Here's a likely sequence of events: paint begins to bubble-wrinkle around the "fold" in the tube, then a hairline crack that expands to total failure. Steel tends to give lots of warning, but your frame is cooked. Even robust steel tubing is one mm (less than 1/25th of an inch) and the ends and 0.7 mm in the middle. That's thin, my friend. The integrity of the structure is inseparably bound to its spherical cross-section.

Sorry, but be glad it's an LHT and not a Waterford or Rivendell that you'll be replacing!

All the best,
Mark

I'm sorry but you are wrong. Steel can, and does, fail just as catastrophically as aluminum. Because it can store more energy before failure, it may be even worse. Aluminum tends to tear and release energy slowly while steel fractures. I've broken enough parts made of both materials that I trust aluminum to tell me when its going to break while steel will almost always surprise you.

BF123, I didn't realize you were on tour. This may be the time to give up the riding part and take the train. Sorry, but it could be that bad.

If you can find a metalworker that can weld a sleeve over the creased areas it would go a long way toward giving you adequate safety. If you have cracks get those attended to immediately. Even welding a length of steel rod in parallel with the damaged tubes would take the load. Patch it up until you can replace the frame. This is exactly why steel is best for long trips. I'll be you are within a few mile of an auto/bicycle/motorcycle repair shop that could weld in some reinforcing.

+1!

Watch the frame carefully as the others have suggested. Hopefully this won't be in your future:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1TRQ7T-q0I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQbxOJKz4k8

Replacing the frame is not out of the question. There is an expat operated bike shop in Shanghai called Sisu. Their club is heavily into touring. They deal mostly with Giant, but I'm sure they can order whatever you want for you. If you're still in Wuhan, you can take a train to Shanghai, get a new frame, and then bike to Beijing via Nanjing and Jinan.

https://www.sisucycling.com

Photos are UP!


And oh, discovered another problem: my front rim is bent. A slight bulge on the right side, enough to jolt the wheel when I use my front brake. Also, with the wheel no longer round, I get a slightly bumpy ride, like mini speed bumps. Both faults are not noticeable by the eye. However, the spoke at that area had loosened so much that I can wiggle it around with my fingers. A mechanic helped me retrue my wheel.

Brought the bike to several "specialists", with a range of interesting reactions.
Roadside repairman: "You're good to go around the world!"
Man selling brandless bikes: "No biggie."
People at the Giant dealer: "Better get a new bike, we can't make any promises about the current condition."

8 more days, 768km left on my tour.

That frame is definitely toast IMO. I wouldn't ride it any farther than I absolutely had to. I hope you make the next 8 days, but replace it for sure after that.

Oh, I can't watch youtube in China. =( Thanks for the help guys!

If you have to ride it, you could consider taking it to a machine shop, cold working it back into line as best you can and then welding some half tubes or shims alongside the bent area (might need to slacken your cabling). It will be ugly and heavy, but I wouldn't ride it down any hills or at high speeds like it is now. For the wheel, you probably want a new one, but you might be able to make due by adjusting the spoke tension to try to push out the ding. Make sure to lube the nipples.

Certainly in an ideal world you would replace the frame. But, I would not be surprised that you've seen quite a few frames in similar or even worse condition there in China which are being used like these...



If you were the kind of person who would abandon an adventure because of what might happen, you would not be in China on a bicycle in the first place.

Enjoy the last few days of your tour.

Ouch, that is nasty! My condolences. Be very careful riding it. Good luck!

Don't worry you aren't missing anything useful. They are two videos of 'hardcore' free-riders snapping the headtubes off their ALUMINUM bikes while dirt jumping. (It is also likely that they had suspension forks too long for their frame design... but I digress)


ride slowly and you'll be fine. you should give the frame away to someone poor when you leave china. someone there will weld some reinforcing steel around the area and use the bike to get around.

take care,

double ouch,,I'm not an expert on frame damage but I'd be shy about riding a heavily loaded bike with that kind of crinkle another 700km

I am amazed that you hit a pothole hard enough to do that to your frame but it only slightly buckled your wheel.

And EVERYONE knows that steel bikes would never fail when used like those bikes. I mean steel never, ever, ever fails catastrophically*






*If you believe that I've got a bridge in Minneapolis for ya.

That is one hell of a fork if you did that to your frame and the fork is still true. Would you confirm please?

I suspect that the first two are more used to looking at much heavier-built bicycles.

I'd have somebody weld a tube around it and take it gentle/careful.

Look on the bridght side- itll cost you less in shipping to gut the bike, leave theframe and front wheel, and send it home as parts :]

I've yet to see a material that won't fail catastrophically, steel, aluminum, carbon fiber or titanium, my son has been able to pretty much destroy them all. "But dad, we were just hittin' the drops and catchin' some air"

QFT, Don't demand a warranty, because riding into potholes isn't covered, I can almost guarantee that. However, I've seen Surly be fairly generous with crash replacement deals, so just be honest with them and explain what you need and they may be able to hook you up.

^One could mention to Surly the attention this incident has garnered on BF. A lot of people will be curious to see how Surly handles this one. Let's remember, it was a pothole. The load that bent the frame was, although large, of the type one might hope a frame could withstand.
It's not like a truck backed over it or something.

Best of luck to BF123.

Are you the same guy from the post in mechanics? I am too lazy to check... and did not read through all the posts here.

If so, you bike is toast from the pic there.

OK, scrolled up, please don't ride, not safe.

I posted a reply in the mechanics thread, parallel to what some here suggested. I like Yan's advice above, get to or contact a decent shop and start swapping or trading parts.

And being that I'm a day or two late to the party, you've probably already got everything sorted out and are 100 miles farther down the road by now. May the wind be at your back and the rest of your journey be more fun and less stressfull than the time spent dealing with the incident.

yep,, when I had my shop I saw a 1/2 yr old 82 'Rockhopper that had been so thrashed the head tube was flared out top and bottom because the headset wasn't tightened. The kid had been doing so many jumps the loose races mushroomed the frame.