Are replaceable dropouts strong enough?

SpokeNipples

Hello,

Just wondering about the above really. I know what the point of them is, just wondering about their durability.

Take this for example:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4060/435 ... 3f1ff6.jpg

Can those 3 little bolts on each side really handle the force that's exerted on them? I obvioulsy know that they can but how? Are the little bolts made deliberately weak so they break if necessary which saves the frame?

Thanks.

nicklouse

sure, you should see what the rest of the bike is made from.

The Northern Monkey

SpokeNipples

nicklouse wrote:

sure, you should see what the rest of the bike is made from.

Chunky aluminum tubes all welded together into a single piece? Or am I missing something?

Koiler

does it not also have something to do with the friction between the 2 sufaces making it strong? (much like a car wheel hub)

the bolts just pull the 2 pieces tightly together and friction does the rest?

(probably wrong)

bomberesque

they say perception creates reality, but I don't hear the sound of a brazzilion bolt on drop outs breaking as you point out that they don't look strong enough so I suppose that they must be

Koiler is right, a lot of the load taken is created by the friction joint between the two surfaces compressed together by the bolt rather than by the bolts themselves but the bolt itself can take a lot of shearload (can't recall the shear capacity of stainless atm). Plus there is often a step or channel designed into the frame and dropout which load is transferred though

bolt on dropouts have been used for a while. I'm no industry insider so what I say is purely anecdotal but I've never heard of the bolts shearing off one. The ones on my Evil have never slipped, sheared or done anything but what they're designed to do ... hold me up!

thelonegroover

I think your more likely to bend the seat or chain stay before the bolts shear.