Road Cycling - did i get *SCREWED* on ebay??? Please help!

I bought a Morgul Bismark frame made with Easton Ultralite AL. The frame weighs only 2.14 pounds. The frame arrived with what I percieved as a dent on the drive side behind the bb. Upon closer inspection I noticed a 2 mm bend/crack/whatever on the very bottom of the stay as a result of the "dent"
The seller claims that these dents are put there on purpose. Read below.

see next post for picture
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Hi James,

The frame I bought from you arrived today. Thanks for the quick shipment. Unfortunately, there is a problem. There is quite a significant dent/impression on the bottom rear triangle (seatstay?) on the side where the derailleurs would go; right behind the bottom bracket. I dont know what to do about this situation. The auction was for a new frame and I wasnt told of any damage. This damage may have occurred during shipping, but I cant say because I dont know what the frame looked like *exactly* before it was shipped. I can't remember if the shipment was insured or not or what the terms of the insurance are.
I am by no means a bike expert so I dont know if this dent is merely cosmetic, or if it has weakened the frame strength. The dent is about 1 3/4 to 2 inches in size so its not insignificant.

What are your thoughts?

HIS REPLY

Torin-
I think I can clear this up. What you are seeing is supposed to be there- it is on every frame out there I believe. When they are building the frame, they put a crease in the right side (the drive side) to allow more room for the chainrings (on the crank). I could send you pictures of all the Morgul frames that I have- they all have it, and it is not a dent at all. If you think about where your crank mounts, and where the chainrings are, that will help you to see why it is there.
I just looked at the auction page, and you can see this crease in 4 of the pictures. It is truly normal,and not dented or weakened.

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What do you think? Sounds plausible but I am not sure. This frame is so light I am wondering about how strong it is. Should I be worried about it breaking on me?

Thanks for your assistance

i have attached this image

I have a dent like that on one of my steel bikes, except mine appears to be elongated along about three inches of the chainstay, while yours appears to be a "dimple" sort of dent.

Still, my guess is that this is placed there to allow clearance for the chain as stated.

Any way you can send that pic to the bike dealer or bike company and get confirmation?

Koffee

This frame was made by Morgul-Bismark, a small frame builder in Colorado. They sold off their NOS and stopped building as the owner is ill.

my bike has those...on the inside of the chainstays, presumably becuase they moved the chainstays inward and made the dents to add tire clearance.

I dunno about this one. it definitly seems plausable, but id see if I could get pics of other frames from the same manufactuer on this one...

It looks normal to me. If you have a crank handy match it up with the chainrings and I bet that they will be at about the same place. I have had several bikes that were like this. The clearance is needed to keep the chainrings from hitting the stay.

It is probably supposed to be there, my c'dale has one.

I can't tell from the picture (it's a little out of focus at the point of interest), but if the paint looks okay in that spot then it's probably supposed to be there. A depression that size would require a pretty good knock and would have scratched the paint in or around the dent. If the paint is fine then the 'dent' was likely put there before painting, which would imply that the frame builder wanted it that way.

I've seen that hundreds of times. As others have said it's for chainring clearance.

There's a few options for frame builders to avoid the rings:

1) Have the stays exit the BB straight back then bend them about 1/2 way (sort of how Serotta did/does it)
2) Stays that form a straight line from BB to dropout can be ovalized to miss the rings (that's how my old Allex Epic Carbon frame does it)
3) The dent method.

Even if it looks like the rings would clear the tube without the dent I've be happy to see it there. You don't want your hardened steel chain getting jammed in there and chew up the aluminum tubing.

Post a 2nd picture at more of an angle, and off to the side.(Eliminate the flash which will clarify the picture).

The same "dents" appear on many frames. I had the exact same on my old Klein Quantum. They ARE supposed to be there for chainring clearance.

No worries. Enjoy the frame.

My dent's bigger than your's! Enjoy your new frame!

My old Spec Allez has one that looks exactly the same. Nothing to worry about

Got those same "dents" myself. Aluminum stays are bigger and they need them for clearance of the chainrings.

Ahhhhh- Ebay, the excitement & thrill of a good deal suddenly squashed by the at times choking anxiety and hopeless gut feeling of a suspected flaw.
And then calmness presents itself, confidence restored by the influx of knowledge from reliable sources. Ebay- ain't it fun!!!!!!

Got a dent just like it, went through the same thing. ENJOY!

i have attached this image

Majority of the bikes about approx. 98-99% will have dents on the drive side to accomodate the chainring. As others stated, nothing to worry about and just start assembling the bike.

Thanks :D