UPDATED: Marinoni with Damaged Headtube — Solutions?

[spacemen3]

Back in business! The dented headtube has been repaired. I might have made the headbadge graphic slightly too big, but I still think the outcome is more than satisfactory. BTW, the gold matches the Columbus Air decal.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-29CIlYBdHpM/U3Zg_plvHMI/AAAAAAAABiw/a5gjwWf2L5I/s800/marinoni_fixed-1.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-66-HOYAwe4E/U3Zg_pxhwgI/AAAAAAAABi0/STEUCWdRUGQ/s800/marinoni_fixed-2.jpg

I have a beautiful 80's Marinoni made from Columbus Air tubing that had its headtube dented during shipping. Total bummer. Any ideas on fixing this?

My plan was to 1) carefully smooth out the bump with a rod from inside the headtube, 2) install steel headset cups to check for roundness, and 3) mask, sand, and bondo the head tube between the lugs, and 4) and take it to a local painter with a new headbadge. Is this reasonable?

Thanks in advance for the input.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-qDUC9nKu6fk/Ux3k0oKxZoI/AAAAAAAABdo/oPKNQvwCuBg/s800/IMG_1690.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-TURr6Nizijo/Ux3kwrPtvnI/AAAAAAAABdU/PlmSw1OslK0/s800/IMG_1687.JPG

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/--5fJG9_5Ons/Ux3kw3aM4QI/AAAAAAAABdY/Bjj41APuEZM/s800/IMG_1689.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Fi600Hw2Dp0/Ux3kze-BLCI/AAAAAAAABdg/cQ95jDXgeT8/s800/IMG_1688.JPG

[christian]

Does that even need to be knocked out? It doesn't look deep enough to me that it would interfere with a 1" steerer? I think I'd just ride it if I could.

[8aaron8]

Does that even need to be knocked out? It doesn't look deep enough to me that it would interfere with a 1" steerer? I think I'd just ride it if I could.

I agree, aside from the aesthetics I don't think this will affect the ride, beautiful frame by the way, I have always admired Marinoni's work

[pitcrew]

Agree with the others. It's far enough down that it won't interfere wit hte headset cups and it doesn't look deep enough to interfere with the steerer tube.

I'd think you could fill the dent, sand, paint the affected area, etc.

Bummer on the damage though.

[ultraman6970]

Wow, even with chrome stays.

Leave it as it is IMO.

If you want to get it repaired you have like 3 options.

1: replace the front tube and repaint.

2: Sand the paint, apply acrylic putty, sand again and refinish, the good thing is that you can repaint only the front tube. Dont put bondo that will crack and fall off, acrylic will last forever.

3: Fill up that dent with bronze, and repaint, as #2, you can repaint only the front tube, maybe in black??

Good luck, hope you can work out something with the guy who sent it to you.


ps: I would leave it, or use #2, easier to do at home, always you can find the right color and apply coat after coat of paint till is fully cover (if you dont want to use a putty filler)

[David Kirk]

That's a tough one.

Head tubes are the thickest tube on the bike and it will be pretty tough to massage it back out much.

As for paint - it will very tough to mask off that area and paint it and then blend the clear coat over the rest of it. I know it can be done but it might end up looking better and may even be cheaper to repaint the entire frame.

Like I said - it's a tough one.

dave

[eddief]

give it a little smiley face sticker and call it good :).

[christian]

Seriously, just leave it. Any repair will either be expensive or look terrible.

[timto]

I'd go option 3 if the fork fits in fine. You could contrast the ht with the same color as the decals (blue) and then just leave it. A painter can do the bondo and repaint and clear over and have it looking good. I'd even skip the hassle of the matching logo on the HT. I personally would rather see a blue head tube with no graphic and no dent than a big fat dent.

PS that looks like an amazing frameset.

[Peter B]

Use well-crossed Campy cables and you'll never notice from where you sit.

[Fixed]

Leave it ,it
adds character
It is still a beautiful frame
Cheers

[fogrider]

Leave it ,it
adds character
It is still a beautiful frame
Cheers

I agree. once you build the bike, the cables will obscure the area...yes you will know it's there but how often will you look at it head on?

[druptight]

Use well-crossed Campy cables and you'll never notice from where you sit.

This is what I was going to say. Touch up the ding carefully, and by the time you build that sucker up with all the cables in front of the head tube, you'll know it's there but no one else will notice.

Can you get any sort of help from the shipper for the damage caused?

[ultraman6970]

Hipsters! :P Add character... darn!

:D

Leave it ,it
adds character
It is still a beautiful frame
Cheers

[ultraman6970]

Now that I look at it, that color is available, looks like an electric lime from ford, I would just sand... 3m acrylic putty, then paint the front tube between the lugs in a close blue color like the font and maybe improvise with the closest green for the marinoni logo.

Or... just black front tube masking the marinoni logo to keep the blue, will look kind'a odd but nobody will notice, after all with the black/green contrast nobody will notice that was added later, part of the design.

Would love to fix that :D

[tctyres]

Sorry to see that.

I would take it to a person who knows frames very well and see what their estimate is.

If it is something you recently bought, then the seller should work with you, including a full refund if necessary. This really isn't your fault because you had nothing to do with packing or the carrier. If a full refund was offered, I would take it. As others have said, it's a tough one.

[RedRider]

Is the seat tube round at the top or teardrop shaped? The Air tube set had 2 types. The teardrop shape requires a post of the same which is very hard to find.

[buldogge]

Love the Air tubing...have an Air fork on my '85 Andy Gilmour.

I would fill the dent and paint the blue of the decals between the HT lugs...then blend the clear back beyond the lugs onto the TT and DT, reverse HT decal in green.

My 2c.

-Mark in St. Louis

[spacemen3]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'll keep you posted on what happens. :beer:

Is the seat tube round at the top or teardrop shaped? The Air tube set had 2 types. The teardrop shape requires a post of the same which is very hard to find.

Yes, it's the teardrop-shaped tubing, and, thankfully, I have a Dura-Ace aero seatpost that fits. The cable-routing is fully internal, too.

[velotrack]

Columbus air. Tight!

[Louis]

I would do as little a possible. Just a few teeny brush strokes to protect against corrosion.

[josephr]

give it a little smiley face sticker and call it good :).

+1 --- probably low enough on the head tube no one will notice as would be behind a brake caliper anyway.
Joe

[thirdgenbird]

Easy fix. Follow these steps
1. File claim
2. Leave frame alone
3. Use money to buy wound up fork
4. Ship both the frame and fork to my adresss

[Craig Ryan]

You could always just have the HT painted. You could chase getting that color forever.

[velotrack]

By the way, are there any tubes similar to this out there now, or anywhere where there's unused sets of these? I know there's always max tubes, but... mostly just curious.

[ultraman6970]

Don't think so.

[RonW87]

I guess I disagree with everybody. The dent would always bug me. I would ship it to Marinoni and have them make it new again. I'll bet they would do it for less than you might think.

[ckamp]

I guess I disagree with everybody. The dent would always bug me. I would ship it to Marinoni and have them make it new again. I'll bet they would do it for less than you might think.

+1, I recently had great service there! This would likely be the best option. They may even still stock that paint color.

[bart998]

Another option would be to use a contrasting color like white on the head tube. Then put a matching panel on the seat tube and apply a head tube decal on both locations...

[staggerwing]

Another option would be to use a contrasting color like white on the head tube. Then put a matching panel on the seat tube and apply a head tube decal on both locations...

This is what I was thinking, either with Ultramans suggestion of a blue matching the font, or gasp, gold.

Could likely carefully press most of the damage out. You would need a convex, half-round piece, out of steel or aluminum, that matched the tube ID, and a matching female form, which I would make out of hard, tough plastic, like acetal or nylon. Making it out of plastic would make less of a mess of the exterior. You might even get it close enough to live with without a repaint.

BTW, a C-clamp would do the heavy lifting. Work carefully, frequently releasing to check progress.

[RedRider]

I guess I disagree with everybody. The dent would always bug me. I would ship it to Marinoni and have them make it new again. I'll bet they would do it for less than you might think.

+++ Anything less than a proper repair and repaint would not do the Marinoni justice.

[spacemen3]

All better. :banana:

[christian]

Seriously, just leave it. Any repair will either be expensive or look terrible.

I was wrong here. (Well, maybe it was expensive, but it looks great!) Congrats. How did you do it - bondo and paint?

[spacemen3]

I was wrong here. (Well, maybe it was expensive, but it looks great!) Congrats. How did you do it - bondo and paint?

Well, I haven't received the bill yet, but I was quoted $100. I first knocked-in a steel headset to make sure the headtube was round and to check for any fork alignment issues. The dent wasn't deep enough to rub the steertube, so then it was a matter of bondo and paint. The headbadge was painted on using some vector artwork I supplied.

[SpokeValley]

It looks great! Nice job!

[m_sasso]

Covered over quite nicely, just adds to the frames story.

http://honda-tech.com/picture.php?albumid=9608&pictureid=98682

[spacemen3]

That's beautiful. :beer:

[mktng]

shes a beauty !

[Louis]

How exactly was it repaired? Filler? (euphemism for the dreaded "B" word)

[foon]

Looks great! Good job on the repair. The beautiful frame deserves it.

[ultraman6970]

Looks great!