Rear dropout repair care of Yellowhand

Local artist, man about town, and bon vivant, Amado Seja, aka Yellowhand, wrecked this fine Novara

Local artist, man about town, and bon vivant, Amado Seja, aka Yellowhand, wrecked this fine Novara and asked that I repair the damage.

He got thrown in County for a few days, and while his bike was parked outside some “illegal immigrants” beat his bike up real good. How the hell do you fix this?

I tried a few of the special alignment tools in the shop to make things right, but nothing seemed to be working. Here is what I devised (thanks to Jon for some advice):

Amado Seja's trashed rear dropout

I grabbed a 3/8 solid rear axle and wedged it into what was left of both drop outs on the bike. I then took the bike outside to the sidewalk and banged the derailleur hanger into the sidewalk until it had wrapped the rear drop out around the axle I’d inserted. This worked surprisingly well, though I doubt the integrity of this droupout after all this bending and banging.

With a rear droupout in place, it was a cinch to grab the Park Tool DAG-1 and wrench the derailleur hanger into alignment. A few tugs on the chain stays with the Park Tool FFS-2 (aka the Klingon War Axe) and everything was good to go.

Amado Seja's repaired rear derailleur

Amado (or Yellowhand, as he sometimes prefers to be called) is not too particular about the lifespan of his bikes, so long as whatever he happens to be riding is working. Would I tour on this rear dropout after what it’s been through? Probably not. Would I use it to cruise the Eastside and enjoy the good life? Heck yeah.

Do you have a thrashed bicycle that you’d like to get riding again? Stop by the Flying Pigeon bike shop, and we can help get your old clunker ready for another chance at glory.

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