Frame dent please help

[rilz]

Hey, so I discovered a dent in a frame on a bike that I bought for a friend recently. I can't believe that I didn't see this dent when I bought the bike but she claims she didn't dent it. Either way, I am worried about the integrity of the frame. It is on the side of the downtube. It is a low end steel frame, 43cm with a relatively small rider, so i am lead to believe it is on the safer side of dented, but I'm still worried. I have seen mixed opinions on downtube dents in forums so I wanted to get opinions on my exact situation. It is a 650c frame so it would be somewhat hard to replace.

I have considered taking it to a welding shop and seeing what they can do, and I have also considered using fiber flex to fix it, but i don't have any experience with the stuff so I'm not sure about that.

Any thoughts?

[Ken Robb]

I don't think there is any danger of a catastrophic failure nor do I see what a welding shop can do. You certainly wouldn't want to replace the tube on "a Low-end" frame. Let her ride it and keep an eye on the dent to see if any cracks appear but I'll bet it will be fine.

[cinema]

it'll be alright.

[Peter B]

Ride it. She'll feel it before it ever fails catastrophically.

[eBAUMANN]

even though that is one of the worst places to get a dent...it will probably be fine given the circumstances of its use. have her keep an eye/ear on things though just in case.

[alancw3]

ditto all of the above. i would just put some touchup paint on it to prevent rusting. if aesthetically it bothers you then perhaps some bond body filler and sanding before touchup.

[LouDeeter]

Tube thickness in an inexpensive bike is going to be thicker than a high end one, so I don't believe there is any problem with failure of the downtube during normal riding.

[Black Dog]

Originally Posted by LouDeeter

Tube thickness in an inexpensive bike is going to be thicker than a high end one, so I don't believe there is any problem with failure of the downtube during normal riding.

I agree 101% with this. I have seen much worse last forever.

[cmbicycles]

That looks like it should be fine.

I've always been curious if the tools they use for paintless dent removal on cars would work for some bike frames. I guess with limited access through the BB & head tubes it depends on a case by case basis. This frame may have some access thru h2o mounts based on where the dent is, but just guessing. Anyone ever try it or heard of it being used on bikes?

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[rilz]

I'm relieved to hear that most think that it will be ok. One issue I foresee is that this friend is not exactly bike-savvy. Any suggestions for what to tell her to look out for?

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by rilz

I'm relieved to hear that most think that it will be ok. One issue I foresee is that this friend is not exactly bike-savvy. Any suggestions for what to tell her to look out for?

Creaks, the ride suddenly going spongy....cracks on visual inspection....

[Louis]

It's probably good for a long time as is, but eventually the DT will crack, most likely due to the corrosion. That's what happened to me for similar dents.

One option to try to protect against that is to remove the bottle cage and der cables, tape off the area around the dent, sand it down, and give it a rattle-can paint job just in that spot.

[cnighbor1]

dent can be rolled out but messes up paint
just put a bike related decal over it and keep ridding
look at drive side rear stay they are indented to allow wheel clearance
so that dent is fine to ride