Update:
I left the bike last week with the wheel clamped in. Just got to my lockup now and took out the rear wheel. Measured between the dropouts and it’s now coming up as about 135mm. Which is definitely narrower than it was last time I measured it!
Thanks to a previous poster for the handy tip on measuring the axle, I also measured that which comes to around 130mm.
Which, to my untrained eye would seem about right?
So I’m starting to see a potential solution to this mystery. Perhaps the Frame-Builder did indeed stretch it out. Either from a jig, or perhaps putting in a wrong-size wheel as it set from the brazing process. God knows…
Maybe it wasn’t even him but a colleague or something, which would explain his bemusement at the situation too.
So my question now is: does steel comply to being bent to a new shape, or does it have memory and always want to return to the shape it was when it was formed? (I should know this being in Sheffield).
More than anything though, is it safe? Or has the frame been dangerously weakened?
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