Bent Drop In

[Cedric]

My mate has an old road bike. The horizontal rear drop out has been damaged and has "opened up" so that the wheel slips out of the drops and hits the chainstays. His LBS says that if he he tries to tap it back into shape there is a high probability that it will snap off or weaken and snap off at a less opportune moment. He has been advised that the drop in will have to be heated and then bent back into place by a specialist.

Could the metal just be annealed with a butane torch and tapped back into place?

If so would the metal have to be retempered or hardened afterwards?

 

[tyred]

Is the frame of a steel bike tempered in the first place?

I don't know for certain but I'd guess it is. If so, it would need to be re-tempered. There are different scales of hardening/tempering and the colour the steel heats up to is your guide to this. Also, it then needs to be cooled in air, water or oil depending on the spec. It might be a job for a frame builder if it's a really good frame. If it's a lower end frame and it was mine, I'd give it a go myself with a butane torch as you suggest.

 

[oxbob]

I don't think a butane torch will work, it might just about remove the paint. The bonj hammer technique would be more effective