My '84 Miyata was in an accident and I am wondering if the frame and fork can be salvaged or not.

The obvious damage to the frame is a dent, roughly 2.5 inches in length, in the chainstay on the drive side. There are 2 photos attached below which show this dent. The first photo is a side view. The second photo is a view looking upwards at the bottom bracket and chainstays; the dented chainstay is on the right-hand side (next to the derailer cage)






The front fork's steerer tube is bent also. Again I have 2 photos attached showing this. The first photo is a head-on view and it shows the steerer tube bent to the left. The second photo is a side view and it shows the steerer tube bent to the right (ignore the metal bar on the left-hand side of the photo; I used this bar to prop the fork against to take the photo)






Other than the problems shown above the frame and fork appear to be OK. Do you believe that this frame and fork can be fixed and used again?

Thanks for your comments!

-- Manzanita

In a word, no. Find yourself another similar frameset

you may get a different view from the "framebuilders" forum, but i would say that because it is a fairly common lugged steel frame that it could be fixable and then rideable, i suspect there are few who would think it would make economical sense to do so.

sorry man that's a goner. just lost a stumpjumper myself after getting t-boned by a car. frame damage looked similar. salvage as much as you can. i made a shop stool out of mine:

Can it be fixed by a competent frame builder? Probably. Is it worth what it would take to do it? Only if it has significant sentimental value, otherwise get a new or good used similar frameset.

Yeah. It could be fixed at great expense. Used bikes and frames are cheap; new bikes and frames less so.

Best to just move on from the whole experience.

I'll pile on too. If the frame were a rare collectable, historically interesting or of great sentimental value then repairing it would be possible but costly. For a bike that common, the cost would be prohibitive.

I agree your bettr off replacing it. Sorry to hear about the accident your OK? Is there insurance involved?

Sincerely?? since is steel you can fix at least the frame, I wouldn't dare to fix the fork, cheaper to get a new used one.

As many people... too much of a problem to fix considering that the frame is nothing you can't find in CL or ebay again. Unless George washington rode the bike i wouldn't fix it and I would get a new one, time for that frame say bye bye.

Good luck.

Although steel frames can usually be repaired, unless the frame is an expensive custom job or has great sentimental value it won't be economical to repair unless you can do the work yourself. This frame doesn't appear to be particularly high end, so unless it has great sentimental value you would be better off replacing it.

The dent on the frame looks like it was designed to be there for chainring clearance. The fork is toast.

The dent is intentional, as you note, but the chainstays are skewed sideways as well:



It might be possible to cold-set the stays back into alignment, but given the nature of the damage it is also possible that the frame itself has been bent out of alignment. Once again, cold-setting is a possibility, but not a guaranteed fix.

there is a crimp in the NDS tire clearance dimple, so it probably will fail eventually. No way I would touch this frame. My rule is if I have any question, I will not ride the bike.

That new photo changes everything- put a fork in it...

Many thanks for all of your comments.
The frame and fork are nothing special; based on your feedback I will retire them.

Regards,
Manzanita

Put an axle between the drop outs and some wood and you can get the frame back to what it was, doubt it will explode or something. At least will be rideable and might handle pretty bad but will be rideable hehe