Roasted

Ugh - I goofed when typing the title. I tried to edit it but it doesn't appear to have changed on the main forum index. Could an admin please change the official title of this thread to Frame Rub Question, muy pleaso?

I just bought a bike this weekend at a cyclist market at a very subsidized price brand new - 2010 GT Series 3 @ 550, down from 999. Originally the owner marked it at 600 firm till I noticed a mark on the frame and handed it back to him. He called 550 last call and I bit down on it.

The mark was described as being caused during transit of the bikes to the market. He alone brought about 50 bikes (he ran a bike shop about a half hour away, along with the other 100+ vendors there) and were subsidizing prices to clear overstock, hence the 2x a year market which took place this weekend.

I'm sure to understand what I am talking about, pictures will be needed, and I'll submit one later today when I get the chance. For the sake of explaining it, it's a pretty small mark on the outside of the rear triangle, near the QR lever on the non-drive side. Judging by its looks, and having had two bikes rub on my own rack many years ago, it certainly looks similar so I'm inclined to believe that was the truth. The mark would have been bigger if it wasn't for this thick sticker in the area about some sort of warning that absorbed a lot of the rubbing, but there was still an area about the size of two eraser-heads of a No. 2 pencil that wasn't protected. I'll get a picture later.

Meanwhile, here's a question for you guys. The paint in this area is worn off, and if you run your finger across it you can feel a very slight indentation in the area, however I'm not sure if this is attributed to the actual metal being worn beyond the paint, or if it's just the difference in thickness I'm feeling from the frame being painted vs the area of the mark having no paint.

Is there an intelligent way to finish an area like this to restore it looking like new? I suppose it would just be a sandpaper job and refinish the area accordingly?

Let's take an extreme scenario for the sake of learning something new - Say you have a bike that's on a rack rubbing another bike and it begins to wear in pretty heavily because you decided to drive 1,000 miles away like this. Is there any structural fatigue associated with something like this? Or does the area have to be pretty big before the frame itself loses strength? Is there a way to restore metal to a heavily rubbed away/dented area to restore strength to it?

LowCel 

Not an admin but title changed.

cappuccino911

we definately need a pic of this but to me it sounds like a cosmetic issue that you don't need to worry a whole lot about. I have tons of dings on my bike from kryptonite lock and a couple of small dents from it, totally fine.

Roasted

Absolutely. I'll get a picture later on tonight. I just wanted to throw this on the forums a while and generate some ideas about it. In my case, it's not a small dent or a ding like you described experiencing with the lock. Mine is definitely from a rub, and like I said I can feel a difference in "elevation" (if you will) when I rub my finger across the frame and the damaged area, however I believe the elevation change is possibly due to the lack of paint in the damaged area. It's very slight, and when you look at it from behind the bike you can see an ever so slight dent-like-looking "inward" angle, but again I think some of it is just the lack of paint. It takes a heckuva sharp eye very close up to even see the difference from behind the bike.

I just have to wonder... from what I understand I have a lifetime warranty with this frame from GT. If the frame were to crack in that exact area, I wonder if they would put up a fight that it would have been fatigued by the rub marks. Then again, that's speculation. Yes a picture is definitely needed... gah..

Now this is unrelated to me and I know it doesn't apply, but what say you about the last question I asked? Is there such a way to "add" metal to a severely rubbed away area of the frame to restore its strength? I'm talking an extreme case where there's a heckuva dent from wearing away. Just a fun "what if" question I figured I'd ask to see how extensively you can repair such a thing.

Oostal

I would just cover it up with Testors (or any other brand) model paint. Check before compatibility with your other paint and with aluminium. While a nice bike, your frame doesn't really cost a fortune to worry about too much and think about expensive ways of how to fill in the dent.

Roasted

Yeah, I agree. The road bike seems amazing to me, but that's also speaking as a first time user. I wonder what the frame would retail for to buy outright? I just like to know what I'm getting into, what replacement parts cost, etc. I would hate to get a new bike and yay it's great weeeee oh hello 800 dollar part I need due to last weekend's minor wipeout...

urbanknight

The government helps people buy bikes now?!!

Oostal

Years ago I bought an aluminium bike. Something similar to your GT. It was the second time I went out for a ride with it when the front tire got a cut. The speed was pretty high and I ended up on the side of the road and got some road rash and small cuts. I was mad like hell. To make things worse, I did not have a spare tube, pump or even a mobile phone. I had to walk one and a half hour's under blazing sun to get back home. I realized then that there was a dent in the top tube. In a very visible place, just on top of the bike name. I believe it was 1cm deep and there was also a scratch in the paint. Well, I was so p**sed off that I did not touch the bike for 2-3 weeks. Later I fixed the tires (I found out that the stock tubes were some no name cheap stuff and the tires weren't that nice either) and rode the bike extensively for 5 years. The dent didn't matter a bit in the end and as a matter of fact I did not have any problems at all. I still have the bike back in my parents place and I'm sure it rides well. Long story short, most aluminium or steel tubes can handle pretty large dents w/o any problem, not to speak of minor rubbing or scratches.

cappuccino911

I honestly don't see how any structural damage could occur from a RUB unless you and I have different definitions of a rub. chances are what your feeling may be the paint. I know the paint on my bike is incredibly thick. If you are really worried about it you can get a new aluminum road bike frame from nashbar for $80 as they have a 20% off one item sale going on right now. So I wouldn't fret too much, frames can be had for fairly cheap.

Also i will add that there is another thread discussing someone that had an aluminum frame where the dropouts and seat stays were bent significantly. Someone with knowldge of metals said generally Aluminum has one bend init. meaning if you do something that messes it up and bends something it will still be structurally sound, you just probably won't be able to bend it back without it breaking. this is different than steel which is very bendable.

I would have zero fear of something rubbing on my bike, I'd have a lot more fear if something of significant weight fell on it. Remember, bikes are crashed and often times it's just a few scratches and cosmetic damage, i'm almost certain thats what you have unless you show us a pic that looks otherwise.

Roasted

Well, got home and took some pictures. Like I said I'm pretty certain *my* frame is fine. The idea behind this was it kind of generated a "what if" question. WHAT IF my frame was just *that* bad... Would there be a fixable alternative besides getting a new frame all together? Etc...

For the sake of the thread though, here's some pictures of my frame:

urbanknight

Yeah, that's nothing. Wait til your first crash.