Kirk Willett
Chris,
I would definitely have an experienced mechanic inspect the dent and do
an alignment check.
Having said that, I have had teammates and team-riders race on some
pretty ugly top-tube dents which sound similar to what you have
described, and finish the season on those frames if the alignment was
not significantly out of whack. Crooked aluminum frames were retired.
Of course, we were privileged to have professional mechanics...
So, there is a reasonable chance the frame is still OK, at least in the
short-term, but I'd have it looked at!
Good luck,
Kirk
Chris Brandt wrote:
Hello out there,
I'm inquiring for my little (bigger) brother who crashed on Christmas
eve while running over a weiner dog, folding his front wheel and
denting his top tube w/ his handlebar.
Bike is an '03 Specialized S-Works 58cm. Dent is in middle left side
of top tube, it probably is dented in 1/2 an inch or so. Width of dent
is probably 2" or so. No visible cracks, except for paint in the
immediate dent area. Looking down the top tube from the rear along the
right (non-dented) side, it appears to be straight still. He thought
it felt a little squirrelly, but I noticed his headset was loose and I
tightened that.
I'm just looking for input from the OBRA crowd who have experienced
this situation before... how do you determine when the frame is
dangerous, etc? I imagine this is a pretty common type of dent from
crashing. If it were my frame, I'd replace it. He's putting in the 400
mile weeks down in LA and I'd personally prefer that he wasn't doing
that on an unsafe bike.
Thanks for your ideas and happy holidays!
Chris Brandt