Chainstay replacement....who does it?
 

Wondering who would be best to contact for a chainstay replacement. While I can build bikes, I'm not sure I'm up for that kind of repair and wondering who to refer someone too.

Can anyone pass along a few names?

Thanks a lot!

Brandon

While I don't have recommendations out west, knowing the material and method of construction of the frame would probably be useful information to those who do have recommendations.

I had Franklin Frame replace mine on my touring bike. They did a great job!

Yeah good point. It's lugged steel.

TiCycles in Portland can do it. There probably isn't a repair they haven't seen. It won't be cheap but it will be done right. (They have good paint connections too.)

Shipping to Franklin might not be much more than shipping to Portland. I'm sure there are builders in California that will do this too.

If it's your bike and lugged steel, i don't see why you wouldn't do it yourself.

Brandon, I agree with unterhausen that this would be a good job for you to do yourself. The advantage you have is that you can work slowly and carefully to get it right. I don't know what kind of frame building equipment you acquired during your building journey? All you really need is a carefully trued and dished rear wheel, a straight edge with a movable pointer and an adjustable T tool that can hold the rear dropouts to the seat binder bolt (after brazing the dropouts to the chain stays). I can explain the process if you want to go this route.

Joining the chorus, do it yourself. I have only built a handful of frames, but have replaced 2 chain stays. Replacement is relatively easy compared to building a whole frame.

Thanks guys. If it were my bike then I'd certainly take it on as I'd only have myself to disappoint if something went awry, however it isn't mine so I don't know if I'd be up for it. Even though I love a challenge, I'm not sure I'd want to go there just yet.

Chainstay replacement is probably the safest repair you can do. Reynolds told us (Trek) that chainstay replacement was the only frame repair they felt could be done with their heat-treated 753 tubing.

That's interesting. Presumably because of what it's attached to-- the BB shell and the dropout are both pretty chunky and can handle being reused a bit.

If this is a bicycle that doesn't belong to a family member or a really close friend, I wouldn't do it either.

I have full confidence in _my_ work, but once you do something like that you own every mistake the original builder made.

This is exactly why I'm looking for references. Thanks.

Maybe you can find a builder that will let you watch and do some of the grunt work as they do the surgery? There is always more to learn even doing something as routine as replacing chain stays. Maybe they have a tool or method that might be different or new to you.