[Morryjg]

I was working on my trials bike last night and when I was trying to pull off the rear wheel I discovered that the non-drive side dropout was bent. It's pinched together so that there is not enough room to pull the hub out. I'm not sure how I did it, but I am looking for suggestions/prior experiences for ideas on how to undo it.

Thanks!

 

[Wumpus]

What is the bike made out of?

If it is steel, you can just bend it back.

 

[Morryjg]

It's AL.

 

[oldfart]

All you can do is bend it back. If its not working now, you have to do something. If its bent too much, it might be toast. Can it be replaced? Perhaps a combination of filing material away along with some bending will get it close enough. The problem with aluminum is that you can't bend it a whole lot without weakening it. Plus heat treated aluminum can be a bear to bend. A long time ago when I worked as a mechanic we tried (4 of us with long levers) to "straighten" a Cannondale which had been in a car accident. The steel fork was replaced and the frame measured as bent with the frame tools. We could not move it so we assumed it was built crooked. We were right. The seat tube was offset to one side a bit making it appear the frame was bent. It road fine no hands after we built it back up and the wheels were lined up true.

 

[Morryjg]

Just got an email from PlanetX that said since it is Forged AL to file out the dropout so the hub will come out.

Thanks for the input 's.