Frame Damaged, should I ride it?

T1berious

Hi,

I was working on my road bike and managed to damage my frame with the bike stand grips

Here's some pcitures of stupidity





The question is, can I ride it? I know I'm probably looking at frame replacement but have just changed all the groupset to Ultegra 10 Spd (hence why it was in the bike stand )

Just after some advice.

Many thanks

T1b

redddraggon

It looks like just a dent, so I'd ride it.

itchieritchie

Is it structural? Is it in an excessively load-bearing place? Is it deep?

From the looks of things, the answer to all these questions is no. You should be safe mate, I'd ride that.

Tape it up or get it filled in to prevent water ingress that might weaken it further. And keep an eye on it, listen out for any funny noises for example.

Also get an opinion from your LBS or Hed themselves and see what they come up with. I'd be interested to know myself actually, so let us know if you do this.

Good luck

T1berious

Cheers for the info guys,

I'll take it out for a spin next dry spell we get, my own fault as I use the bike stand on mountain bikes normally and just grip the seat tube.

What tape do I need to use? Just regular duct tape \ insulation tape?

Thanks again

T1berious

Oh my LBS is pretty poor hence I do all my own bike maintenance

ride_whenever

e-mail the pics to hed and see what they say

T1berious

Probably a good idea.

rake

it doesnt look too bad, id ride and keep an eye on it.

softlad

itchieritchie wrote:

Tape it up or get it filled in to prevent water ingress that might weaken it further.

tape what up..? there isn't a hole in it...is there..?

Radioactiveman

T1berious wrote:

Oh my LBS is pretty poor hence I do all my own bike maintenance

Definition of irony ^^^ Sorry to hear about your frame. I would be inclined to ride it until I could afford to replace it then ebay it.

itchieritchie

Softlad. It's hard to see from the pic but with any dents or dings, I don't think it's a good idea to keep them exposed to the British elements, that's the extent of what I'm saying.

Might just be me being paranoid. What would I do for now? Duct tape, as an interim measure. Cheap, readily available, conveniently black like the frame, and importantly, waterproof. I know that CF doesn't rust, but who knows what a combo of grime, oil and moisture could do to the resins that BIND the CF. Certainly wouldn't strengthen it...

Can't hurt to tape it. At least until approaching Hed. Surely better to take precautions...??

Like I said prior, I'd be v interested to see what they say.

softlad

itchieritchie wrote:

. I know that CF doesn't rust, but who knows what a combo of grime, oil and moisture could do to the resins that BIND the CF. Certainly wouldn't strengthen it...

the frame is aluminium, not CF...

itchieritchie

Oh. Silly doofus me. Made the assumption because dents in aluminium are much less of an issue than with CF.

In which case this isn't even a moot point is it? As far as I'm aware there's def no need to worry about AL in cases like these. Should be fine to ride.

White Line

redddraggon wrote:

It looks like just a dent, so I'd ride it.

This.

It will be fine. You'll forget all about it in a while.

T1berious

Cheers Chaps,

Well the email I got back from HED stated they couldn't see the photo's in the links I provided so I've esnt them the photo's.

They did get back to me pretty quick which is nice.

I'm still in the market for a nice Carbon Frame sub £1000 mark, anyone got any ideas?

Many thanks,

T1b

rob.m

Looking at your photo's I wouldn't worry about the damage, As long as the Aluminium hasn't been pierced it will be ok, A small dent like this isn't enough to pull the rest of the frame out of shape, if you worried about it cosmetically I'd suggest touching the area up with a bit of black paint. If it was steel I would get it covered because it will rust but alloy will be ok as it hasn't got enough surface area to corrode.