Relax. You asked for opinions and I gave you two.

OP: when you ask for "opinions" .... Opinions on whether it is probably safe to ride? Opinions on whether it is wrong to try to sell it? Opinions on whether we should buy it? Opinions on whether opinions taste better than licorice? Unclear at this time ......

Nothing wrong with selling stuff for parts. I wouldn't buy it... because I have no use for single-speed ... but if I were attending college it would be a super bike for around campus.

Ouch, Hit and run? Looks more like stopped short and run. Heal up quick...

Having worked and toured underdeveloped nations I agree however, in this case this frame is dangerous as some of the highest bending stresses frames see are at the front of the top tube and down tube during panic breaking.

Lo

Looks a funny place for a impact while riding , maybe something fell on it .

I wouldn't buy it, nor would I find it interesting enough to start a thread.

I've straightened stays and frame tubes with >>>>

https://www.parktool.com/en-us/produ...aightener-ss-1

is that how you expired?

Damage like that throws up more red flags than a Soviet parade.

Nobody should ride it and the only reason to purchase is if the price is super low and the other components are in decent enough shape but given that massive dent I have to wonder about everything. Plus it is a pretty low initial cost single speed bike maybe better than some of the other stuff of the time but nothing so valuable it is worth spending much on it. Y

if one of my fren-emies gave it to me for free, I'd probably try to roll the dent out, then set up some blocks on a level-ish basement floor and apply copious evenly distributed pressure to convince myself I've got it kind of aligned.
and / or take it and a bag of coffee beans to my LBS on a slow winter day and see if the owner will do an in house tool loan. (last time i mentioned bringing a mix-6 pack, but he said he's trying to get back into cycling shape - he and his family had a rough go of things with a very sick kid and The Covid Times....)

cheers!

Maybe OK to ride gently in a circle in whichever direction avoids further bending the top tube. So, like NASCAR, but much, much slower.

I am waiting for LarrySellerz to chime in on how he races others while riding frames bent much worse than shown above.

3rd world countries? Park your self at the base of the Williamburg or 59th st bridge, and you'll see a bunch that look worse ridden daily. That was Bianchi's single speed steel gravel bike before there was such a thing. We had a couple in the rental fleet, you are not killing that thing, totally safe to ride.

Could also be from someone prying off a Kryptonite lick with a pole.

Decades ago, the dad of a friend used to own a LBS in Philly. Every once in a while, someone would come in trying to sell a used bike. If it had a certain type of damage that was suggestive of a lock being pried off, he wouldn't by it.

Maybe someone was using the bike as the pry bar! The bike won.... But just barely.

Yeah I was thinking, first, it’s maybe just tall enough for me and, second, this is just the sort of frame I’d like to ride on our trails. The top tube doesn’t look that compromised, so yeah I’d ride it if I could get it cheap.

Otto

I guess it all depends on the selling price. If it were cheap enough, I'd buy it for parts. I mean, the air in the tires still looks good.

Great for parts. Great as an on campus beater. Wouldn't pay much for it. If used as an on campus beater, I might try to jack some of the bend out, but leave the dent in. If that was a failure then it might become a parts bike. These days I wouldn't have any use for it as either, but I can see where someone would.

Edit to add:
If this bike was in my current fleet, I'd donate it to the coop. They would likely use it as a parts bike to build up a nice bike for someone in the local homeless community and the frame would likely be scrapped.

looks like steel, it will just yield more instead of breaking, if it rides straight it’s probably fine.

what would you guys do to fix it? I don’t like the beating it straight suggestion and don’t think welding it for strength would improve the bike

also the location of the dent is sideways so it’s not like it has a tendency to crumple, the triangle is not compromised. It was probably hit by a car or something

Bent while opening the Kryptonite.

I’d fix that (top) tube with tape and a nitrile glove and then start a thread asking how long it will last.

Or goop and zip ties...

My first though - 2 feet of quality 1x2 wood and some strong waxed or tarred sailor's marlin and quality whipping close the the seat and head lugs and on either side of the dent and that bike would ride just fine for the next 10 years. (That's stuff I always have on hand as a one time sailor. There are probably a hundred other ways just as cheap and easy to accomplish the same.) Repeat and ride another 10. And if this is a city bike, you've saved an easy pound. No U-lock required. The lightest cable out there will do just fine.

My standard response to "do you think this is safe?" is, "If you have to ask..."
However, if it had a S&S coupler there it would probably be fine. Similarly, I would bet a good welder could patch/replace/splint/etc. and make it safe if not svelte.

Or a monkey's fist... (no lugs), sailor or Sailor?

Just starting to look broken in.