A few months ago I had my bike stolen. I live in a relatively small city and was lucky enough to spot it at my University and the current owner (who bought it from a used bike market) gave it back to me without a fuss.
The theft however left some damage in the frame (in addition to some other damage and swapped parts). I love this bike and don't want replace it, so I am trying my best to fix it back up. Is there any hope of softening out some of the dents in the frame? And what would be your go-to fix for filling the chips and cracks in the paint?
UPDATE: Okay the immediate consensus is that this bike is toast. Sorry for inadvertently breaking the "is it safe" rule, I guess I was in denial.
by badideasmostly
19 Comments
Even if it is a steal frame, which can handle some dents here and there, this looks to be a bit too far gone.
I wouldn’t ride it and there’s no way to cheaply fix any of it.
Time for a new frame sadly.
If you use the bike just for commuting and light riding, maybe. If you use it for training or racing, sadly that frame is toast my friend, new frame day.
This frame is toast.
Sorry bro that frame is dead.
Sorry for your loss
https://preview.redd.it/dx6jiqub2rwg1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d881ad3eb949533f011a52e3c97a0697454c4ca0
Sharp dents like you have on here are a recipe for disaster. Anything rounded and more spread out depending on side would potentially be fine. Move on to another frame.
they must have used a leverage attack to get it free. a frame builder could potentially save this but it may be quite expensive and involve replacing tubes.
I’ll be the optimist here. If it’s only on the seat tube, you could cut out the damaged part of the tube and have a competent welder weld in a new section of tubing for not too much money.
Might even look cool.
If it’s more than one tube…rip.
That’s a recycling bin weight now.
The dents aren’t in crucial places for strength, most hit seems to be the top tube but luckily it’s the least important in terms of force applied. If you would look at how little carbon or aluminium (in triple butted frames) there is on those sections you have plenty plenty more strength wise. Steel also doesn’t weaken from deformation (cold strengthening), so only the smaller diameter from dents is to worry about. Esthetically this can be repaired by welding, grinding, polishing, repainting… But it will still be impacted on a microscopic level unless you also include heat treatment, which I guess the bike isn’t worth.
Farfetched idea, hydroforming out the dents with water pressure. I’ve seen this done with dented parts and it would avoid heat stressing the material by welding. Problem is each hole needs to be closed and pressure rated, than re drilled and re tapped for thread.
For what’s it’s worth, at like a replacement frame would be pretty cheap to source, and you could just swap your parts over
Tools exist to fix or mitigate this kind of damage on round steel tubes. I’ve never used them or worked in a shop that had them, and they destroy any paint or frame finish.
If it’s worth it to you, get a repair quote from a frame builder, they will let you know if it’s possible to rescue your frame and what the likely bill would be.
This is the only way to fix this frame.
https://youtu.be/Saz03u851HQ?si=L941ZQSgGjHUREmQ
That frame is toast
Again, contrary to a number of opinions here, this frame can be fixed, but unless you have access to a decent workshop it’ll probably not be financially viable.
The damage to the top tube could be significantly improved by rolling using wooden blocks. In the past blocks were available specifically for this, but now unless you’re able to find someone that has them, you’ll need to make some. To do this, you’ll need to be able to drill out some hardwood blocks to a very fine tolerance, before placing the blocks and frame in a bench vice and twisting to remove the high spots. There are a few videos on how to do this and discussions available, but safe to say when done right it’s quite surprising what can be achieved. Afterwards a full respray will be needed.
Seat tube isn’t such an issue because it’s not a huge dent and the load on that part is negligible, but this could also be remedied -and potentially more easily than the top tube- because the seat tube is accessible from both ends.
In summary, it can be fixed, but techniques, effort and expense are more appropriate for an expensive or treasured heirloom.
Super extra long seatpoat will sort that out from the inside /s
That needs repaired by a pro. Looks like they used the NYC twist to remove a u lock.
Yikes. It looks like someone tried to fold this non-folding bike.
How many times had that bike been stolen