TheGuitarFairy

hi again friends ...

so even though i prepared best i knew how and thought i'd inspected frame well, upon arriving home with my new-to-me-frame, i realized head tube shows signs of trauma. brought frame to my LBS, he says fork is ok, says rear triangle is out 1/4", head tube has pictured, bulge/ripple.

i'd really appreciate some opinions/guidance here. seller, after hearing what i had discovered and that i was on my way to LBS, can't be reached.

thank you!
mike

3alarmer 

...I cannot see anything in your photos that I cannot attribute to reflections and light, so if maybe you could either describe what's going on a little more, or put some kind of red arrow or circle on the bulge, I could maybe give you a better idea of my impression, and what, if anything I might do.

From what I see, there's nothing affecting alignment or fork rake, so if your headset cups fit, and everything else is aligned (which given your description ought to be a simple job), it sounds like owne of those things like a small dent in a tube that you wish was not there, but does not affect the ride and handling.

3speedslow

In the second photo on the grey painted area there seems to be a bulge. Not enough to even worry about .

Like said, wish it wasn't but not anything to fret yourself.

Anyody else see more ?

USAZorro

Sounds like a question for John Thompson, or one of the other frame builders here.

It doesn't look serious to me either, but I am known for being optimistic.

devinfan

I can see the bulge. I wouldn't worry about it although if it were my frame it would make me reluctant to build it up just because I'd always be looking at it and frowning. Have you had the down tube checked? It looks warped to me, could just be the pictures. Put a straight edge against it and see. Anyhow it's a real drag for you - has happened to me more times than I care to recall and it's a bad feeling.

devinfan

Oh yeah - beautiful frame, otherwise!

cyclotoine

Looks like someone over-torqued the headset press. I'd build it and ride and see how it feels. if it handles well, I wouldn't worry too much about it, but I would seek compensation or try to return it too the seller if possible, personally. It's always a bummer to pay for what you think is an intact item and then find a defect, suddenly you feel cheated even if the price is still reasonable in light of the defect and that feeling is impossible to erase.

TheGuitarFairy

you guys are great, thank you for speedy replies.

what's pictured in second photo is easily felt as a ripple if you run your finger inside head tube. look where top of head tube meets lug .. you can see how head tube is slightly deformed around entire shape of bottom of lug.

i apologize if i'm over reacting ... really on steep part of learning curve here.

best,
m

obrentharris 

I haven't seen that sort of bulge in a head tube before. Cyclotoine's suggestion of an overtorqued headset press sounds like a plausible one to me.
Did the LBS check the head tube angle? I would recommend checking that before building it up just to be sure that whatever caused that bulge did not alter the head angle and therefor the handling of the bike.
Brent

3alarmer 

.
...if the faces that seat the cups are parallel, and the cups seat solidly (no ovalizing or distortion), you really ought to be able to ride it fine. But as stated, it will never be "perfect".

If the faces are not still parallel, it can cause some difficulties getting the headset to rotate smoothly when yoiu have it and the fork installed. If that turns out to be the case, you can get those refaced to parallel, if you can find some frame shop with the proper tools.

Don't know what you paid, the seller being unresponsive is probably not a the best sign, but there might be a reasonable explanation. I once bought a later, less choice Frejus for more than I should have paid, because the kid looked impoverished, and the paint was good. I didn't figure out that somewhere in its life it had been crunched so the top and down tubes were a little bent....but it straightened up OK with some coaxing and ingenuity, and it seems to ride OK. Sometimes you just have to make the best of the situation.

Hopefully, your seller will step up..............maybe............with any luck. I'm certain the kid I bought the Frejus from had no clue about the damage.

CV-6 

Have you considered the amount of force needed to do such damage? While I cannot offer a better explanation, I think this theory is a bit of a reach. We will likely never know. I would take a hard look at the top tube and down tube also. I can't tell from the photo if the bulge goes all the way around.

b dub 

I'm thinking the same thing, should be ok. But ever since I saw this thread I've been a bit more hesitant about front impact and head tubes.

zukahn1 

I would also say it should be fine to ride if the headset cups mount nicely and are parallel. It looks like someone did a number on it likely by forcing a slightly tight cup int the head tube with the block and hammer method.

busdriver1959

I don't see any ripples or bends in tha downtube. Check it right behind the bottom head lug and if it's ok, get the head tube reamed and faced, build it up and enjoy the ride.

nlerner

I had a Raleigh Pro frame with a similar bulge, kind of like a frown on the back side of the head tube. I took it to Frank the Welder to check the alignment, and we decided that it had likely suffered a front impact trauma while on a roof rack at some point. Still, the front end measured out fine though the rear took some tugging to get it aligned.

TheGuitarFairy

wow, really appreciate the input, everyone!
took a few more pics.
update: first, seller implies i damaged frame myself ... now, that i'm sending him pics of a DIFFERENT FRAME.
i'm going ride the sh*t out of this bike.