CenturionIM

Bought a jamis quest (631 steel frame) off ebay for a good price. When it arrived however, I found a dent in the top tube. It did not look very serious but I just want to elicit some second opinions here. Is it bad? should I return it?

There are some minor scuffs under the seat tube and on the RD, but none seemed serious enough to suggest a crush; Nothing on the seat stays, nothing on the forks and nothing on the brifters. One thing mesmerizes me,though: the crown ring (the ring at right where the headset meets the head tube is scratched up on one side pretty good. What would cause a scratch there?

repechage

It is not a structural problem, but it is right where you will not ignore it.

jon c. 

I came close to buying a new Quest, but found a vintage Raleigh Team Pro (Reynolds 753) that I fell for instead. But I really liked the Quest frame. My 753 frame has a similar, perhaps a tad larger, dent. It's irrelevant. These thin walled frames dent fairly easily and while it does impact resale value, it has no bearing on ride or structural integrity. I do think if the dent was not disclosed you should be able to return it if you wish. But if you got a good deal and are buying it as a rider, and you like the ride (I did), I'd have no qualms about keeping it.

miamijim

You bought a used bike therefore its only reasonable to expect a variety of nicks, scrapes, scratches and other imperfections. It's also unreasonable to expect the seller to list and picture every nick, scrap, scratch and imperfection.

Now onto the dent, the seller described the bike as being in "great cosmetic condition" and went on to post a gazillion pics showing alot of nicks, scraps and scratches. Heck, there's even a pic of the scraped up STI levers. I'd let everything slide to this point. Ahhh....the dent. From what I can see there's dent in any of the pictures but there's also no picture of the center of the top tube either. Both ends yes, the center no. Coincidence? I dont know.

Let me ask you this question, if you knew there was a dent would you have bought it for the same price you did?

Did you ask the seller if there were any dents?

In the first pic posted i think I see a dent but maybe I dont.....IDK.

Its to the left of the second grey blob that to left of the TT decal

Zoku620

This kind of stuff really frustrates me, I have bought three bikes from eBay sellers that all have had undisclosed damage - one was a Serotta T Max Mtn bike that was described as "no dents or dings" and had many dents, some pretty bad, all with chipped paint and rust underneath, the seller said "they must have happened in shipping...." but the bike was cheap so I kept it.
I sell things on eBay, I go out of my way to describe the condition and take good pictures. When I buy things on eBay, I often get good deals bidding on listing that are mis-described, or have poor pictures.
I wouldnt let it stop me from riding it, and If you like the bike, you can try to contact the seller, maybe he will offer a partial refund, or if you feel he is being shady (how's the feedback?) you can open a case with eBay, and see where it goes.

CenturionIM

thanks for the replies The aim of my question is not to blame the seller, i dont consider myself cheated because the price was ridiculous and i expected all the minor scuffs. I just want to know if the dent will be a long term structural concern. If not I would just happily keep it.

Velognome 

Got a good deal on it? If your happy...ride on!

eippo1

That's just fine and won't be a problem. I had a dent exactly like that in my old steel cross bike. Raced it for a year with the dent and sold it to a guy that's riding it on dirt and gravel roads currently.

Zoku620

Sorry if I got riled up, just one of my pet peeves, I guess. Like the others said, probably just a cosmetic issue, just one of the reasons to like Steel bikes!

miamijim

No need to apologize. I've been looking for a high end lugged Peugoet with British threading for about years, about 3 years ago I found my bike on Ebay. When it arrived there was a giant dent in the top tube, the seller packed the bike with the handlebar/brake ever on top of the top tube. Some here along the way the box was dropped upside down and the resulting in a big dent. I was sick to my stomach when I opened the box. You could see a depression in the card bard from the lever.

Thr seller offered my a discount which I declined...I just couldnt deal with it. UPS picked it up a few days later.

elboGreaze

When I describe things that I'm going to sell , I always give a thorough description of the item, as I'm sure you all do. I maybe even go a little overboard on pointing out defects . Personally, if I had received a bike with a dent like that , I would send it back . Just my .02, to each his own .

longbeachgary

If it were me I'd return it if only because the condition was not what I was led to believe.

Six jours

Back when track racing was done exclusively with steel bikes, you could go to any velodrome and see racks full of bikes with significant dents in the top tubes from where the handlebars had swung around during crashes and banged into the tube. I never saw or heard of a single failure from that sort of thing. So if structural integrity is the OP's only concern, then he can put his mind completely at ease.