Hammering Bikes & Campagnolo Keychain

I've spent a lot of time working with the general public at Charlottesville Community Bikes. The scariest thing I ever hear while I'm working there is a mechanic "using" a hammer on a bicycle part. When this situation occurs, I immediately stop what I am doing and approach the culprit for damage control. By the time I arrive at the scene of the crime, the deed has usually already been done. I once heard it described, "An ounce of technical know-how is worth a ton of brute force. When you have an itch on your ear, you don't take a sledgehammer to it."

However, there are some (albeit few and far in between) times when the use of a hammer is appropriate in bicycle repair. Today I came across the perfect use for one:

The dented head tube on my Rockfish.

The head of the hammer just fit inside the head tube.

All it took was a little leverage action from the handle of the hammer. It rounded out the head tube easily. Pressing in a headset should not be a problem now.

Right there where the dent was.

As circular as it needs to be.

Also, Do Right Fear Not's Shifty Keychain post inspired me to snap a photo of my bike keychain:

An aluminum Campagnolo toeclip that snapped. Dremeled it smooth.