# One way to straighten a bent frame...



## bikewhorder (May 18, 2013)

My plans to go shoe shopping fell though tonight, so I decided to stay in and work on my frame straightening project instead.  Some of you may recognize this bike from last Aprils Copake auction, and some may wonder why I still have it since I sold it last month here on the Cabe.  Well, long story short, the new owner was in no hurry to take delivery of it and since he bought it without realizing that the frame was a bit tweaked, I told him I would see if I could untweak it, and if it failed I'd give him a refund.  The selling price was $600 so there was a good bit a stake here, and I was really going out on limb with this deal, but I had an idea for how I might fix it and I was really eager to try it.  My concept evolved as I worked on it, but the basic premise was to lock the main triangle in with a wooden frame work and devise a way to apply pressure on the head tube so as to pull it out and push it up simultaneously.  I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story, overall I'd say it was as success! Its not perfect but its way better than it was. I own two other frames that are bent like this one was (Mead Crusader and a Gormulley & Jeffery Rambler) and I'm excited to try this jig out on them. I'm aware that there is already tool designed for this task but I've looked at it and I really think this method will give more reliable results and doesn't rely on the bicycles original fork to pull the frame out .  I'm also thinking I might be willing to offer this as a service as long as the client understands that there could be no guarantees with this kind of a process.


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## bikewhorder (May 18, 2013)

*The Results*


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## GiovanniLiCalsi (May 18, 2013)

Very impressive jigs. Looks like a good service for those bent frames.


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## dfa242 (May 19, 2013)

Wow Chris - some interesting technique there - borrowed from old Maine boat building skills?


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## bikewhorder (May 19, 2013)

dfa242 said:


> Wow Chris - some interesting technique there - borrowed from old Maine boat building skills?




Yeah, just be being a stubborn old Mainah, the threaded shaft is left over from all the house jacking I had to do working on replacing the foundation of my old house. It was a pretty sketchy process, took a lot more force than I had anticipated. When it moved it would move in short bursts after a few cranks.  I was only about 30% sure I wasn't going to end up with a shiny piece of metal scrap from 1905.


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## bricycle (May 19, 2013)

I could use your services.....


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## Boris (May 19, 2013)

Wow Chris!!! A lot of brain power went into this setup. Good job!


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## dougfisk (May 19, 2013)

Awesome project!  ...thanks for sharing.  It seems odd that so many simple diamond frames are bent from a head on impact.  Fully one half of my bikes come with a bent fork, but none have ever had the frame affected.  It must be the addition of the second, lower top bar that makes them much more resistant to this type of damage.


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## babyjesus (May 25, 2013)

*Frame*

Wow Chris this is just amazing. You really did a fantastic job. I had no idea the frame was so bent on the Copake pics because you just couldn't see it because I guess they were taken from relatively 'safe' angles. Only a mere hint of it. I think that was a bit naughty of them to be honest or did you only bid after seeing it in person?

I gotta say you really went the extra mile - and I think there are plenty of bikes could use this being done to them.  I'm really excited about the bike and have some super old paramount drop bars for it from here on Cabe, all curved, no straight parts, beautiful for it. Can't wait!


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## bikewhorder (May 25, 2013)

babyjesus said:


> Wow Chris this is just amazing. You really did a fantastic job. I had no idea the frame was so bent on the Copake pics because you just couldn't see it because I guess they were taken from relatively 'safe' angles. Only a mere hint of it. I think that was a bit naughty of them to be honest or did you only bid after seeing it in person?
> 
> I gotta say you really went the extra mile - and I think there are plenty of bikes could use this being done to them.  I'm really excited about the bike and have some super old paramount drop bars for it from here on Cabe, all curved, no straight parts, beautiful for it. Can't wait!




I didn't really look at it before I bought it, the hammer was falling and it seemed like a bargain so I bid and that turned out to be the final bid. Even if you took the frame out of the equation I still did ok, but I was bummed when I noticed it. Being someone who hates to make mistakes it started the gears turning in my head on how I might correct this one. I'm glad it worked and I learned something in the process.


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## bikewhorder (May 25, 2013)

dougfisk said:


> Awesome project!  ...thanks for sharing.  It seems odd that so many simple diamond frames are bent from a head on impact.  Fully one half of my bikes come with a bent fork, but none have ever had the frame affected.  It must be the addition of the second, lower top bar that makes them much more resistant to this type of damage.




Yeah I can honestly say that I've yet to own (and can't recall seeing) any double top tube men's balloon tired bikes that have been bent like this, most of them do have bent forks though.


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## Hb Twinn (May 29, 2013)

*Great job*

Love that maine resolve! That sure looks like it worked well. I also have a frame or two that could use your services. Keep us posted if you're going to start fixing these.
Looks like a new endeavor?


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