Is this bent?

MarkJohnston

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Mar 25, 2021
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Did I bend this? I carry 50 lbs of cargo, ride thousands of miles, and go 30 MPH all the time. I've already snapped two racks including a $50 bontrager. Routinley I find the M4 rack eyelets getting stripped. I use lock nuts to keep the racks in place. I just got a tubus rack which doesn't bend. But something's off. Maybe the frame starting to bend too and will snap. Just look at my drops! Or am I tripping?

Look at the picture from an article below talking about alignment. If this is off it could be bend or break the axle.
 

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All your photos are too indistinct except for the last one which clearly shows a probable misaligned dropout. A good FLBS should have the tools and techniques to fix this. If the frame is aluminum have them closely inspect the adjacent frame tubes for hairline cracking. If so, might have to retire the frame because wipeout at 30 MPH is no bueno. :(
 
The last pic is not of his bike; a google image search shows it as a reference pic to determine things from, used on various websites.
 
I double checked and it seems like perhaps its bent but only very slightly. Unfortunately I'm on my own out here
There aren't any bike shops I trust
 
Drop a magnet on it see if it sticks steel is easy enough to work alloy will seem ok till its not at that point something has likely failed drastically.
 
Ianhill said:
Drop a magnet on it see if it sticks steel is easy enough to work alloy will seem ok till its not at that point something has likely failed drastically.

Its aluminum. Yep. Spinning magnets said on another forum that it can be bent back just not too many times. I'm just gonna wait and see if it's get worse. Checking on it

If it is bent and breaks the rear axle ( the rear axle is thicker than the drops by the way, super heavy duty) then I guess I'm due for a new hub motor..they're only $270 for the kit and the ones have a redesigned motor cable exit area that's WAAAAY better and more heavy duty. Voilamart is the company. Then I'll have a bunch of spare components as well. Sitting at 7 k miles and hope to get a additional 3k more at least. I'm also getting the grin tech V3 torque arm for extra insurance.

Hope it keeps the wheel in if the drops snap or axle fails. Knock on wood.

P.s. or I might buy a completely different hub motor and frame. Id just redo it differently. Put more weight midtube area. Also a double reinforced frame. But then yes it looks like a dirt bike
 
I don't carry nearly as much weight but have considered making a suspension system for the pannier bags. Basically just two pieces of plywood or some other material with some short springs between them. Maybe 1" high. Then the panniers rest on top. This should greatly reduce dynamic loading on the mounting bolt are you having trouble with. And everything else really.
 
Just a question if its alloy dropouts what was you using for a torque arm ?

If there aint ine it could be weakening the area with the forwards and backwards force working away at the alloy and slowly warming it and weaking it like how we anneal copper ?

Problem with alloy is the heat treating that rear section will be at a different hardness not pro with alloys or bike frames so others maybe able to add a few pence with a work around to get that area hardened after the fix is applied to it.

Might pay to try and braze some support to the outer of the leg if your a big boy ?
 
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