Crease (bad dent) in top tube is there a fix?

[monkeyboy]

Hello,

My bianchi veloce fell over the other day and landed on a sharp corner.
The top tube now has a sharp crease on the side, about 3mm deep, the
full diameter of the tube, about 1/3 the way from the head tube to the
seat tube. It looks like a buckling failure waiting to happen. I was
thinking of trying to fix it with something like a tubing compression
coupling (a 2" or so long sleeve that would be clamped over the dent)
does anyone have a good fix for something like this?

PS

I was also going to troll ebay for a decent frame. Is there anything
special about campy components that would effect the choice in frames?
The bianchi has a 1" quill type fork, can that be reused or are they
cut to the head tube length? Are the bearing races in the head tube
specific to the headset, so I would have to get them pressed in to use
the bianchi headset?

Thanks,

Frank

 

[dkd]

Time to shoot that one!

Get a new bike.

 

[Peter Cole]

monkeyboy wrote:
> Hello,
>
> My bianchi veloce fell over the other day and landed on a sharp corner.
> The top tube now has a sharp crease on the side, about 3mm deep, the
> full diameter of the tube, about 1/3 the way from the head tube to the
> seat tube. It looks like a buckling failure waiting to happen. I was
> thinking of trying to fix it with something like a tubing compression
> coupling (a 2" or so long sleeve that would be clamped over the dent)
> does anyone have a good fix for something like this?

If it were my bike, I'd just keep riding it. I doubt the frame is worth
fixing, I also doubt it will fail.

> I was also going to troll ebay for a decent frame. Is there anything
> special about campy components that would effect the choice in frames?

No.

> The bianchi has a 1" quill type fork, can that be reused or are they
> cut to the head tube length? Are the bearing races in the head tube
> specific to the headset, so I would have to get them pressed in to use
> the bianchi headset?

Threadless forks are cut, but usually with a bit extra, which is filled
with spacers. You could use a frame with a longer head tube if the
difference in length didn't exceed current spacer height.

Threaded forks are cut to length, so you can't use a bigger frame.

Bearing races are usually specific to the headset, that includes the
crown race that's pressed on the fork. It's no big deal to move them to
a new frame.

 

[Phil, Squid-in-Training]

Peter Cole wrote:
> monkeyboy wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> My bianchi veloce fell over the other day and landed on a sharp
>> corner. The top tube now has a sharp crease on the side, about 3mm
>> deep, the full diameter of the tube, about 1/3 the way from the head
>> tube to the seat tube. It looks like a buckling failure waiting to
>> happen. I was thinking of trying to fix it with something like a
>> tubing compression coupling (a 2" or so long sleeve that would be
>> clamped over the dent) does anyone have a good fix for something
>> like this?
>
> If it were my bike, I'd just keep riding it. I doubt the frame is
> worth fixing, I also doubt it will fail.

I agree. Buckling failures are realized in crashes. Then again, Chalo's
Cannondale...

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

 

[jim beam]

monkeyboy wrote:
> Hello,
>
> My bianchi veloce fell over the other day and landed on a sharp corner.
> The top tube now has a sharp crease on the side, about 3mm deep, the
> full diameter of the tube, about 1/3 the way from the head tube to the
> seat tube. It looks like a buckling failure waiting to happen. I was
> thinking of trying to fix it with something like a tubing compression
> coupling (a 2" or so long sleeve that would be clamped over the dent)
> does anyone have a good fix for something like this?
>
> PS
>
> I was also going to troll ebay for a decent frame. Is there anything
> special about campy components that would effect the choice in frames?
> The bianchi has a 1" quill type fork, can that be reused or are they
> cut to the head tube length? Are the bearing races in the head tube
> specific to the headset, so I would have to get them pressed in to use
> the bianchi headset?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Frank
>
what is the orientation of the dent? longitudinal or transverse? the
latter are more problematic, but 3mm? not necessarily a big deal. keep
an eye on it for fatigue.