tiger1964 

Overall, been enjoying the Masi Gran Corsa in recent weeks, since moving most of the parts over from the Palo Alto. But today I went further afield than my local rail-trail for the first time. Nice ride, but I have had some nagging dissatisfaction with shifting, and "trim noise" from the RD. I was mentally blaming the freewheel that came with wider-hubbed (126mm) wheels.


So, I was cleaning the bike on a stand on the patio, and took a closer look. The RD's cage is clearly out of plane by a few degrees, bottom pulley closer to the centerline of the bike than the upper pulley. Uh - oh...


As part of a process of elimination, I figured maybe it's the old Nuovo Record (Pat74) RD, had it's day. So I swapped in one that I had been given with zero miles on it (Pat71). No change. What's left? The hanger. I figure the hanger only needs to be out a millimeter or two for the "cumulative error", by the time you measure at the derailleur cage, to be noticeable.


So, I've been searching the forums for dropout topics. Most seem to be about traumatic damage, or misalignment of the dropouts where the wheels attach, especially after cold-setting the entire frame. Neither apply. I've read about "cold-setting" the hanger, as a first step before applying (!?!?!) heat. Not much about the actual technique. Input?


Right now, I am inclined to set the wheel-attachment portion (uh, is there a better term?) of the dropout in a vise to prevent (?) damaging that part, and then applying oomph to the hanger portion using my trusty 15" Crescent wrench (which, before I got better tools, was my way of removing fixed cups). Wrong? I suspect the hard part is knowing when "enough is enough" - small bites and repeatedly measuring by re-installing the wheel and RD. The good news is that, to my eye, I only need to adjust in the "roll axis" and not the "yaw axis" at the same time.


The frame arrived in lovely condition, I might conclude this is shipping damage on a scale so small it would have difficult to detect prior to assembly.