First time posting, apologies in advance if I don't follow the protocol.

Basically I bought this bike a year ago from a guy on Gumtree, he'd picked it up as a junk bike and fixed it up to sell for charity. I paid $450AUD for it, which I though (and still think) was pretty good value. I'd been searching for 'the one' for a year or so, and was really happy with what I found in this bike. I'm fairly certain it's either a 1984 or 1985 Peugeot PGN10. I use it mainly as a commuter bike about three times a week and have been doing my best to take care of it.

Trouble is he'd put in one of those seat posts that tightens by expanding inside the seat tube, and it seems like it may have overtightened. I brought it in to my local bike ship because I noticed a few lumps in the steal near the saddle, they didn't seem to think these were that significant, but did point out a stress point at the point where the bottom of the seat post sits in the tube (hard to explain, I tried to upload a picture but couldn't). They recommend I get a further opinion from a welder.

Trouble is the welders they'd recommended no longer work on bikes, and I've had a hard time finding someone that still does it where I live. Eventually found someone a good 2 hour drive away; they gave me the following quote:

- $160AUD for "an American made 4130 plain gauge CroMo tube"
- Re-paint anywhere from $200-400AUD

After seeing some pictures he more or less said I could wing it, and just give riding until/if it develops into a crack. In which case he advised that I could get a similar bike for the same price it would cost to repair anyway. I absolutely agree with him on that, but am struggling to get past my sentimental attachment to my bike.

I suppose I'd also like to know whether the 4130 tube would be equivalent to the Reynolds 501 (3 tubes renforcées) that is currently there. And whether a repaint is as good an option as powdercoat (which my local bike shop recommended). I'm a bit of rookie with this kind of stuff, and am struggling to get an idea of what these things are worth. I'm leaning towards having it fixed of course, I just need someone to tell me yes or no either way.

Please be that someone!