With skill , and care , and patience , and luck , and perhaps some heat , it might be possible to bend it all back into place .
If it were my frame , I would have the one dropout replaced . And I would indeed have the new paint "feathered" into the old paint .
It's a fairly simple , fairly standard repair . Still , I would only leave it with the best frame-builder I could find , since it is such a fine ( and early vintage ! ) frameset .
If you need a qualified frame-builder , I hear this guy does a pretty good job :
richardsachs@juno.com
Very best of luck .
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas
> Thirty-five miles into a 50 miler this morning, I deviated from the
planned
> route for the only hard climb for miles around. Three-quarters of the way
up,
> I shifted the derailleur right into the spokes and did some awful damage
to
> the dropout. Besides being twised in toward the wheel, the jaws of the
dropout
> are gaping open like a Pacman in attack mode. This was a Campagnolo
dropout
> on Richard Sachs serial number 22. If you can imagine the jaws of the
dropout,
> you can imagine my own jaw as I stared at my atrocity
>
> I have laid a straight-edge along the stays and they do not seem bent. I
> have reviewed the archives for "bent dropout" and "dropout repair" but to
little
> encouragement. Is the dropout beyond redemption? If the dropout must be
> replaced, should both dropouts be replaced? Is this an easily
accomplished task
> locally?
>
> Then, the really tough question; almost 28 years later, this bike still
has
> the original paint - if the dropout is replaced, should I just try to have
the
> repair paint feathered into the old paint?
>
> This story does have a bittersweet end to it. I called my wife to come
pick
> me up, but she said, "Why don't I just bring you another bike to finish
your
> ride." She brought a 23 year old RS and the ride really was a good tonic
for a
> bad incident.
> Tom Donahue
> Melbourne, FL