Originally Posted by longbeachgary

I know it's a bummer for you but if you really like the bike so much, maybe you should just ride it and enjoy it. I had a Santana Tandem that had a stuck seat post on it. I took it to the shop to have them get it out but while doing it they hit the top tube with a heavy hammer and put a quarter sized dent in it. The dent didn't cause any cracks and didn't affect the bike in any way. I kept the bike for a couple of years before passing it on to a friend and he still has it and that was about 6 or 7 years ago.