is this crimp normal?

[vqdriver]

check out this seattube crimp. if anyone's familiar with lapierre frames, please chime in. is this normal?

[guyintense]

No.

[batman1425]

My guess is that is stock. It would be hard to bend a tube like that with out damaging the paint in the area.

Likely a relief for FD/chain ring clearance. If the relief is the clamping area for the FD, it could also be to make the tube round in that spot for the clamp, if the surrounding cross section of the seat tube is not already so.

[Kirk Pacenti]

I can't speak to this frame specifically, but you'll see that done occasionally on 2OS seat tubes in order to provide clearance for the FD cage.

Most companies do a better job today by hydro-forming the seat tube into a more aesthetically pleasing shape.

Cheers,
KP

[thwart]

Originally Posted by vqdriver

is this normal?

Yep.

For a frame with an over-tightened FD, that is.

[batman1425]

Newer model year, but has the same crimp in the same area - this is also carbon, not aluminum.

http://cowbell.cxmagazine.com/forum/...ierre-hm-xlite

Sticking with this being FD clearance. Could always ask the Pros Closet guys to be sure.

[guyintense]

Originally Posted by batman1425

Sticking with this being FD clearance. Could always ask the Pros Closet guys to be sure.

Sorry but how does a flat section on a round tube provide FD clearance? Isn't the clamp a full circle?

[LJohnny]

I can't speak for a Lapierre specifically, but I have a carbon frameset with the same oval shape under the FD clamp area. For my application, I wish it didn't actually had it, but there you go.

[FlashUNC]

Originally Posted by guyintense

Sorry but how does a flat section on a round tube provide FD clearance? Isn't the clamp a full circle?

Not for the clamp, I'm guessing. I assume its either for the cage to get more room inboard, or for the arm up top room to swing in closer to the frame when shifting to the outer ring.

Either way, I could see a flat spot making some room when dealing super OS tubing like that.

[Lewis Moon]

My Ridley X-Fire has a flat spot for derailleur clearance.

[pdmtong]

Originally Posted by FlashUNC

Not for the clamp, I'm guessing. I assume its either for the cage to get more room inboard, or for the arm up top room to swing in closer to the frame when shifting to the outer ring.

Either way, I could see a flat spot making some room when dealing super OS tubing like that.

This ^

not sure why some do and some dont, but Flash nails it.

[vav]

FWIW I had a similar crimp and it was definitely from a very tight FD. Kind of hard to see on the pics but looks very much the same.

[IMG]DSC05569 by vavpa, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]DSC05567 by vavpa, on Flickr[/IMG]

[IMG]DSC05568 by vavpa, on Flickr[/IMG]

[kramnnim]

Seems a little low/close to the BB to be from a clamp?

[christian]

Looks intentional to give the fd tail more clearance. Too low to be a clamping mark.

[Hindmost]

A Colnago CLX has the flat spot. It corresponds to where the "knuckle" of the derailleur swings in close to the seat tube.

Those crimps at other locations on the seat tube do appear to be caused by over tightening the clamp.