Dinged frame, ouch!
 

I'm not sure where to post this, cause it doesn't seem like a specifically Bike Mechanic question, so I'm posting it here.

I went out to my bike this morning to get ready for work and found it laying over on its side. I had leaned it up against the garage door, and it was quite windy last night, so I guess it fell over. Anyway, it also appears to have dinged the top tube. It's about a nickle-sized ding and about 1/8" of an inch at it's deepest point. The bike is a 2010 Jamis Aurora Elite, and it's frame is made from Reynolds 631.

I can provide a picture later today, but do I need to think about replacing the frame? If so, will Jamis likely let me buy a replacement frame under their crash replacement warranty?

I'm very disappointed!

Its steel. I'd just keep riding it.

Thanks Berg, I just didn't want to be riding something that was unsafe.

Cheers,
Brad

I'd ride it, but at the same time I'd look into whether or not Jamis would be willing to replace it.

I emailed Jamis and I've emailed my old bike shop to inquire about how much it'd cost to replace. I have absolutely no idea how much the frameset would cost, especially since they don't sell that frameset alone. They charge $1300 for the Eclipse framset alone, and that bike goes for $3400 fully loaded and has Ultegra components on it. The Aurora Elite has 5700 level components and it goes for $1600. A 5700 group costs about $800 and a 6700 costs about $1500- I know that the manufacturers aren't paying retail for the groups, but it gives me as good a point of reference that I can get. And I'm going to assume that the markup on 6700 is about the same as 5700- probably not true, but it's the best I can do atm.

So for the Eclipse:
$3400 base price - $1300 for the frame - $1500 for the groupset = $600 for the rest of the bike

And yes, I realize that it's not $600 profit, cause there are other components, like handle bars, seats, tires, tubes, wheels, etc, but if we use this as a ball park figure for the Aurora Elite then I can calculate approximately how much the frame should cost.

From the Aurora Elite
$1600 (bike) - $800 (group) = $1000

$1000 - $600 = $400 for the frame.

K, that seems a bit low to me, but probably not off by a lot, so maybe $500 for the frame- with 25% off for crash replacement, it'd bring me to between $300 and $375 for a replacement frame, excluding shipping and assembly costs.

Hmm.

That's a lot of math to calculate a price that was probably based on a marketing decision and not on actual material and labour costs.

However, if I were you I would have no reservations about riding a steel frame with a dent as you desribed. I guarantee* it won't be a problem.


*Guarantee will not be honoured

I have to admit that a steel frame that would get that big a ding from just falling over gives me pause. Kinda scary.

FWIW, so would I. From your description, it doesn't sound like a problem

Well, it fell over and the top tube struck a concrete footing in the garage, the ding didn't happen just because it fell over.

I don't think it is either, but at the same time knowing it's there bothers me. Yes, I know I'm neurotic.

Here's a link to some photos I took of it tonight.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6180811...7628076636351/