frame with a ding in the top tube !

hiya folks,
been looking for a full suss frame to start building on and ive come across a a frame with a decent sized ding in the top tube,
there doesn’t appear to be any damage to any of the welds or even cracking of the paint work although it does appear to be about 3 to 4 mm indentation !
from the photo’s the guy has sent me it doesn’t appear to have bent the top tube,, just dinged it,,
just wondering if there are any things I should look out for or should I avoid it all together ?

Steel or alloy?

A smooth indentation doesn’t weaken a tube as long as there are no creases or cracks to concentrate the stresses.

This is a big one but I don’t think it weakens the tube:

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Now that dent looks familiar.

I wouldn’t have any worries about it myself FWIW.

Top tube looks curved to me. May be an optical illusion, but only in the flesh will you know. It would have to be seriously cheap though, even if straight.

Thats not going to compromise the frame. If you dont mind it visually and the price is right it will be fine.

Deja vu +1

Depends how much it costs vs how much of a gamble you want to take.
I wouldn’t fancy it myself for several reasons.

last thing I wanna do is pay for a frame that is seemingly no good for anything but the scrap heap,
can dings of such fassions be repaired ?

No way to repair.

Value greatly diminished and no guarantee, ok if the price is low enough (and there’s a story there iirc)

Sure the ding could be repaired, colleague at work has done such stuff with hydraulics, plugging all holes then using oil under pressure (ie hyroforming).

Fine for thin walled steel, something you certainly dont want to do with aluminium, since it would significantly weaken it.

yeah its the alloy model aswell !
concidering its an alloy model sb66 “with a ding”
no rear shock,,, just the frame with a couple of dt swiss drop outs thrown in,
what sort of money would folk be looking to pay ?

Have a little search for a thread on this particular bike from a couple of weeks ago.
The photos then made it look a lot worse. I’d be fine with it to be honest. But resale will suffer, so I’d be looking at a good discount.

With that particular frame, there were other concerns too – not everything was included and the rear swimgarm had been replaced under warranty.

Have a read anyway.

Wife’s Santa Cruz Superlight looks like it’s been hit with a bullet; not a hole but a neat round ding but it’s never caused a problem. If the ding is just that and it’s not bent the frame or damaged any welds and if it’s cheap enough then it should be fine.

alex simon,
you got a link buddy ?

Is it this one?

It might be just the way pictures have turned out, but that whole top tube looks bent.

That frame looks like it was hit with the bargepole I wouldn’t touch it with….

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/would-you-be-worried-about-buying-this-due-to-the-dent – this one?

So – as in the original thread – some would, some wouldn’t and others are on the fence.

You seem a bit windy about it, so maybe it’s not for you. Someone else will buy it and be delighted with their “bargain” though.

yep,
seems this frames had a harder life than orphan annie,,
I think ill leave it concidering some of the more educated replies.
just seemed a really cheap way to get into the top end bike bracket for peanuts,
not too fussed about it after reading all the other threads on it,
and being in London and me being in Sheffield makes it too much of a risk to buy based on photo’s !
pretty sure I could get the bent top tube (if it is bent that is) sorted for gratis but removing that dent looks a whole new ball game,
wouldn’t be bothered about a ding but it is a little in the eye line !

I don’t like the look of it, but personally I’d never buy a bike with a dent in it. I’d wait for another to come along in better condition.

I bet a lot of people would not buy a frame with a dent in it, but still ride their own bike if they dented it.

again, I saw it and thought at the price listed on pb (£370 minus the shock) then it would be a cheap way to a top end bike, !
just don’t like the publicity it has receieved and again, im in Sheffield he’s in London,,,
not that daft that id buy something in these circumstances based on say so and a few pics !

The fact that in those pictures, the dent has clearly creased the top tube on a corner – there’s no way it won’t have compromised the structure to some degree. Whether that will affect it within its lifespan, one can only speculate on. But I wouldn’t buy it without significant discount (and FWIW most top tube dings wouldn’t bother me at all).
(/armchair engineer)

Shame, ‘cos it’s a beautiful-looking frame otherwise.

just out of interest, for those who would be willing to purchase it !
what sort of price would have your ears pricked ?

yucky, I think it would bug you every ride. Save up a bit for something else.

sent the pics to a mate who knows a hell of a lot more than I do and so far aint heard owt,, could be to do with the fact its new years day ! LOL

Looks to be a substantial dent with a crease as well. I’ve done quite a lot of working with aluminium, I wouldn’t even contemplate buying that…

just out of interest, for those who would be willing to purchase it !
what sort of price would have your ears pricked ?

The difficulty is that without a shock it’s useless, so any buyer is looking at £300+ on top of whatever price for frame only to find a shock that will work, and if/when the frame broke, the shock is likely be pretty useless.

I’d consider buying that frame for £350-400 (inc shock) – chance are you’ll ride it for a year and that’s not disastrous value for a premium frame. I don’t know if Yeti would offer some sort of crash-replacement deal after that time. If you’re the kind of person that would be worried by the dent, then just steer clear.

Looks like it will automatically want to turn left when built up.

I bought a frame with a tiny dent on the seat tube and every time I rode it I was waiting for it to break.

Not worth the hassle in my opinion.

Not a frikkin chance, that’s either been crashed and hit a tree sideways or has had a door shut on it or something (in my opinion of course)

In my opinion, I don’t think that would fail, the top tube is under compression, and I’m sure with all that ali there its more then strong enough. Also, the suspension load doesnt go through the top tube like some frames. It is definitely more then just a dent though, I can see a crack/sharp crease. I wouldn’t buy it on the basis that it would annoy me looking at it every time I rode it.

Full sus frames do not suffer as much as hard tails as sudden impacts from riding are absorbed by the suspension.

I would be worried about the condition of the linkages and the bearings, just a small misalignment will cause you problems.

Thats not going to compromise the frame. If you dont mind it visually and the price is right it will be fine.

cant see pics in this threads due to firewall but in the linked previous thread there was one pic posted later in the discussion which made the top tube look bent, and the “dent” more like a crease/fold. Its’ worth a read to garner more opinions of both the bike and the seller.

As I said in that one, wouldnt touch it with a bargepole unless it was silly cheap, even if the seller is a qualified engineer who can categorically state its fine and give you a pinky-promise he’ll give you the money back if it breaks.

The dent is gentle and progressive; it won’t break but you will never be happy and will have a hell of a lot of hassle if you ever want to sell it on.

OTOH at least you won’t have to worry about Murphy’s first law of buying new bikes, which says that it will get scratched within two days of you buying it.

only considered buying it and all this hassle !
if im not convinced now I don’t think ill ever be !
never mind ! nice thought while it lasted !