Even relatively little things can be somewhat unnerving when you've parted with so much cash for a new frame. I'm glad to hear it is sorted out now- Rivendell has a reputation for being really good about stuff like that and for valuing their customers. Here's to finally getting your bike together and putting in some happy miles on it.
Cheers, -Matt P.S. welcome to the group, stick around. On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 8:36:59 PM UTC-4, Michael Richters wrote: > > Thanks for the advice, guys, but you obviously didn't read my > description of the situation. It's not a complete bike; it's just a > frameset with nothing on it, except maybe the front wheel. There's no > chain, no derailleur, et cetera. Since I only have two hands, I can't > spread the dropouts and simultaneously lift the wheel in. And I'm not > the slightest bit interested in how far other people are able to flex > the frames of other bikes, as this is not at all relevant. I don't > doubt that you're able to spread the dropouts of the frames in > question as you describe. It would be nice if you would give me the > same courtesy of accepting the truth of my statement that I have tried > the same thing on the frame in question, and I cannot accomplish the > feat. > > Before leaning on the frame with all my weight to jam the wheel in the > dropouts, I tried spreading it with my hands and lowering it onto the > wheel, but my fingers can only get so close to the dropouts with the > wheel in there, and whether I grab the seatstays or the chainstays, I > can't spread it far enough (if I grab it right at the dropouts, I can, > but that's not at all useful). I tried several methods, and the only > one that resulted in a wheel all the way in both dropouts was leaning > on the frame with most of my weight. Even after this scraped off > virtually all the paint on the forward edge of the inside surfaces of > the dropouts, this was still the only thing that worked. > > As for how big 1.5mm is, I know full well. As I wrote before, I > measured the space between the dropouts with calipers. > > Lest I sound too ungrateful, I do appreciate that you guys are (more > or less) trying to be helpful. I just want you all to understand that > how easy something *should* be in theory -- or even in your own > experience -- is not relevant. What is relevant in this case is *my* > experience with *this* frame. And in this case, I paid $2000 for a > frame with 135mm dropouts, and I got one with 132mm dropouts, which I > would have been willing to put up with if I could have been confident > that I could get the wheel in and out of on the road without risking > hurting myself. Fortunately for me, when I discussed the matter with > the very excellent people at Rivendell, they decided to replace the > frame with one that has the correct dimensions. I am grateful, > although I have misgivings about how much this is costing them; I > would have much prefered it if we could have found a less expensive > way to solve the problem (none of the local bike shops seem to be > confident that they can spread and align the dropouts on a steel > frame). Alas, this was not to be. > > Now, since I am not a three-armed Arnold Swarzenegger, I would > appreciate it if people would stop telling me what I "should" be able > to accomplish. > > --MR > > On Wed, Sep 19, 2012 at 6:50 PM, Jim M. <math...@gmail.com <javascript:>> > wrote: > > Agreed. You should stand behind the bike to spread the dropouts and pull > the > > wheel up into them. I put a 130 in 126, and a 126 in a 122 all the time. > You > > won't damage the frame -- another benefit of steel. > > > > jim > > > > > > On Wednesday, September 19, 2012 4:40:47 PM UTC-7, ttoshi wrote: > >> > >> You don't put the wheel on the frame by pushing down on it with your > >> weight. You need to spread the frame with your hands and then slide > >> the wheel in. > >> > >> 3 mm means you just need to spread the frame by 1.5 mm on each side. > >> It shouldn't require much force. You can see this by flexing the frame > >> with your hands (with no wheel). Check with a ruler to see how small > >> 1.5 mm is. > >> > >> The wheel may not go on the drive side too easily because your rear > >> derailer (RD) is not aligned properly. Put your RD in the smallest > >> cog in the rear cassette and put the chain onto the smallest cog > >> before you try to slide it into the dropouts. If you don't do this > >> already, then it's a great method for fixing flats. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/-TcARcqrBfEJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@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.
