged being bent it likely won't be by being straightened.

Retro Grouch 

Piece of cake.

Get out your biggest crescent wrench. Pad the jaws with a shop towel to protect the paint and clamp the jaws around the dropout. Now just bend the dropout until it looks straight. That'll be close enough for a 5-speed freewheel.

CliffordK

+1

It should have been done before painting, but better late than never. I'm not sure if the rag is necessary, but that is a nice fresh paint job.

rmfnla

Just go easy with it.

Judging by that construction that frame is mild steel, and as such will weaken up pretty quickly with too much bending...

zendot

Many thanks everyone. Emboldened by your encouragement, I went ahead and tried straightening the dropout with a padded wrench as suggested. It seemed to work pretty well: There's a very slight "S" bend to it now but overall it looks reasonably straight and the paintwork survived undamaged. With a deeper-jawed wrench and a lot more skill I could possibly get it straighter but, yes, it's a relatively low-end mild steel frame and I don't want to overdo it. I guess I'll see just how straight it is once the chain's on and I'm shifting through the gears. No doubt I'll be back on Bicycle Mechanics - the most responsive forum on the site, in my experience - before too long. Again, I appreciate all your advice.

elessar007

If this is not a showpiece bike or you simply don't want to go through the expense, small chips in the paint can be remedied by using a small wire wheel in a Dremel tool to remove any rust and loose paint and then using gloss enamel paint from a hobby store. Enamel is very good provides you do good surface prep. A small bottle usually costs two dollars or so. A bit of mineral spirits for clean up and you are back in business.