Hey guys, I was halfway thru restoring my 74’ Panasonic sport deluxe, noticed a ripple on my downtube near the head. I know it’s the classic crash sign but I didn’t catch it when a bought it. I sanded down the rust spot on the top tube and didn’t notice any cracks. Is the frame still good? I heard there’s a park tool out there that’s meant to bend these old steel frames?
by Monstrp85
10 Comments
In the bin it belongs ! Or on your chimney if it’s a beauty
Its worth a try but it probably will have shitty steering
As sad as it is, I would never ever trust a frame with crash signs this severe.
Throw that frame away. Look at my past post, that’s exactly what it looked like before my frame snapped.
Don’t play with these, it really is dangerous without exaggeration.
It’s done
That is one cooked frame. Sad, but it’s just a wallhanger now …
https://preview.redd.it/ojuzgow9bpqd1.png?width=430&format=png&auto=webp&s=939b79341d6423a135b5f372c3b8c7f3d2a71e0f
An old soviet manual for KhVZ bicycles had such scheme for frame repairs. Soviet bicycle were made from notoriously crap soft tubes, so it was quite an ordinary repairs. Is it worth trying on other properly made cycles, I truly can’t say…
I used to work at a bike shop that had a tool for repairing this kind of damage. Assuming that the bike had a 1″ headtube you replaced the fork with the 1″ thick steel bar. There was a threaded rod that went from that bar to the bottom bracket shell. It would straighten out that type of damage. When a tube has a crease in it is hard to adequately repair without replacing the tube. So it’s definitely possible to truly repair it but assume that the frame repair cost would be at least $400 and probably $500+ as it will be getting a paint job after replacing the downtube (heat from the torch will cook the paint off). This is in addition to the cost of building the frame back into a bike. Most likely the fork will also need replacement.
that frame is old as shit
I wouldn’t ride it as is – you may be able to find a framebuilder who can replace the tube if you are set on keeping it to ride.