Kilroy1988 

Howdy folks,

I'm looking at a 1970s Bob Jackson equipped with mostly Campagnolo Nuovo Record. The paint is rather rough and all of the components will need to be cleaned thoroughly and it'll probably need new wheels, which is fine by me given the great price, but there's also a shallow, dime size dent on top of the top tube... I could not even see it in the photos until the seller took a close up. The dent would sit right under the brake cable and may even be in a spot where I could cover it with a cable clamp.

I want a rider, and this bicycle is a perfect size for me. However, I'm also rather anal about dents and dings, and am wondering if I can live with it or not!

Anyone else have (or had) otherwise great bikes with little dents in them? What say you about this situation? Should I jump on it?

-Gregory

delbiker1 

IMO, if you are willing to take care of all the other things that are wrong with the bike now, why let a small, insignificant dent stop you. It is what you are looking for, it is the right fit and you say it has a great price. Why are you holding out. I get the part about the dent being bothersome to see, but it is not going to change all the good points. I have an early 90s steel bike that I bought new in '92. I looked at it and went for a test ride. It was the bike I was looking for at the time. I put down a deposit and went to pick it up 2 days later. The owner of the shop came out and told me they had discovered a dent, maybe nickel sized, in the front of the head tube just below the bikes emblem. The bike was already on sale due to it being a previous year model. The owner gave me the choice of getting back the deposit or put that toward a different bike, and a third option of taking an extra $100 off the price. I bought the bike and the dent never bothered me. I still have the bike and rebuilt it late last winter. I had the bike powder coated and the powder filled in the dent to the point that it is hardly noticeable unless you know it is there and you look really close. A twenty eight year old bike that is now like a new bike.

markwesti

Bondo is your friend , use a straight edge to check for high spots . Butter it up and sand it down .

P!N20

Two of my bikes have small dents in the top tube - my track bike aka 'fixie' got a whack from the handlebars in a previous life, but there's enough scratches and rust spots that it just blends in. My Pinarello also had a small dent which got filled in when I got it painted.

IMO if the bike is enjoyable to ride you won't worry about minor cosmetic imperfections.

bikemig 

I bought a Peugeot PXN 10 with a dent on the seat tube. The bike was otherwise in great shape. I say go for it.

Bikerider007

Too many bikes out there to ride bikes with dents. Especially in this soft market.

Kdogbikes

A pic of a chrome bike. Was very neglected and spent s good deal of life in a damp environment. I got it as good as it’s going to get. Red electrical tape on top tube is hiding a dent. Bike fits and rides awesome.

mightymax

I too bought a Chrome Voyaguer that has a very small dent in the top tube. I thought about it and the bike was more or less nearly flawless except for the dent. I bough it and the dent was masked with chrome tape. I am glad I bought it as it is so pretty to look at and is a nice rider to boot!

Max Bryant

merziac

This ding was not disclosed beforehand, price it turns out reflected that after all, still a great deal.

No way the ding would have stopped me even had I known.

randyjawa 

In my mind, a dented frame dramatically and negatively impacts collectible value, and I loose all interest in such a purchase. But for a rider, I prefer a bike that is less than perfect and a small dent or two does not bother me at all.

merziac

While I agree in general, when it is a well established desirable marque,rare model and example in the importantly correct size, especially for a fair price.

I can live with it and it can always be a rider if it needs or I want it to be.

merziac

While I agree in general, when it is a well established desirable marque,rare model and example in the importantly correct size, especially for a fair price, I can live with it and it can always be a rider if it needs or I want it to be.

J.Higgins 

I agree to an extent, but its truly situational. If I were going to do a full restore, a minor dent is nothing.

easyupbug 

I am conflicted on dents so understand your concern, to me it can cause an unsettledness. I have some sparkling Italian beauties that could not have a dent where I would see it before, during or after rides, like in a TT or DT, it would bother me too much. That said, I have an '85 Pinarello Levi's Team bike (with scandalous Tange Prestige) with two nasty dents in the DS seat stay and I seldom notice them and always enjoy the rides very much.

Kilroy1988 

'Thanks for the replies, folks! This is the dent in question... I think I may pick up the bike after all. Will spend the rest of today mulling it over.

-Gregory

scarlson 

I like the idea of covering it up with a cable clamp! That sounds like something I would do.

If you're planning on a respray at some point, then frame blocks can be useful to pull the dent. They will very likely ruin the paint, though. Then you can easily fill it with some bronze or silver. Could use ordinary solder as well if you're not planning on a powder coat. Or Bondo, although I'm not sure how well that plays with powder coat either.

texbike

I have a '74 Masi GC with two small dents next to one another on the side of the top tube. Outside of that, it's pretty close to being mint and 95% all original (new brake pads, cables, bar tape, and clincher wheelset). I recently purchased a '60 Paramount pista that has LOTS of patina including a couple of small dings as well. I view both of these bikes as occasional riders and garage art. Both were relatively inexpensive so I'm not particularly bothered by the dings. However, I definitely wouldn't like them on one of my nicer bikes...

belacqua

Dents like this one encourage carefree riding. Go for it.

My recommendation is not to fill or conceal the dent. Put that effort instead into developing the ability to appreciate the dent as character / battle scar.

bark_eater 

I've tried hard maple blocks for rolling out a dent. The ones I made had a roughly machined bore and did scrape the clear coat a bit. I think that if they where smooth and well greased the paint damage could be minimal.

AZORCH

When my '66 Paramount joined the herd I realized I had somehow overlooked a small BB sized dent on the drive side of the top tube. "How the heck did I miss that?" I asked myself over and over again. It bothered me so much and every single time I looked at the bike I found myself staring at that damn dent. It seemed so glaringly obvious. I couldn't understand how it was that nobody asked me how that happened. "They're being kind," I said to myself. "They're being considerate of my rapidly degenerating eyesight and even more degenerating taste in quality bicycles." So I rode the bike and stared down at that stupid dent in the top tube as I pedaled. And the more I rode the bike, the smaller the dent appeared to be until, eventually, it became almost invisible.

I take that bike out about once a week on one of the group rides. I manage to hold my own, and no one has ever mentioned that dent to me - not one single time. I get plenty of people who say, "Schwinn. Cool." or ask me how old the bike is. Sometimes one of the "in-the-know" shop guys comes out, a gleam in his eye, to check it out and talk bikes. Mostly there are just my fellow cyclist friends leaning their carbon race bikes against the shop wall and giving me crap about riding an "ancient" steel bicycle. It's one of only a couple that I ride with regularity, and mostly because I enjoy riding them... which is the point to me. That damn dent, for a while, sucked all the joy out of something that is, to me, an incredibly joyful thing. Advice: Stop sweating it.

Let's go ride.

dmanders

I had a 76 Masi that had a dent like that for 29 years until I had the bike repainted in 2006. Didn't affect ride-ability one bit. Had the dent fixed during the repaint and it still rode the same although it looked nicer. Sure it was less of a collectible either way but it still was a really nice ride.