Another dog-related bike damage story. I had the Atlantis in the work stand doing some work on it. When I was done I took it off of the stand, and leaned the bike against the stand with the saddle resting on the clamp. I had a couple of the dogs in the shop with me and when I went to put the tools away a Great Dane wrestling broke out (not uncommon). Sure enough, the bike and the work stand went down in a noisy heap. When I went to retrieve the bike, not only was there paint damage, there was a fairly significant dent on the top of the top tube. This is actually the second bike that I've had dented on account of a dog toppling it over. Crazy!
I'm sure the dent was purely cosmetic but after I got over my initial anger and frustration, I got to wondering about how the dent might be removed, or if it were even possible. I had a channel lock and a clean rag sitting right there so I spontaneously stuck the rag into the jaws of the channel lock, adjusted the channel lock and positioned it below the top tube with the ends of the jaws on either side of the dent. I started gently and carefully (as much as possible) sort of "oil-canning" the tube. The bike was positioned under a fluorescent light fixture and there was a perfect line reflected along the top tube and it distorted when I squeezed the channel lock; so I could see what was happening with the tube. Kind of interesting! Anyway I patiently worked the dent in that manner, squeezing and releasing pressure while rotating the jaws and working them towards the dent. All the while watching the line that was reflected in the top tube to see how things were progressing. To my amazement, the dent was definitely improving. After working at it for quite awhile, the dent was almost completely gone! The paint is still bunged-up around where the dent was but if I were to touch it up, I bet someone who didn't know it was there would never even notice that the frame was dented. I can't say that I'd recommend this technique because it could easily end-up doing more harm than good. Especially if one got over zealous. I have a bad habit of trying things that could result in making things worse. And often times things do get worse! I mean really? Squeezing the tube with a channel lock? On a fairly expensive frame? This time it worked quite well though. I'm still somewhat in disbelief. Just thought I'd share it with y'all. Shaun Meehan -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
