Functionally, I think spreading old frames with tubing like 531 is not much of a problem.
If you sight down the seatstays though, it is a different story. Also, there is a real technique to bending the tubes once and getting it right versus trial and error, back and forth methods that are surely bad news. It is very important to study the indents (or lack thereof) in the chainstays as on the hydraullicaly crushed variety the right chainstay is so easy to bend it changes the whole operation.
Of course, some frames that were never spread were misaligned to begin with and crudely cold set with much the same result.
Joe Bender-Zanoni
Great Notch, NJ
>
> snipped:
> Peter Jon White <lists@peterwhitecycles.com> wrote:
> richardsachs@juno.com wrote:
> > i feel differently.
> > fork blades are designed in guage, taper, and overall length
> > to be bent. chainstays are not.
> "Are you concerned about failure? Or is it an aesthetic issue? If it's
> failure, have you ever seen one fail as a result of cold setting?"
>
>
> i've never seen one fail. i have seen many buckled w'out the
> owners knowing about it due to some shop rat's notion that,
> "...sure. you can bend this stuff. no prob."
> btw, i do this for money too - the cold setting stuff - to OTHER
> folk's frames, after i tell them how i feel about it. by-and-large,
> most folks just want to ride their bicycles and if the industry
> screws them over because spacings, and clearances, and
> compatibility change every generation or three, it's up to
> the client to decide whether to jetison the old mount/buy a
> new one or do whatever it takes to keep it on the road.
>
> seperately - because i make these things and think well made
> bicycle frames are beautiful - not just as tools to use - i have
> always felt that adulterating them is taboo. they are given a life
> by the fellow or staff of workers that created them, and bending
> them up for the heluvit detracts from the life that they were born
> with. to me, these are not just "things".
> e-RICHIE
> chester, ct
> who is still getting double mail because several post-ers today
> have kept MY address in the "to" field when the list address is more
> than enough for me to see my mail.
> there - i feel better...