On Sun, Apr 18, 2010 at 12:26 PM, Shaun Meehan <meehan.sh...@gmail.com> 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
Wow, that seems kind of insane. I've torn down and fixed a lot of fairly crazy things, but i don't know that this would even have occurred to me. Nice job on getting the dent out! -- Bill Connell St. Paul, MN -- 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.
