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I have a rather old Trek 830 Antelope which I have had since new. (I think it is a 1992 MY)
About 7 years ago I had the chain, or something in the rear jam in the gear mechanisms. This jammed the chain while I was peddling rather aggressively. The result is that it pulled the rear railer apart and bent the ear on the frame where it attaches to.
Lately I have wanted to get back to some more cycling and have noticed the rear wheel does not seem to spin straight and true on the bike. It's bearings seem well lubricated and fine, and the rear wheel seems straight and true to me. Yet, no matter how I play with how it is mounted, it seems "off."
Is it likely the frame was tweaked beyond damaging the ear? (if the force was strong enough to bend the chromoly frame at the ear I am thinking it is likely). If so, is this frame shot?
(I am wondering if I should shop new wheels anyway. Seems bicycles have come a long way since 1992, with a lot more features for comfort now).
Does the wheel spin straight or does it wobble? If it spins straight, does it look like it's off-center? Rear wheels generally have greater spoke tension on the drive side, which over time can lead to the rim becoming slightly off center. If the dropouts are actually bent, a bike shop might be able to realign them for you. Steel frames can tolerate some bending and realignment just fine, to an extent.
Even if the dropout is bent I don't see why that would cause the wheel to not spin straight.
Some can use the breaks to tell if a wheel is out of true but that takes a bit of experience. You can try YouTube or some other site to see how it's done but if it were me, I would take it to a shop and let the pro's assess it.
A bent hanger on a steel frame should be no problem to fix. You can do it with a piece of pipe if you feel up to task. Years ago I had a shift overshoot and jam the derailleur into the spokes coming to a screech stop, blowing the back tire and bending the hanger.
No local shop would touch it, they all wanted to sell me a new bike. I found this small shop down in OB and the guy took out a tool designed to tweak it and in 5 minutes I was out the door on my aluminum tri-bike like new for 5 bucks.
Nothing wrong with an older steel frame. Steel is still a marvelous frame material. Your local bike shop should be able to take a look at it and tell you in more detail what could be wrong - or even what is wrong.
Your possibilities:
Bent axle
Rim out of true
Bent dropout
Bent frame
Or, something as simple as the wheel is not mounted straight.
The wheel could have been pulled out of it's straight position in the dropouts.
All of which is a bit more difficult to diagnose when one can't see the bike or the wheel when it is rotating. But fairly easy to diagnose when the wheel is mounted and one can see what you are talking about.
If the dropouts are bent, it should be pretty obvious. If they are only bent very slightly, it probably won't make any difference. It may be harder to tell if the frame is tweaked out of true. But a steel frame can be bent back to where it should be. But I wouldn't recommend you try that yourself.
Like the taxman posting above, you may have to try a couple of local shops to find one you can trust and talk to. But it might be a good idea.
Riding a 20 plus year old bike, you may run into mechanical difficulties. Typical things that can go bad just sitting around are tires and tubes, cables, handlebar tape, and actually your chain, and the grease in the bottom bracket, freewheel, and hubs. The chain could "go bad" from internal rust, or the lube drying up and crusting to the point that the chain is crippled to where it would cost more to fix than to get a new one.
Otherwise - old frames can be good steeds. My wife rides a 1970's Italian frame regularly. I have an even older English frame that is frequently ridden. My old race frame is still ridable - although I don't because I'm too heavy now - but it dates back to the late 80's. And I have a mild steel road frame, from the 1970's bike boom, which is now converted to a single speed.
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