boneshaker78

Found this frame in the trash. The size is perfect for me and I’ve always wanted one of these. I’m on a very limited income, so a find like this means the world to me.

It had a broken rear rim, broken at the seam, completely tacoed. It came with everything.. minus the saddle, seatpost, and front wheel. Fork looks perfect, no damage to the frame up front, but the rear triangle is obviously a disaster. It appears that the disc brake mounting bracket/tab on the drive side is mangled as well.

Love to hear some thoughts on trying to salvage it. If I can do it at home with common tools that would be best. I have some limited knowledge about frame alignment and I’ve aligned a handful of frames with Sheldon Brown type methods. Do I take it to a professional or take a stab at it? Not much money to spend, but don’t want it to be dangerous either.

Thank you for taking a look

ThermionicScott 

Looks like the sort of thing Yellow Jersey straightens out all the time.

boneshaker78

I’ll check them out. I had heard of them reading through old posts. Under $200, I might consider it. Thanks for the reply

Andrew R Stewart 

Have you mounted a disk equipped rear wheel in the frame yet? If the wheel and disk fit straight and without any rubs I might look away from the bent stay for as long as I could and ride. However i suspect this won't be the case.

The bend doesn't yet look to have a crimp point yet so mere straightening of the stay and the follow up frame alignment seems a reasonable path. Do your homework as to what is a straight alignment, there's more going on than what a F A G-1 or 2 will show. Andy

Nessism

Looks like pretty bad damage to me. On the verge of a full-blown buckled chain stay. It's worth trying to straighten, but don't expect success.

boneshaker78

That’s what I’m thinking, pretty nasty damage. Thanks

boneshaker78

Thanks Andrew. The rear wheel was in the frame all mangled up when I found it, but I’ll give it a try mounting a hub to see what condition the stay is in.

I appreciate the information regarding alignment.

duanedr 

The whole rear end looks twisted to the left. If it was mine, I'd grind off the rear triangle and just replace it all. I'd probably reinforce the top of the ST where the stays meet it as well - just for insurance. It's thin tubing and it'll be heated 3 times by that point.

If you don't have interest/ability to do the repair yourself, it won't be worth it. There's a LHT complete bike on Seattle Craigslist for $500 and you get a complete bike. The repair would be more than that including powder coat.

guy153

Yes agree with duanedr about replacing the rear triangle. The top of the ST is probably 1.2mm wall if it's externally butted which should be OK to weld to again. You could also salvage the dropouts and the caliper bracket. They're thick metal and can be reused.

unterhausen

If the zombie apocalypse was upon us and I had a few days to escape by bike, I could make it work through extensive hackery. I think the worst part is that bent up dropout. I'm trying to think up some joke about "fatties fit fine" no longer being true and nothing is happening.

Absent the need to escape from a zombie horde, I would cut it up and convert it into bike racks.

boneshaker78

That all makes sense everyone. That’s what I assumed when I first saw the bike twisted up in the trash. I recall thinking… well the frame is trash, but some decent parts there. Understanding the reality of the situation and the most logical thing to do vs. going rogue and cold setting this pretzel 🥨 is a risk I just might make. I assumed a professional frame repair is just not something I would be able to afford and the value just isn’t there, just not worth the squeeze. Might just have to use this opportunity to experiment with extreme cold setting. It was free, so I’m not going to get too hung up on it. Thanks for helping me see things more clearly, I’m realizing my best options.

base2 

It does make me wonder what happened to that poor bike.

It's the deformation midway down the non-drive side chainstay that has my curiosity. What method would be used to remove it? It's not like it is accessible from the inside like a dented seat tube. And a chainstay is not round so a simple clamp block can't be used like a dented top tube.


Curious problem indeed.

I say 2x4's incrementally, until something cracks. Make it appear salvageable enough a frame builder might be interested enough to take on the job.

I had an orange Salsa Vaya that was a basket case & other issues but not nearly as bent as yours. In addition to that a chainstay filled with water that then went through many freeze/thaw cycles. It turned the nice oval chainstay round & pushed out the tire clearance dimple.

A frame alignment gauge & some 2x4's got it straight.
A vice, some clamps & soft wood reshaped the chainstay back to moreorless oval.
The dropout alignment gauges did their thing.
After all that, I took the frame to the local frame builder I have a rapport with. After some discussion, he re-dimpled the stay on the spot. Free as a personal favor.
The total dollar cost: $0

Steel is pretty forgiving. I say you've got nothing to lose but some labor time & a whole lot to gain in terms of bike-ness & knowledge.

Jeff Neese

I wouldn't ride it.

himespau 

Were there enough salvageable bits on there that you could harvest and resale to get a pool of cash together to buy a less-mangled used LHT? Kind of like trading a paperclip to a house on a much lower scale?

boneshaker78

Unfortunately no, enough parts to maybe get 200 bucks out of it. Bummer… sounds more and more like a lost cause. I got so excited when I first saw it, couldn’t believe it was my size, but the damage quickly took the air out of my sails.

dsaul

Hit by a car would be my guess. It can't hurt to try to bend it back, since it was free. If you were closer to me, I'd offer to repair it for you. Shipping the frame both ways would cost more than its worth.

boneshaker78

That’s very nice of you to offer, wish I was closer. You’re right about the shipping cost being more than the value.

boneshaker78

I tried to bend it all back and squeeze out the dent some, but it’s just too far gone, all twisted in several different ways. It would need the rear triangle removed and rebuilt, I can’t do it or afford it so it’s going to the scrap pile. It’s a shame, but I’ll sell the parts I have for cheap and be grateful for the usable parts I did find. Thanks for all the help, really appreciate the Bike Forums community.

Andrew R Stewart 

I'm only an hour drive east of you. I would be willing to take a look at it with you if that is interesting. Andy

duanedr 

I don't think I would have taken the risk of breaking whatever you used to try to bend it back. With the kink in the chainstay it was never going to work. If you took parts off it, you got your value! Congrats!

unterhausen

I think the only way to save that bike is to replace the rear triangle. The dropout would have been a real problem and I would never trust that chain stay.
I'm pretty close to doing this to a bike with cracked chainstays. I'm not convinced it's a good idea, but I have the parts and want to convert something to an ebike, so it seems like the donor bike is a good choice.

duanedr 

Simply the fact that you're second guessing the project is a good indication that these kinds of jobs are not for the faint of heart and a positive outcome isn't guaranteed after all of that work.

I know there's a lot of animosity toward ebikes but I have several friends who are very accomplished riders (Cat 1 racers, MTB racers, rando's etc) who put in lots of miles of training and then use their ebike to get around for trips of less than 20miles. Are you considering one with a motor in the wheel or built into the frame (pinion?). post up pictures when you get started!

unterhausen

The thing I'm not convinced about is re-using the front triangle. I would use an ebike a lot for shopping and other short trips where I otherwise would use a car. I would really like to use one of the bafang mid-drive motors with a mount built into the frame, but the only mount you can buy (that I know of) is aluminum and I need steel. And buying the shimano motors would be fine, but seems too complicated.

I want to have the mount for the bafang laser cut, but finding a good drawing of it is a problem

bulgie 

If you've ruled out a Shimano motor then this is no help, but have you seen this "motor cabinet" from Ti Cycles?

Despite the "Ti" in the name, it's made of steel. Less than a benjamin, should save you that much hassle or more... if a Shimano motor is at all interesting.

He also sels a bracket that bolts to that "cabinet" and gives you a fake BB shell, for mounting in a standard tacking jig. That tool is more expensive though ($250), so I would hack something together myself, if making just one frame.

I'm thinking about it myself, but I've been saying that for years. By the time I get a Round Tooit, all the tech will be changed and this will be obsolete. If it isn't already — I don't keep track.

Disclaimer, I used to work at Ti Cycles, in a different millennium. No connection currently. I think he's reliable though, smart and a straight-shooter.

Mark B

unterhausen

There is a chinesium mount available from multiple sources for considerably less. The reason I was thinking about making my own was to have it mount both Shimano and Bafang motors. I need to make a model to see if that's really practical. The holes are obviously in different places, but the overall shape seems pretty similar. I also would like some drillium, and that would only be practical if I had a laser cutter place make it. Send Cut Send will bend parts, although I haven't figured out how to get them to do that.

Ti cycles also sell a fixture to mount the cabinet in a fixture, but I only see the one for the earlier shimano motors on Framebuilder supply and not their own site. Too much money for me, and not the right dimensions. So I have also thought about designing one myself since all the work would already be done for the cabinet itself.