Advice on bent RD?
 

I bought a nice schwinn Prelude frame with a bent RD (original Cyclone). The frame tab (about 1/2" square) area is also slightly bent.
Any advice on how to fix this?

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/7...1161yp5.th.jpg http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/3...1162nn0.th.jpg

My advice:

1. Replace the derailleur with a new one.

2. Take the bike to a good bike shop and have the derailleur hanger (the "tab") checked for alignment.

have the hanger aligned (you can do it yourself, carefully, with an adjustable wrench if it's not bent too badly), then see what the derailleur tells you. friction derailleurs can take a lot and still work; sometimes you have to tweak the cage a little to eliminate chain noise.

I have a couple candidate RD to use. The current RD is actually attached directly to the frame.

Thanks, the deraileur hanger is actually part of the frame. It's not bent much. I like the idea of using an adjustable wrench.

I had the exact same problem with the Woodrup I aquired. I did what HillRider said. IMHO, I wanted a pro who's done this before to correct the frame lest I make a mistake and suddenly have a very nice single speed frame. All Star Bikes of Cary, NC did a great job. He fixed the derailer too, but I replaced it anyway.

Hangers are difficult to align without a gage. Take it to someone who has one and knows how to use it. Watch him do it. Go from there.