Tom - The jaw-angle of "a Pacman in attack mode," as I recall, is at least 45 degrees, is it not? It sounds like you'll need to replace the dropout. A builder/repairman like Richard, however, would closely examine the part for the beginnings of cracking and/or scary stretch marks. If the 'man opts to reverse the damage, instead of replacing it, he'll squish the dropout faces/hanger flat in vise jaws as best he can, then he'll secure the lower half of the dropout in same vice and swing the "Pacman jaw" back to a distance equal to that of a Ms. Pacman's parting expression -- a couple alignment tools occur next. - Joe Starck, Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
> 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
>
>
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