How do I fix a bent rack mounting eyelet?

Michael Falk

After my first flight with my new touring bike (a Thorn Rohloff eXp) I was so annoyed that, somehow, the baggage handlers had greatly bent out of alignment my Tubus rack. Later, I demoted this rack to an older bike & was surprised that it lined up on the old bike well. When I put on a new rack on the new bike though, it too was out of alignment. Clearly the damn baggage handlers had done worse than bend a rack, they'd bent 1 (or more) eyelets on the new bike.

Can this be repaired? Or, does it need major "surgery" at a framebuilder? Should I try to bend the eyelet(s) back or is this too risky?
The rack on the Thorn has already been bent into better alignment but I'd prefer that the bike had its eyelets aligned as they should be.

Thanks,
Michael

Brixtonbiker

If you know nothing about bending steel (your bike is made of steel?) then get someone else to do it. The eye might just snapp off if you do it wrong.

david 142

If I were you I would contact the makers. If you dont have the details you can find them via www.sjscycles.co.uk - same people!
I wouldnt start bending things in hope - if its a cast lug you may well break it.

julk

I ride one of those as well - its a fantastic touring bike.
I hope you took some photographs of the damage and filed a claim against the baggage handlers or airline.

I suspect you will need some clever surgery on the frame to restore the rack eyelets to the correct alignment. This will most likely need careful brazing by a frame builder and a paint job to finish off. You don't say if it is a front or rear rack, a front rack would be less of a problem as the forks could probably be replaced.

You should e-mail some details and photos to Thorn Bikes ([email protected]) in England for their opinion, they are very helpful and know their bikes inside out. They are open Mondays through Fridays.