Thanks for the photos.

There is a fine explanation of frame alignment at Sheldon Brown's site.

Gives easy instructions for checking the alignment and then how to do the cold setting.

No exotic/special tools are required:

Bicycle Frame/Hub Spacing

Emergency Bicycle Frame Repairs

A length of string and a straightedge are enough to check for symmetry.

Thanks - I've got two - my other one is an earlier model and higher spec - campagnolo nuovo record etc - I think this is a later lower spec model...

This is how to check, center and straighten the stays. You will also need to ensure that the drops are parallel, once done.

It ain't rocket surgery...

Cool bike. Fix it.

Good call.

Looks like a nice frame indeed. And you never said anything about it being chrome! Seems worthy of saving...the bike shop, not so much.

Yep. Realign it. There are lots of inexpensive ways to do this. If you can't do it yourself, find a local bike person to help.

Looks like a nice bike. Thanks for the pics

Based on the pics I would say get a second opinion from another bike shop or expert. That bike looks nice there's a good chance it doesn't need anything done to it. If it tracks fine and shifts good you can probably ride it just fine the way it is there shouldn't be any safety issues.

From that picture, I'm pretty sure of one thing. Wrong bike shop. Since you went to them to have a rear derailleur mounted, I'm guessing you wouldn't be comfortable trying to re-align your frame after reading about it. I suggest you find another LBS or co-op or local C&V crowd to help you out. If you enjoy older bikes this won't be the last time something comes up. I would not be inclined to go back to the first shop for any more help or "advice".

Nice looking bike!

Uhmmm.... how much did they think a quick cold setting session on your bike might have cost??
Judging from your pics, it does not look like the misalignment is that bad, as I cannot see it.....
I bet I can get it close enough to straight in less than 30 minutes......with just the minimum experience I had, cold setting the rear stays on my bikes back in the 80's.....

Wrong, don't bend it back. It's not easily repairable.

I can take it off of your hands, I'll even pay the shipping.

;-)

I took a more useful pic from the back this morning....

Interesting misalignment shown.

This is one where a frame table would reveal all very quickly.

Dang, that's not such a big deal of a misalignment. definitely fixable.
It could be a quick and simple realignment project you could do yourself, if you want to try it, but I could not see too much danger doing such a relatively small adjustment on the frame. Heck, frankly, through the years, I've known guys to continue to ride their bikes with similar amounts of misalignments without any problems.... they sometimes just straighten the wheel position by adjusting their rear dropout axle stop screws.

There was a recent thread on cold setting. That's all this rear triangle needs. Bottom line: do it yourself if you're comfortable with that, or take it to a person with a frame table. The person with the frame table will get all the tubes perfect, including the main triange. The DIY one is quicker, but you have to be comfortable bending the frame.

Either way, there's no reason to junk it.

I once spread a rear triangle with some threaded rod, nuts and washers (and string to check alignment). I wonder if the same thing would work here in reverse.

A decent LBS should be able to realign that with a reasonable degree of accuracy. That is completely fixable. We would routinely cold set and realign frames more tweaked than this when I worked in bike shops, using nothing more than the standard Park frame bending and alignment tools. It does sound like you will need to find a shop with employees that are familiar with steel. If anything should be binned, it is the LBS that told you it was trashed.

Sure, a framebuilder with a table will be able to do a more perfect job, but it is not necessary for something like this.

Great - thanks for all the feedback - I will definitely save it (and find a news LBS)...