horatio 

Deal-killer, or added character?

79pmooney

If I wanted to ride that frame, I'd take it. Looks like that dent will pop out nicely with blocks, so when it is time for new paint, take it to someone with the blocks, have him go to work, get it painted and the bike will look brand new. I don't see that dent ever being a problem unless the paint is cracked and rust happens. (A little model paint and a toothpick will stop that.)

Edit: Yeah, Chuckk nailed it!

Ben

Squeeze

That dent looks about like mine. No big deal.

3speedslow

Added character, as called.

Chombi

That does not look too bad, In fact, in fact, you might be able to pull out most of that dent out with one of those dent pullers that use hot glue "As seen on TV!!". I used such on dings on my cars and if you use them carefully, they do work well enough to pull out dings and dents.

rmfnla

Hell, if he's going to paint it a dab of JB Weld will fill it in no sweat...

CannedPakes

Mine has a bigger than that and it's always been fine. Looks worse irl. Not really as deep as yours though.

The Golden Boy 

I keep thinking about the dent on my Voyageur SP. It still makes me sick feeling when I think of it.

Wulf

Why on earth are you glueing dongs to your car?

Chombi

Sorry, I meant to say "dings".that's what I get for posting from my phone in a train to work...

RobbieTunes

Beat me to it.

Story about dented top tubes:

3 years ago, I sold a build to a neighbor, whom I trusted at the time.
-The premise was that I'd have first dibs, at the agreed price, if he ever upgraded to carbon or decided he didn't like it.-
-The agreed price was 100% for one year, 75% after one year, until.

1 year in, he asks me to find him a carbon bike. I do. He buys it.
-He decides he's going to keep it, "for my wife."
-I've met his wife. No way is she going to bend over on a road bike. She simply doesn't like that "view" for anyone. Some people simply don't.
-I do not mention this, figure I'll give it time. In the meantime, he buys a tandem, so they can ride together, and she nixes that, proving my hunch.

2 years in, he loans this 56cm bike to 6'2, 285lb man. He rides it (on low-spoke Eurus wheels).
-I update him, in case his memory has failed him, that "uh, remember our agreement?" He says he does, is just loaning it.
-He buys a tri-bike, and asks me to assemble it. PITA but I do it.
-The 285lb man loses nearly 100 pounds. Great! He buys a tri-bike, and asks me to assemble it. PITA but I do it.
-The 56cm steel bike goes back to my neighbor. He says he'll keep it "as a backup." He now has 2 carbon bikes.

3 years in, he loans it to another guy. They show up in my garage, unannounced. He wants to borrow some pedals.
-I loan the pedals, and a pair of shoes with cleats. 6 months later, I ask. He brings me $40 for the shoes.
-6 months later, I ask about the bike. My neighbor tells me he sold it to the guy. He won't say what he paid for it.
-I ask for a number, and call the guy. "Sure," he says, "I'll trade it back to you for an equivalent bike; I just want something to ride."
-I find a nice aluminum frame with carbon fork, full carbon stays, 9-sp DA and nice wheels. I buy it.
-I call the guy, tell him I've got a newer, lighter bike, 9-sp DA, nice wheels, probably 5 lbs lighter, more gears.
-He says "I've done some research. I'll sell it to you for $750.00, but let me come and look at the newer bike."
-He comes over. He loves the new bike. Until: he sees a dent on the top tube. Deal breaker.

So, I give up on getting my Semi Pro back, with 8-sp Athena and Eurus wheels. I strip the 9sp DA off and send it to beech333.
I use the wheels on an Ironman. I build the "newer" frame with 1x10 SRAM, funky wheels, and 700x30 tires=cheap gravel bike.

All because of a dent in the top tube.

There's a lot of that in Asheville. The single-speed of choice is a beat-up fat-tire bike with a 26t front and a 30t rear. Great place. Lot of drug-related undercurrent, though.

dailycommute

Dongs on cars, now that beats baby doll heads covering the hood (freak car I used to see around asheville growing up).

rmfnla

Sometimes, but not in this case; just look closely at the photo.

Nice, easy dent, no eyebrows in sight...

dddd

The flatter dents will have eyebrows. Concave dents tend to allow the eyebrows to spring back, flush with the OD of the tube.

Eyebrows tend to show up most clearly while the surface is being sanded, and while there is still a chance to correct it using cold-work methods before the fresh paint goes on.

The Golden Boy 

Now how did autocorrect learn the word "dongs?"

JohnDThompson 

Maybe they go with the "truck nutz?"

gugie 

I "learned" how to do this from that same thread! Just lube up the clamps, tighten down, work it, tighten a bit more, work it...

Or, you can just live with it. Shouldn't affect performance.

verktyg 

The front wheel swinging around resulting in the bars hitting the top tube is the primary cause of dents like one shown in the OP's first message.

A crash is the most common reason for this. Also, taking a bike down off of a storage hook can dent a thin wall top tube too but not usually that big.

Assuming that the bike crashed, I'd check for other dents plus check out the underside of the top and down tube lugs at the head tube and make sure the forks are not bent.

My 1975 Raleigh Pro frame had a dent like the OP's when I bought it.



Once all of the components are on the bike a small top tube dent become less noticeable. I bought the Raleigh Pro frame to be a rider so the dent is part of the patina.

If the dent is something that bothers you, I'd look for another frame or be prepared to chunk out some money (or time) to fix it.


I keep a piece of foam pipe insulation on the top tubes of all of my bikes when not in use. It helps prevent dents while the bikes are stored or being transported.



Some people ask me what the foam is for... I tell them it keeps the bikes warm...

verktyg

Chas.

horatio 

Have not seen the frame in person. It's about four hours away. The dent doesn't bother me that much, so I might check it out up close. I have to decide whether it's worth a whole day's time.

Many thanks for the replies.

rjhammett

Does it pull off the paint along with the dent?

Chombi

Yes, in very rare cases it has pulled off the clear coat at the ding, but all the years I used it, it only happened once on me, and In that case I pulled on the ding more times than usual trying to get it 100% perfect, so I was mostly to blame.
But I would assume that it will pull off paint from frame tubes if the frame is fully chromed under the paint, like how it is with a lot of Italian C&V frames.

randyjawa 

Deal killer! for me.

Pemetic2006

This thread makes me feel better about the ding (small dent?) in the top tube of my 910.

kroozer 

For me the deal killer would be the 8-hour drive! The frame would have to be extremely desirable.
I never (knowingly) buy a bike or frame with a dent like that. There are plenty of undented bikes around, unless this is some really rare model that you must have, or if it's just too cheap to resist, or if you're planning on refinishing it.
I have one frame that came with a small top tube dent that the seller didn't mention. Some people don't mind but I hated it, but the frame was really cheap, and I'm going to refinish it anyway. I got a set of aluminum frame blocks for $20 to pop it out. The frame is fine now, and I have the blocks for future use.

horatio 

It's not exceedingly rare, but the marque doesn't pop up that often. It's been listed since midsummer with no price drop. He'd have to come off his asking price by one-third for me to even consider it. The drive is really curbing my enthusiasm.