small top tube dent



coreyjames

New Member
Jul 24, 2006
3
0
0
Hello everyone...

Just joined the forum...I already have a "repair" question.

I own a Guercioti Sl/all Campy, vintage @ 1988...I've managed to
put a small dent/indentation in the top tube. The bike was leaned
against something...fell over. The "dent" is about the size of the tip
of a little finger...about midway down the top tube...not serious
looking at all...I would say (in my uninformed opinion) cosmetic.
Paint is not chipped...just a small "pucker" or dent. Paint is Imron,
from Ten Speed Drive Imports, Florida.

My question...Should I attempt to have this repaired at all, or
should I just leave it alone and ride? I've contacted two local high-end
bike shops in my area (Cleveland), and both of them said "shouldn't
be a problem...if it's that small, leave it alone". One fellow rider I
showed it to, however, suggested that I take it to an auto body
shop, and have them "pop out" the small dent. Is this even possible?

What do you folks think? Any others out there with similar experiences?
Thanks in advance for any advice you guys may have!

CJ
 
coreyjames said:
Hello everyone...

Just joined the forum...I already have a "repair" question.

I own a Guercioti Sl/all Campy, vintage @ 1988...I've managed to
put a small dent/indentation in the top tube. The bike was leaned
against something...fell over. The "dent" is about the size of the tip
of a little finger...about midway down the top tube...not serious
looking at all...I would say (in my uninformed opinion) cosmetic.
Paint is not chipped...just a small "pucker" or dent. Paint is Imron,
from Ten Speed Drive Imports, Florida.

My question...Should I attempt to have this repaired at all, or
should I just leave it alone and ride? I've contacted two local high-end
bike shops in my area (Cleveland), and both of them said "shouldn't
be a problem...if it's that small, leave it alone". One fellow rider I
showed it to, however, suggested that I take it to an auto body
shop, and have them "pop out" the small dent. Is this even possible?

What do you folks think? Any others out there with similar experiences?
Thanks in advance for any advice you guys may have!

CJ

It is probably repairable, but I would leave it alone if the dent is small. If you really can't stand it contact a good steel framebuilder for help with repair options.

I would NOT let some auto body shop hack touch it--Your top tube is not the hood of some 1988 Buick.
 
Thanks, John...Yeah I really think it's more "cosmetic" than anything,
so it'll probably bother me most in that respect! It is a small "pucker",
(I don't know how else to describe it), about the size of a finger-tip,
but...the Imron finish is not chipped or even scratched. And, since it's
positioned at almost exactly the middle of the top tube, I don't think
it poses any sort of structural or "stress" problems.

I was very leery of letting an auto body man touch it...that's the
primary reason for posting my question on the forum!

Almost a 20-year-old bike...and my first scratch/dent!!! Oh well...
I guess I'm overdue.
 
If its a steel frame and minor then you can simply ignore it. Sounds like you have had pretty good value out of that bike.
 
I agree with everyone else. You can pretty much ignore it if you want. It's not an area of the structure that is under compression, so it's not going to buckle and collapse. It's as safe to ride as it's ever been. :)

"Popping out" the dent may be tougher than you think because of it's size and the fact it's on a round surface.

BTW, nice bike!

John Swanson
www.bikephysics.com

coreyjames said:
Hello everyone...

Just joined the forum...I already have a "repair" question.

I own a Guercioti Sl/all Campy, vintage @ 1988...I've managed to
put a small dent/indentation in the top tube. The bike was leaned
against something...fell over. The "dent" is about the size of the tip
of a little finger...about midway down the top tube...not serious
looking at all...I would say (in my uninformed opinion) cosmetic.
Paint is not chipped...just a small "pucker" or dent. Paint is Imron,
from Ten Speed Drive Imports, Florida.

My question...Should I attempt to have this repaired at all, or
should I just leave it alone and ride? I've contacted two local high-end
bike shops in my area (Cleveland), and both of them said "shouldn't
be a problem...if it's that small, leave it alone". One fellow rider I
showed it to, however, suggested that I take it to an auto body
shop, and have them "pop out" the small dent. Is this even possible?

What do you folks think? Any others out there with similar experiences?
Thanks in advance for any advice you guys may have!

CJ
 
Popping it out involves drilling a little hole in the center of the ding and inserting a stud attached to a sliding hammer to pull the dent out. The whole thing is then sanded, puttied (or filled with lead), sanded again, primered, painted and buffed. Question is, will you let them drill a hole in that Guercotti?

If the ding gets into you (for the anal retentive among us), you can have the dent filled (body filler) and repainted.
 
I'd let it be.

For what it's worth, I had a similar top tube dent in my old Cannondale CAAD5 road frame (alu frame, thin tubing).. didn't matter a bit. Continued to ride it years after the dint occurred.
 
Thanks, everyone for your replies, advice, comments!

I think I'll let it be, and just enjoy riding it like always...

Again, thanks, people!
 
coreyjames said:
Hello everyone...

Just joined the forum...I already have a "repair" question.

I own a Guercioti Sl/all Campy, vintage @ 1988...I've managed to
put a small dent/indentation in the top tube. The bike was leaned
against something...fell over. The "dent" is about the size of the tip
of a little finger...about midway down the top tube...not serious
looking at all...I would say (in my uninformed opinion) cosmetic.
Paint is not chipped...just a small "pucker" or dent. Paint is Imron,
from Ten Speed Drive Imports, Florida.

My question...Should I attempt to have this repaired at all, or
should I just leave it alone and ride? I've contacted two local high-end
bike shops in my area (Cleveland), and both of them said "shouldn't
be a problem...if it's that small, leave it alone". One fellow rider I
showed it to, however, suggested that I take it to an auto body
shop, and have them "pop out" the small dent. Is this even possible?

What do you folks think? Any others out there with similar experiences?
Thanks in advance for any advice you guys may have!

CJ

Hey CoreyJames
I had a similar problem a few months back. I used an automotive repair kit that does not require drilling holes. It is called the Ding King and it involves using a hot melt glue with a fixture that looks something like a gear puller. The dent will not completely dissappear but it worked pretty good. Anyway, the result was a significantly diminished dent without damaging the finish at all. The bad side is it took about 8 hours and lots of patience.
Good luck
 
Don't you hate it when this happens, just wait for the next dent and get them both fixed at the same time.
 
tyler1212 said:
Don't you hate it when this happens, just wait for the next dent and get them both fixed at the same time.
With cars, the next dent will happen exactly 1 week after the first dent is repaired, so the trick is to never fix the first dent.