Chewed up campy dropouts

[M_Chavez]

Hi All,

Been going through my framesets in storage and would like your thoughts on this one.

I've got some clearly visible damage on rear campy dropouts from the hub "chewing" the inner faces of the dropouts. The photos don't capture the full extent of the grooves, but the grooves are much deeper than on any other dropouts that I've ever had.

Is this likely to be an issue (e.g. cause rear wheel slipping or hub damage)?
Should I try and file/grind off a mm off each dropout to make them flat & even again before sending the frame for painting?
Bump them on the side of a wheel grinder?

Thank you.

 

[M_Chavez]

No thoughts, anyone?

I can, of course, build up the frameset, try it, check there's no slipping, then strip, paint and re-build but I'd rather use this time to build another bike.

 

[mdvineng]

The two surfaces really need to be parallel to each other. Hand grinding to correct the wear is problematic and clamping to a machine bed is awkward. Using as is could be OK but alignment might be compromised due to wear causing the axle to drift to a particular spot upon tightening the skewer. High pedalling torque could also cause it to drift. New dropouts would be my choice.

 

[M_Chavez]

Agree about new dropouts, but a pair of forged dropouts (just parts, not labour) will cost me as much as the frame itself, & there's very slim chance of me finding anyone locally who will be happy to do the job. I wouldn't mind investing into a double-fuel torch & learning to braze myself, but I just really don't have the free time at the moment.

Parallel surfaces - are you talking about inner & outer faces of each dropout? Or inner faces of two dropouts? The latter is easily adjusted with an alignment tool. The former, I think, might not be that critical - there is definitely some scope for error that will be corrected by the slight play of the QR skerewer - e.g. the nut sitting on the threads is not fixed at a strict 90 degree angle - there's never a 100% match between inner & outer threads. If I ask a pal to hold the frame while I'm grinding, I should be able to bump it accurately enough (I think...).

 

[Mickeyspinn]

If your hoping to use qr's then yeah you'll need parallel faces all sides of dropout! They're pretty shaggy well actually they're full blown shagged!
It'll knacker hub bearings like it is now that axle really won't know what to do..itll squirm and jiggle forward....if it's a hack beater build a thread and nutted axle will have more chance of holding...biggest face on locknuts and maybe a stern washer inboard might help get you back ontop of flat section of dropout!?

 

[M_Chavez]

Thanks @Mickeyspinn this confirms my thoughts that I shouldn't just leave it as is.

The frame's lined up to replace my summer road bike in the future. Most probably used with halo hex skewers rather than pure QRs.
I like the washer idea. A brass washer perhaps, to correct any mis-alignment defects

There's parallel and there's parallel. I'm guessing that it doesn't have to be extremely precise (It's a bicycle, not a rocket ship carrying the last members of the human race to colonise Mars after the Earth has been blown up). Plenty of people riding mis-aligned dropouts or shoving 135mm hubs into 130-spaced frames without bikes imploding or gates of hell opening up to swallow the rider.

Will probably come down to QR system's tolerance vs my ability to grind a parallel face on the dropout. Shouldn't be too hard, what can possibly go wrong! Insert a video of inspector Sledge Hammer saying "Trust me, I know what I'm doing".

It does sound like I will need to build it and test ride it before sending the frame for a spray.

PS sealed bearing hubs, not cup'n'cone

 

[Mickeyspinn]

Thanks @Mickeyspinn this confirms my thoughts that I shouldn't just leave it as is.

The frame's lined up to replace my summer road bike in the future. Most probably used with halo hex skewers rather than pure QRs.
I like the washer idea. A brass washer perhaps, to correct any mis-alignment defects

There's parallel and there's parallel. I'm guessing that it doesn't have to be extremely precise (It's a bicycle, not a rocket ship carrying the last members of the human race to colonise Mars after the Earth has been blown up). Plenty of people riding mis-aligned dropouts or shoving 135mm hubs into 130-spaced frames without bikes imploding or gates of hell opening up to swallow the rider.

Will probably come down to QR system's tolerance vs my ability to grind a parallel face on the dropout. Shouldn't be too hard, what can possibly go wrong! Insert a video of inspector Sledge Hammer saying "Trust me, I know what I'm doing".

It does sound like I will need to build it and test ride it before sending the frame for a spray.

PS sealed bearing hubs, not cup'n'cone

Ermm...sealed bearings most likely to get hammered quicker!
Essentially your dropouts don't have an issue with being parallel....they have an issue of no meat where contact is made....brass won't cut the mustard there either it'll just squidge around and slide about
If you don't replace dropouts then really just do your best to get em flat.... Oh and parrallel

Don't forget when it's built in a bike stand it's not the same as hitting a pot hole at 25mph...that's when an axle with an issue in life will have a little moment...do your best at worst you'll need new dropouts brazed in

 

[M_Chavez]

What's a bike stand?

you'll need new dropouts brazed in

Good enough reason to get a torch.

I'll grind these babies and maybe even post the pics for you to laugh at.

 

[Mickeyspinn]

What's a bike stand?


Good enough reason to get a torch.

I'll grind these babies and maybe even post the pics for you to laugh at.

Ok I'll just say this.....chrome don't get you home...
Paint ain't precision...
Instead of a paint job...maybe get dropouts done? Cost about the same!

 

[M_Chavez]

Of course, once I've ruined the old ones with the grinder

I'll stick my snout in the mud to see if I can find any truffle frame builders around, but a couple months ago when I wanted to get a minor seat tube crack brazed on my bojack, nobody would even speak to me about it (or replacing the whole tube for that matter), never mind bothering with a quote. I think we're past the day & age when a knowledgeable local bike chap with a torch could fix anything for you. I can almost understand them - why bother fixing some old shite and take personal responsibility for the result, when you can build a custom frame from quality materials and probably charge more per hour, or at least enjoy creating a new frameset from scratch.
It hurts to say this, but "Fixing" is an outdated concept, with labour costs vs material costs today compared to 50 years ago.

On the bright side, while I'm not Rainman enough to count the matches on the floor, my hands and mk1 eyeball are good enough to freehand a chess piece on a wood lathe to within 0.5mm, so accurately grinding the dropout does not sound impossible.