jonwvara 

A friend of mine who lives in Chicago is house-sitting for another friend here in Vermont for about a week. I told him to bring his bike so I could do a bunch of upgrades on it. It's a low-end old Schwinn Sprint from the mid-80's with a mishmash of old and worn-out components. My plan called for thumb shifters, more useful gearing, new handlebars and longer stem, etc.--nothing complicated , and basically free, given that I have a considerable stash of parts. Steve has not been much of a cyclist in the past, but he's an active guy and a long-time friend from my hiking and mountaineering days. And he has begun riding a fair amount lately--I talked him into doing an out-and-back overnight on the Fox River Trail this fall, and we both had a great time.

Tonight we removed his rear derailleur and crankset preparatory to replacing both, but the rear wheel was so tight in the dropouts that I was hard to get out. Looking closely at the frame for the first time, I quickly saw that it was bent--the drive-side chainstay has a very obvious kink in it, as does the seat tube. It looks like it was hit from the side by a car. Maybe while it was on the kickstand somewhere? I hope no one was riding it at the time. It's obviously been bent since he bought it from a local flipper 20-something years ago.

I gave Steve the bad news, and told him that I could set him up with another of my bikes gratis, or find a different frame for him at the local coop, but he would have none of it. "So what if the frame is bent?" he said. "I've been riding it like this for years. Let's just put the new parts on it and call it good."

I doubt that the existing frame is going to break. My best arguments for scrapping and replacing it, or scrapping the whole bike--that it's not going to steer or track as well as a properly aligned frame, that it's likely to vibrate when ridden fast downhill, and that it's going to be difficult to change a rear flat on the road--leave him unmoved. He contends that the lack of hills in Illinois renders the speed-wobble argument irrelevant, and that it seems to steer and track perfectly well at bike-path speed.

How do you convince someone that it's a crime against decency to ride around on a bent frame? I could roughly cold-set the stays so the wheel more or less fits and throw everything back together, but the thought of it makes me cringe. Help me gain some traction, here!

albrt 

Or you could grab a two by four and bend it back. I think Sprints were hi-ten gas pipe for the whole time they were produced.

squirtdad

Is there a frameset/bike hanging around (or shows up local) that is friends size, is interesting (pretty, cool, crazy) ?

I would just grab it and do the build to you planned, present the bike as "cycle accompli" so to speak, buy him a favorite beverage and tell him friends don't don't let friends ride bent bike....and second round is on him

albrt 

Or take him on a longer ride on one of your bikes and let him see how a decent bike feels. I was inspired to improve several of my bikes after I bought Jon's Dawes a while back.

zandoval 

Bent bike can be bad but it sounds like he wants to keep his original bike. So... Its time to fix it... Right?

Kabuki12

I know it can be counterintuitive to us bike folks but maybe just let him ride it . I had a similar situation about fifty years ago when I gifted my trusty Schwinn Varsity to a very good friend . He took it to a bike shop and had butterfly handlebars installed on it . I found out when I called him and asked if he wanted to go for a ride. It was all I could do to keep from telling him how I felt about the modification. I smiled and said I was glad he was enjoying the bike .

3alarmer 

.
...it's already bent. Any work you do to straighten it will probably be an improvement, and he wants to keep it.
Just string it up, and check what's going on. Even if you can't get the stay to straighten out, you can probably improve the rear wheel position and alignment.

Think of it as an adventure. That's how I used to approach such bicycles at the co-op here, when people hadn't the means for a replacement purchase.

Chuck M 

I tend to have no issue helping friends with things, but I'm not as comfortable accepting favors in return. Your friend may feel like it is an imposition going from a few upgrades to almost a new bike. If the kink in the stay doesn't pose a safety issue or the alignment doesn't cause a functional issue, and he is happy with the bike, it may be best to let it be.

Frkl

I would also say to just let him ride it if that's what he wants, unless there is a clear safety risk like the frame buckling or something.

For my own stuff, I will go to great lengths to fix very minor asymmetries in a frame, or to do laborious but arguably unnecessary repairs (eg removing seized cartridge bbs that are otherwise working fine and could just be left alone). But that sort of stuff bothers me as a bike geek. Rideable-but-not-perfect works just fine for most people. And actually that is something to be appreciated about vintage bikes, they have a lot of fault tolerance built into them.

jonwvara 

Good points everyone, thanks. For what it's worth, the frame damage isn't something I'm equipped to deal with--I can't imagine straightening a bent seat tube with a 2x4. The stays I might be able to improve somewhat.

But yes, I guess it's his bike, so up to him. I'll adopt an attitude of philosophic calm and hope for the best.

kansascity 

Maybe introduce the idea that this Schwinn Sprint is could be a piece of wall hanging art?

Trakhak

A guy I knew bought a Cannondale mountain bike around 1990 and then about 10 years later replaced it with some steel bike. When I saw his new bike for the first time, before I could stop myself, I blurted out "Are you insane?" or something like that. I apologized, of course, but it still makes no sense to me.

SJX426 

I would ride this if I could go straight.
PXL_20231230_140557753~2 on Flickr

zukahn1 

I say not bent but a not so good hard set string it and hard set the frame to basic correct for current gearing. I have one bike that has survived much worse frame trued 6 times 3 crashes and it's good. Just string the fame and check the welds if good great if not nice4 MTB hard frames go for $50-free most markets.

ascherer 

Middle ground may be to space and align the dropouts to facilitate flat repairs, and call it good enough.

Mr. 66

Ok, Let's see some pictures of the binged up Sprint.

I think you should align it for him. Dents can be pressed or rolled. If you can secure the bb the front triangle can be aligned. If you have a bike that fits him I would lend that until it's done.

randyjawa 

Yup - works for me as long as there are no dents or cracks...

nlerner

At this age, we are all a little bit bent.

SurferRosa

.

79pmooney

I haven't seen that kink but I have broken two chainstays. Neither were a big deal. Granted, I was just riding along, not racing a criterium.

Bending that chainstay back raises the likelihood that it will eventually break. Still, if this were my bike, I would do it if for no other reason than having a frame that is not hard to pull out the wheel to repair a flat mid-ride (there most of mine happen).

I have a circa 1990 sport Peugeot (501 tubing) that was hit hard from the side by probably a SUV. Trashed fork, dent in the seat tube, dropout pushed a coupe of inches to the right. I brought the dropouts back to position. Three weeks later I saw cracks around both chainstays just behind the bridge. 2/3ds around the right one, 1/3rd around the left. (I employed my old boatbuilding skills, a scrap of carbon fiber someone gives me and the boatbuilder epoxy I will always have to make permanent repairs on both.)

Not saying the OP's friend's bike should get my treatment. Just that I have seen very close to what this bike has seen and that eyes should be on those chainstays at the kink and right behind the bridge. Especially if the decision is made to straighten them (which I would do for myself or a friend I could convince).

Edit: Oh yeah, gas pipe. Wonderful stuff. It will take several of those accidents and re-bends before failure. My UO-08 took a new shape after nearly every crash. And it saw many. Went down 5 times a winter in my snow/no car days. A couple of bigger crashes. Eventually the right chainstay broke right behind that bridge. At 19,000 miles, all those crashes and several resets to (sorta) straighten out the ride.

bikingshearer 

Okay, I'll be the asshat and bring a lawyer's perspective to this.

Don't do anything to it and give it back to him as is with a recommendation he not ride it. Hear me out on this.

You have identified possible hazards of riding it. Now, imagine you have done work on it and he crashes on it, hurting himself very badly. There is a very good chance you will be sued. Again, hear me out.

Will your friend sue you? I'd like to think not. But his medical insurer might; it might even be a condition of his policy that the insurer can step into his shoes and sue you in his name, whether your friend wants to or not. (It's called "subrogation," and I know just enough about it to know I never ever ever want to deal with it.) If the crash is the result of a car vs bike collision, and your friend (or his medical insurer) sues the driver, the driver could cross-complain against you, arguing that the work you did contributed to causing the crash and demanding you pony up some or all of what they get hit for. So even if your friend would never in a million years sue you, you could still be sued. Getting sued is no fun, even if you have insurance to pick up the tab.

Is any of this likely? No. Am I being a Nervous Nellie about this? No doubt. But the chances of this happening are not zero, the potential consequences to you are great, and the way to avoid it is obvious. You have the perfect out - you did not know the frame was so bunged up when you offered to upgrade it. So ask yourself: Do you really want to run the risk of having to defend yourself over a bike you know to be substandard?

noglider 

His body is broken in to his bent frame. A properly aligned frame might feel wrong.

OK, that's not likely, but some people who don't ride often can't feel the difference between good and bad. It's hard to believe, but it is sometimes true. I was on a big mass ride called the Tour de Bronx. Some folks there ride once a year. Or less. One young woman's saddle was pointing out to one side. I offered to fix it for her. She seemed indifferent but did let me do it. I expected her to have an AHA moment because it's so much better to have your saddle point straight forward. She said she didn't notice the difference. Such is life.

repechage

‘description of the world as is now. A frown but accurate.

Manny66 

Some 10" long All Thread , 2 nuts and washers in the rear dropouts and spread it back to normal.

79pmooney

That will bring it back to the original OLD, but not to aligned with the frame diamond. Both of those chainstays are pushed to one side as well as squeezed together, virtually certainly. One needs a way to move the dropouts independently, along with the string to assure symmetry. (Or here, sorta symmetry as I understand the seatpost is also bent. Error caused by seatpost bend could be close to doubled at the dropouts.

A string could be stretched tight in a loop around the top tube and down tube at the seat and BB lugs. Measuring the alignment string shown in the photo above to this looped string would bypass the error from seat tube bend. One could also sight along the frame from the front and see if there is twist between the headtube and those two lugs.