Originally Posted by
gugie
BITD domestiques would get a frame rebent. In the early 80's I worked in a bikeshop in Walnut Creek, California. One Bob Roll is originally from Pleasant Hill, an adjoining suburb. He came into our shop after a TdF with Team 7-11 (and 6 weeks living with gypsies under a freeway underpass, but that's another story) and had his team bike with him to sell on consignment. He told me it had been bent back to ship after a few crashes - paint was only touched up - and you could still see a few small creases in the tubing.
Budgets and salaries were smaller then.
Ahh... for the days when cyclists personally reforged their bikes back together to get back into the race.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eug%C3...malet_incident
With a 10 minute penalty for having a kid run the bellows on the forge.
Of course with modern composites and quick dry epoxies, Gianni Moscon could have gotten his bike back on the road a lot quicker than Eugène Christophe.