Aluminum or wooden blocks, greased, and used with a vise. These are
Al by Bicycle Research: http://www.bicycleresearchtools.com/framet.html#anchor351350
On Apr 18, 2010, at 1:26 PM, Shaun Meehan wrote:
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
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