Chainstays replacement
#1
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Joined: Dec 2006
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From: Toronto/Montréal
Bikes: Eight homemade, three very dusty
Chainstays replacement
Haven't posted here in ages. I'm doing a repair on one of my frames so I'll show what I'm doing.
I built this frame ~15 years ago. Somewhere along the way the chainstays got crushed by the kickstand via the support plate. Not sure how that happened. I noticed the dents last year but this time I saw a crack. I chopped the plate, unbrazed the stubs, cleaned up and saw two cracks on each stays. Ouch. They have to go.



Some residual strain but not too much. I unbrazed the dropout sides and cut the chainstay stubs into quarters using a mini hacksaw. Use the cut outside the lug as a guide. You'll feel the saw glide when you hit the brass line.


Next is the unbrazing. I used some pliers to wiggle out the sections out one by one. Removing them becomes easier after the second. Some broke off inside; one piece just wouldn't come out. More work for the file.

The graveyard.
I built this frame ~15 years ago. Somewhere along the way the chainstays got crushed by the kickstand via the support plate. Not sure how that happened. I noticed the dents last year but this time I saw a crack. I chopped the plate, unbrazed the stubs, cleaned up and saw two cracks on each stays. Ouch. They have to go.



Some residual strain but not too much. I unbrazed the dropout sides and cut the chainstay stubs into quarters using a mini hacksaw. Use the cut outside the lug as a guide. You'll feel the saw glide when you hit the brass line.


Next is the unbrazing. I used some pliers to wiggle out the sections out one by one. Removing them becomes easier after the second. Some broke off inside; one piece just wouldn't come out. More work for the file.

The graveyard.
Last edited by tuz; 04-28-26 at 06:47 PM.
#2
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Joined: Feb 2012
Posts: 19,339
Likes: 5,451
From: Rochester, NY
Bikes: Stewart S&S coupled sport tourer, Stewart Sunday light, Stewart Commuting, Stewart Touring, Co Motion Tandem, Stewart 3-Spd, Stewart Track, Fuji Finest, Mongoose Tomac ATB, GT Bravado ATB, JCP Folder, Stewart 650B ATB
Ouch! I've attached a few K stand mounting plates (just did one for my city bike yet to be painted) and one thing I do is to braze on an axle spacer onto the plate where the mounting bolt hole is. This allows the K stand to be very tightly clamped but have none of that force acting on the stays. There's no top plate and with a tall enough spacer access to the bolt head is still good. The other thing I do is to braze on little posts that will cradle the K stand body and prevent it from rotating (due to the swing of the leg). Glad to see you fixing up the bike. Andy.
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AndrewRStewart
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