My hopes of flipping this and retiring now dashed, I've decided to give this Miyata 610 frameset away free. However, I don't want to give it away to anyone if the consensus here is that it's dangerous to ride.

The bike came to me with the originally equipped Miyata rear rack. I can't figure how the seatstay was damaged like this unless the rack was impacted somehow. But it shows absolutely no damage itself. The front right handlebar is also bent, but I can't find any evidence of a frontal impact on the frame.

I don't see any cracks at the seatstay rack mount. I don't see any cracks at the joint between the seatstay and the seat tube lug.

I've also included a photo of the opposite seatstay, because it is swayed slightly. I'm wondering it it wasn't designed with a slight sway.

So what say ye? My thought is to offer it free and give the name of the only LBS proprietor I know of in the area who has any know-how regarding steel frames and the equipment to repair them. I'd also suggest it be used as an around-towner, not as a loaded touring bike - unless it is evaluated and repaired by an expert.

On the other hand, I don't want any lawsuits!

That would be fun. The problem is clamping. To set that frame, you'd have to move it past the original alignment and let it relax back. And you could probably do one at a time.... The proper way appears to be to hook to the rack eyelets and back out the force in the opposite direction. but without some really ingenious clamping, you'd likely break the seat stay welds.

steel is great for it's repairability
this looks like minor damage to me

i would straighten and align it and ride it for sure

i whish i still lived in northern nj because then i could do it for you

Visit the yellow jersey website and search the repairs section. I don't have exact link but you if you view all the repair work they have done that looks like a walk in the park. You might have a cosmetic blunder but it can for sure be aligned.

Ride on I say

Well, it's a bit small for me at 57cm, and I really don't need another project. I'm just afraid if I give it away free, someone may ride it as is and risk injury, although I'd bet it could probably be ridden without incident the way it is.

Looks like minor damage to me but ask over at the frame builders subforum and see what they say.

I can barely ride without incident on a new bike..

Way back when, when I was working at a bike shop, a kid brought in a Trek that his mother had run over with her car. The kid was so upset and thought he would have to find another bike, but had no money for one. The seat stays were pretty mangled and the rear wheel was toast. I took the rear wheel out, stood on one seat stay and yanked on the other one. With just some brute force and leverage we aligned the bike in just a few minutes. The kid was estatic, he couldnt believe we could fix his bike so easily. Sold him a cheapo rear wheel and sent him on his way.

I think you can find some sort of leverage point and bend that frame back to straight. No big deal. Go for it.

Yeah, if it was aluminum I'd say no way, but considering it is steel... go for it.

Must be something about Miyatas. I scrapped this City Hybrid frame with similar damage. It probably would have been fine if I were keeping it, but since I was planning to flip it, I didn't want to take the risk it would fail on the next guy. Ended up with some real nice components though!

Thanks for all the responses. I would ask on the framebuilders forum, but since I never post there, I'm sure it would be similar to all the 'what's it worth?' threads here.

Assuming the brazing at the seat cluster doesn't pop, won't bending the stay back fatigue the steel? Does straightening it offer any strength advantage? Is it more likely to fold as is?

It doesn't appear to have affected the alignment of the rear DOs, at least to my untrained eye, and a wheel can easily be centered.

The owner of the lbs here is also an expert frame builder . I think he could fix that no problem. He has set worse problems strait for me. Hint Hint.

I don't see anyone clamoring to purchase this jewel....

Whatsamattah? Maybe no one remembers the things we did to bikes just to keep them working.

Am I the only one who had a vise grip seat post clamp when I was a kid?

look at the post before yours

My pretty much uneducated gut feeling is that it should be fine. That area has plenty of bracing around it. The only thing that gives me pause is that it's an area that has been brazed so it might already be fatigued. I would give it away with the caveat that the new owner looks at it after every ride for signs of more damage. And maybe have them sign an "I'm not responsible if this thing breaks and you die" sort of release?

My Raleigh Gran Sport fixie has worse damage than that - which is why I fixied it rather than a proper restoration. I've ridden it in one incarnation or another since 2005, and it's done just fine.

I will not sell it however.

Doesn't seem too bad. I'd try to straighten it laying two wooden blocks on the floor, putting the stay's ends on them and stepping carefully on the bend.

Bending the stays back will work harden them.
You can always just get them replaced if the idea of bending them back makes you nervous.

work hardening doesn't happen appreciably after one cycle. it takes hundreds or thousands to crack something.

trust me, i've walked a long way in crampons before they've broken. if you had to reset the stays every ride, that's different. but one cold set more or less won't really break the camel's back, surely.

try it with a paper clip, and tehre you're bending the iron through nearly 180 degrees each time...

anyway, who's gonna buy your bike. I mean, it's so OLD. :grin:

I'd align the rear dropouts as best as possible and leave the rest as is. Looks like someone 'flipped it' doing a wheelie rf it was hit by a car....

+1. Experienced, professional, competent and reasonably priced.