Bent Aluminum Frame

Quoted message said:

A buddy of mine went down in a crash this weekend. As a result, he

bent

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the deraileur hanger on his Aluminum Trek (2200?). The LBS mechanic
was able to bend the hanger back and said the dropouts had been

spread

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approx. 10mm in the crash. The mechanic also reported that he was

able

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to bend the frame back into alignment. This leads me to 2 questions;

1) How do the dropouts get spread 10mm in a wreck if the wheel

remains

Quoted message said:

in place and no visible cracks &/or dents are visible?

2) Is the frame compromised from the spreading and rebending of the
stays?

I don't know the answer to your questions. I do know it's a good time
to order another hanger, sometimes they take a while to get, and his is
living on borrowed time now.

In article <[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

A buddy of mine went down in a crash this weekend. As a result, he bent
the deraileur hanger on his Aluminum Trek (2200?). The LBS mechanic
was able to bend the hanger back and said the dropouts had been spread
approx. 10mm in the crash. The mechanic also reported that he was able
to bend the frame back into alignment. This leads me to 2 questions;

1) How do the dropouts get spread 10mm in a wreck if the wheel remains
in place and no visible cracks &/or dents are visible?

They can't. There may have been some miscommunication. The original
dropout spacing is 130mm. If someone had forced a 135mm hub in there,
it may have spread a little, but not to 140mm.

Quoted message said:

2) Is the frame compromised from the spreading and rebending of the
stays?

Yes, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. Each bending of AL
fatigues the metal, but bikes such as that Trek are not built very close
to the edge, so to speak.

Ted

--
Ted Bennett
Portland, OR

I'd like to add a clarification to the original posting as I am the
cyclist referred to. The wheel did not stay in place in the crash. The
drive side of the hub remained in the dropout, but the left side was
forced out of its dropout. The crash involved two riders touching
wheels in front of me and going down leaving me nowhere to go. I was
launched over the top of them and slammed to the pavement where I and
the bike became the landing pad for two or three riders behind me in
the paceline. We had just come out of a turn and were accelerating; I
believe we were doing about 20 mph at the time.

Rick

The crash involved two riders touching

Quoted message said:

wheels in front of me and going down leaving me nowhere to go. I was
launched over the top of them and slammed to the pavement where I and
the bike became the landing pad for two or three riders behind me in
the paceline. We had just come out of a turn and were accelerating; I
believe we were doing about 20 mph at the time.

Damn, I bet that hurt. How badly were you injured?

"Ted" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article

<[email hidden]>,

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A buddy of mine went down in a crash this weekend. As a

result, he bent

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

the deraileur hanger on his Aluminum Trek (2200?). The LBS

mechanic

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

was able to bend the hanger back and said the dropouts had

been spread

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

approx. 10mm in the crash. The mechanic also reported that

he was able

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

to bend the frame back into alignment. This leads me to 2

questions;

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

1) How do the dropouts get spread 10mm in a wreck if the

wheel remains

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

in place and no visible cracks &/or dents are visible?

They can't. There may have been some miscommunication. The

original

Quoted message said:

dropout spacing is 130mm. If someone had forced a 135mm hub in

there,

Quoted message said:

it may have spread a little, but not to 140mm.

Quoted message said:

2) Is the frame compromised from the spreading and rebending

of the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

stays?

Yes, but I wouldn't worry about it too much. Each bending of

AL

Quoted message said:

fatigues the metal, but bikes such as that Trek are not built

very close

Quoted message said:

to the edge, so to speak.

And if the bike breaks, the owner should take it to:

Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Tell Mike that you were just riding along, and the derailleur
hanger fell off, and the stays spread out. That happens all the
time. He will handle the warranty work for you. -- Jay Beattie.

Quoted message said:

And if the bike breaks, the owner should take it to:

Mike Jacoubowsky
Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReaction.com
Redwood City & Los Altos, CA USA

Tell Mike that you were just riding along, and the derailleur
hanger fell off, and the stays spread out. That happens all the
time. He will handle the warranty work for you. -- Jay Beattie.

Bit of a long drive for him; from his email address, it appears he goes to
the College of Southern Idaho. But if he does come in, I'll be ready. We
just got in a new shipment of attitudinal adjustment devices, er, I mean,
Shimano XTR bottom bracket wrenches.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Quoted message said:

Damn, I bet that hurt. How badly were you injured?

Yes, it hurt. Thankfully I was not badly injured. The weather was cold,
windy and spitting a little rain. So I was in tights and arm warmers
that saved me for the most part from road rash. No broken bones, just
some nasty deep bruises on the right side (elbow, shoulder, hip, knee,
the usual culprits in cycling) and one really bad contusion on the
inside of my shin. The crash happened this past Sunday and by Tuesday
night I was out on a borrowed single speed putting in 30 miles on a
rainy, windy, 37 degree evening.

I got the bike back and it was the seat stay that got bent. There is
still a slight bow to it, but no signs of paint cracking to indicate
possible frame cracks.

Finally, not a student at the College of Southern Idaho, an employee.
So yes, still a long drive to Redwood City, CA.

Rick

On 20 Apr 2005 15:22:20 -0700, [email hidden] scribbled:

Quoted message said:

I'd like to add a clarification to the original posting as I am the
cyclist referred to. The wheel did not stay in place in the crash. The
drive side of the hub remained in the dropout, but the left side was
forced out of its dropout. The crash involved two riders touching
wheels in front of me and going down leaving me nowhere to go. I was
launched over the top of them and slammed to the pavement where I and
the bike became the landing pad for two or three riders behind me in
the paceline. We had just come out of a turn and were accelerating; I
believe we were doing about 20 mph at the time.

Rick

I'd just like to add as an incidental that this happened to a friend
of mine recently, not while riding in a pack but while doing some
urban hooligan riding (flipping 180s, badly). He landed wrong and the
rear wheel dropped out of the, er, dropout, on one side, causing the
back to torque over to one side a cm or so.

-Slash
--
"Ebert Victorious"
-The Onion