The bike fell over with full panniers and on to a concrete flower pot. Top tube has a big dent, not so pretty now LHT

Ohh, that's a bummer.

Call it bike beausage

I read the thread title and thought "Jeez, I wonder if the car that hit it was totaled." Sorry your LHT now has more character, but at least the next dent won't be as painful.

I read it and thought, man, that would take bollocks that aren't just made of steel...

a pad over the top tube will hide the cosmetic issues ,, but whether it may have prevented the dent, is a post game chat show, now..

Very very curious to see a picture...

The b*llocks or the dent?

Never mind the b*llocks, poor guy said his 'top tube' is dented!

...both, but the dent might be a bit easier to get a pic of.

the dent


the flowerpot with chilli plant

If you don't mind doing a little repainting afterward, dents can be mostly popped back out in many cases. Google "bicycle tube dent removal." You can buy the tube blocks to clamp around the dent for less than $15, notably from Paragon Machine Works. Then a little elbow grease and it should crush the tube back close to its original shape, although the twisting will scratch up the paint where the blocks are clamped. A touch of Bondo before repainting should hide what's left so you'd never know it was damaged.

Really sucks that happened. Is it purely cosmetic or does it also mess up the true-ness of the frame?

- Andy

I was just thinking, he needs to go to the local record store and get an apropos sticker to cover it up...

I feel your pain. I dented a top tube myself and every time I got on that bike it would drive me crazy. I like the idea of using blocks to get the dent out, I just worry the blocks will be ineffective because the cable stop will be in the way. Hopefully you will come up with a solution that you can live with.

Looking at the size of the dent, kinda glad you didn't post a picture of the b*llocks.

I must be completely out of the loop.

What exactly is/are b*llocks?

3 of the 5 metal frames I've owned that have failed did so due to fatigue or imperceptible accumulated damage. I personally would never ride a frame with that much structural damage without a repair. Dents or blows that visibly deform tubing induce stress risers that will severely compromise strength.

the two things that hang below a pillock.

The "veg" that go with "meat & two veg".
The "berries" that go with "twig & berries"
The "plums" that are smuggled by "plum smugglers"
The "family jewels"
etc.

Well I don't mean to split hairs here but in light of that in the least it's a badly worded title.

A bandaid?

Probably going for a pun, as 'bollocks' is also an englishy interjection approximately equivalent to 'dammit'. But it's quite funny to imagine that 'bollocks' is the cause of the pictured dent...

I guess it's the lack of punctuation that threw me off.

Kind of like saying "Let's eat, grandma" vs. "Let's eat grandma".

Anyhow, enough of that. Sorry to hear about your Trucker OP. I've always liked that color.

Rolling bicycle frame tube dents

alternate method that looks like way more fun!
ShelBroCo Dent Removal System