Forged dropouts question

[froze]

Almost all of my steel bikes have forged dropouts except one a cheap Giant Rincon, always thought forged was better than stamped steel, but then I ran into a problem looking for a touring bike.

I have to use this bike on a long cross country trip so I need, or would prefer, 3 bottle cage mounts on the frame and 2 on the fork so that sort of limits a lot of options, plus I want a sloping top tube which eliminates some more bikes. I will be carrying about 50 pounds on the rear (probably closer to 40), 20 on the front, and of course myself at around 170, not sure if the weight stuff matters but maybe.

I was looking at several touring bikes the Kona Sutra, Masi Giramondo and the Salsa Marrakesh Deore, all three of them look like they don't have forged dropouts, the Salsa has a weird dropout called the Alternator but there is nothing in the description saying it's forged and I can't tell by looking at it.

I'm leaning toward either the Masi or the Salsa, both tick all my boxes, the Kona almost ticks them all the boxes, the rest I saw ticked less boxes.

This question came up because some guy reviewing the Masi claimed he bent his rear dropouts because they were stamped and not forged, but anywhere I looked I did not see this complaint, so not sure if he was rough on the bike or what the heck happened.

Anyway any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Cycleops]

Can't imagine what the guy did to bend the drop out.
For what it's worth though that Kona Sutra is a lovely bike.

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Forging has advantages for certain types of devices. It makes the material stronger, which allows you to use less of it so that the item is lighter.

However, in drop-outs, you don't have strength problems as those areas are not particularly strained. Drop-outs can be cast, CNC'd, stamped or forged. Forging is expensive and since it has no advantage in that situation, you won't find them on everyday bikes. There is no need.

A typical drop-out bend is when the derailer hanger gets bent from a bike falling on its right side. This will still happen if the drop-out is forged or stamped.

Stamped drop-outs are ugly because the edges are rounded on the one side and sharp on the other. They ideally require some hand finishing which again, makes them expensive. Hence, stamped drop-outs are ideal for supermarket bikes where the price-point and level of connoisseur-ness is low.

Cast drop-outs are pretty, if polished. They can be very intricate and decorative without added cost.

Have a look at the variety here:

http://www.framebuilding.com/NEWPARTSPAGES/Forged Dropouts.htm

 

[froze]

I know what forged dropouts look like, I have 7 steel bikes that all have them and one, a cheap Giant Rincon that doesn't. The Rincon stamped dropouts did bend, but I was also doing jumps, hitting rocks, that sort of stuff when I use to live in Calif and took it down mountain trails, so I abused it, but it didn't bend very much, maybe 16ths of an inch which I never ever bothered to bend it back!

 

[Yellow Saddle]

I know what forged dropouts look like, I have 7 steel bikes that all have them and one, a cheap Giant Rincon that doesn't. The Rincon stamped dropouts did bend, but I was also doing jumps, hitting rocks, that sort of stuff when I use to live in Calif and took it down mountain trails, so I abused it, but it didn't bend very much, maybe 16ths of an inch which I never ever bothered to bend it back!

Sorry to have bothered you. I hope you find something strong enough for your very many, rough-and-tumble lifestyle.

 

[froze]

Sorry to have bothered you. I hope you find something strong enough for your very many, rough-and-tumble lifestyle.

You weren't bothering me at all, sorry if I came across that way, that wasn't my intention.