I just purchased a softride on craigslist and was pumped because I got a pretty sweet deal. Everything looked good when I test road and inspected it before the purchase. Then when I got home and started to read about how to adjust the beam I noticed it was installed incorrectly. After I set it up properly it became apparent that the beam was crooked because the frame was bent where the beam connects to the frame. I tried calling the dude I bought it from but he isn't responding. Is it possible to bend this piece back it would only need to be bent about a centimeter. Thanks for your help.


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This is at an angle and exaggerates the bending.

I think this was one of the disadvantages of the Beam bikes. In a crash the beam would act like a pry bar or folcrum and the force put on the beam would place an extreme amount of force on that connector.

I think the part that is bent can be bent back... but would take much careful thought and might be best left to an expert. You might even try contacting customer service- https://www.softride.com/bike-forms/index.html

Well you can bend it back if it is a steel frame but the bigger issue would be is the top tube bent also. Take a yard stick or ruler and run it down the side of the frame, left and right to see if it is bowed at all. The other thing to do is get some fishing line and run it from the rear dropout up to the front of the head tube and back to the other dropout, then take some calipers and measure the distance between the string and the seatube of the frame and see if there is any difference between sides. If not the the frame should be straight. If not a frame shop can realign the frame. Also check forks to make sure wheel sets in straight and the tires center tread should be centered to the brakes mounting bolt and centered to the frames head tube. Good luck

Sorry hadn't seen the pics. yet, I was thinking old school Softride. So the bottom picture looks like it is not centered with the main downtube, but if the beam is centered with the mainframe then I probably wouldn't worry about it. The other thing to do is flip it over and sight down the frame through to the back wheel and see if this is in a straight line, if not it will be very noticable. If this is off as well the the frame is totaled as it will not go in a straight line ridding no handed, it will always pull to one side. And this is not repairable.

I'm wondering it the right diameter and length pipe through the hole where the eccentric goes might provide enough leverage to cold set it back straight.....if it is a steel frame. maybe you can even just lay the frame on your lawn when you cold set it back straight to spread the bending loads so you don't end up bending something else on the frame. Just go slowly and carefully and check often as you go as you don't want to collapse the walls of the down tube too and end up with a bigger problem.

Good luck!, hope you get it fixed and back on the road soon!

Chombi

Those welds suggest it is an aluminium frame.

If it is aluminum, the frame might be a goner as Al frames do not take well to any cold setting as the material tends to crack.
You might still take it to a frame builder anyway to get a final professional opinion on it.

Good Luck, hope it can still be saved.

Chombi

I'd try really hard to get the money back.

The frame is aluminum (I have the Powerwing which is very similar to the Qualifier). Try to get your money back first, as trying to bend it back may not work.

Interesting that you did not notice during the test ride. Did it appear OK and ride OK? Maybe the "incorrect" beam hardware installation was attempting to compensate for the offset?