hey all,

I've been borrowing an Italian bike (without disclosing, it's a late 80's steel, chromed under paint, panto'd BB shell, fork crown, etc., fishnet paint job, etc. it's either a Colnago/Faggin/Moser, but I won't say which on here) with full Shimano 600 from a buddy for a couple weeks. I just moved to one of the major US metros, sold my commuter before I moved, and needed a whip to get around town during my job search, etc. well, the guy just asked if I want to buy it. I'm starting a new FT job next week, and it would be great to have a commuter and be able to get there in 15 minutes instead of 45 on the bus (ugh). He offered a pretty good deal, $280 for the complete bike. It fits me well, and is fun to ride. The paint is completely beat, but that doesn't bother me, and is probably actually a good thing, aka theft deterrent. and before it comes up, the seller is a stand up guy that has done me several huge favors expecting nothing in return, and has a similar rep with other folks I know.

Well, now the issue. I work PT at a local shop, and I put it up in the stand after he offered it. I found a rather large dent on the top side of the downtube near the BB shell, close enough that one of the points on the lug is just barely starting to dip into the dent. I dont see any cracks around the shell, but also didnt strip all the paint to make sure. Additionally, I checked the alignment of the frame, and it's out, to the right, about a quarter inch. How much should I worry about these things? I've been riding it for a couple weeks and haven't noticed anything, the frame feels solid, rides well, no squeaking, etc.

Some small additional things are: needs a new chain ASAP, new chainrings for sure, new headset (i have one sitting around), likely a new cassette, and possibly a new right side DT shifter (some of the indexing stops don't catch anymore). Thing is, it feels solid, rides well, fits me well, meets my criteria for a city commuter/lock-up bike (cheap, fast, agile, comfortable, not a theft target), and would save me the time of looking for a deal on CL, etc. I'd like to get it if the BB shell isn't going to fail on me. Thoughts? how much should I worry about the dent/alignment on an old steel frame? I can probably get it back in alignment, I didn't try because it isn't mine yet, and I didn't want to stress the BB shell further.

help appreciated.

You work part time in a bike shop? Would you sell this to a customer? If this was a customers bike would you recomend they buy a new frame?

we dont sell used bikes, so that's a non-issue, and if we did, no we wouldn't sell a dented bike, of course, although other shops do it all the time. I have friends that have ridden dented steel bikes for years with no problems, and I have done the same. Honestly, if a customer came in with this bike, I would tell them to think about getting a new frame, but it's my job as a wrench to be overly cautious with the customers. this bike is for a city commuter in a dirty city, where I'm going to be locking it up and having it get knocked over, probably getting hit or at least bumping cars, etc, on the regular.

If the paint is OK, and the lug is dipping into the dent there's a good chance the dent was there all along, even before the paint. Sometimes these happen when a warm tube is cheated into position during building. In any case, short of a sharp buckle, I doubt it'll affect life significantly.

When it comes to alignment, any frame that doesn't consistently display signs of misalignment is aligned for practical purposes. You've been riding it, and never had an issue, and if you hadn't measured it you'd be perfectly happy with how it rides, so how will tinkering improve on that? Leave it alone, nd if it's a good deal otherwise buy it, ride it, and odds are it'll last until something else, like a crash or theft finishes it off.

I think the two frame issues are two different issues. And the component wear is another issue.

As long as there is no crash damage (head tube pushed back) and the DT dent is smooth without a crease i'd not be too woried about this. Yes understanding why this dent is there is interesting, but on line we won't be able to confirm much.

The rear end being out by 1/4" is no big deal. Again as long as there's no crash evidence. This amount of missalignment is easy to correct.

As far as the component wear goes I'd say that's your call. How much it all effects the function/reliability will be your assesment. This should not be hard to figure out. Andy.

this is sort of what I was thinking. the dent, although a bit large, is smooth, no crimping or sharp folds. and yes, you are correct, the alignment hasnt been bothering me one bit so far.

the front end is fine, I checked it very thoroughly.

the component wear doesn't bother me much. The only things that really needs to be fixed ASAP are replacing the chain and the headset. I can get a new Shimano 8 spd chain for $14, and I have a good condition Campy headset sitting around not being used. I'll probably replace the chainring soon and go to a 1x8 setup anyway, but no biggie on that one. It would just really be ideal to get a lock-up commuter for under 3 so i can focus my bike monies on getting a road or cross bike for racing this year.

I dont get the OP at all, dont tell us where you work please...

What bike is it that is so secret not to tell us? bianchigirl has stuff you probably wont see ever in your life, i have a derosa myself... I/we wont die from a heart attack for reading the word derosa or any other italian or european manufacturer because sure all of the guys have one already but you.

European bike with busted chromes, dents and bad paint jobs are money pits, even more wiht busted components, for 280 is a good deal if you want to flip it because sure some sucker in ebay/cl might pay a lot for them.

W/o seeing the bike is hard to tell but if its as busted as i imagine i wouldnt pay 100 for that POS no matter what brand is it.

Hope you know how to align a frame, if you dont know how then it is time for you to learn...

From the OP, it sounds like this bike might already be on Craig's List...

Either way, I can't see spending $280 on a city commuter/thrasher that needs that much work (but that's just me). Besides, a knowledgeable bicycle thief is going to swipe that thing if he/she notices that it's a nice vintage brand/type under all the bad paint...

The reason I'm not saying specifically what bike it is, is because the dude who is selling it, and a bunch of other folks he and I both know, are on forums a lot. It's not on CL, and I don't think I have some crazy gem. I know how to align frames. I'm a part time mechanic with a year or two of experience, not a master. everyone has to start somewhere. Mostly I was just hoping a few people would say DON"T BUY IT, because I have a tendency to buy every bike in my size that gets near me. But I already passed on it, just going to wait and get something better.

Kid... look... condition is the key word for everything you know. when you get a bike or a frame with chroming if the chroming is not tic tac the frame just worth nothing because now a days to rechrome something is super expensive. Paint jobs are fixable, even dents can be repaired but again it depends a lot of condition, just look at CL and you will have more sense of what im talking about.

No idea where you are but at least in my area prices are all over the place because people think have super gems that are just a real POS and dont worth more than a half in a good day. Some stuff worth more than other but in general market is low for old steel bikes unless is a model really popular, if not then sure worth a couple of hundreds. Im a campy person and I know that the word campagnolo doesnt take the value of a bike to the roof, thats another thing you will find in CL and Ebay for example.

Condition man... condition.

Good luck with your new bike, and learn as much as possible in the shop.