repairing dented aluminum

Would repairing a dented aluminum toptube and downtube be a
trivial/non-trivial process?

I saw a frame for cheap that had a dent or two, but otherwise looked in
pretty good shape. I'm not concerned for straightness, just cosmetics, but
I suppose its not a big deal.

Mike
Mechanical Engineering 2006, Carnegie Mellon University
Remove nospam to reply.

"Prometheus" wrote in message
...
Would repairing a dented aluminum toptube and downtube be a
trivial/non-trivial process?

I saw a frame for cheap that had a dent or two, but otherwise looked in
pretty good shape. I'm not concerned for straightness, just cosmetics, but
I suppose its not a big deal.

Mike
Mechanical Engineering 2006, Carnegie Mellon University
Remove nospam to reply.

I don't think you can repair it structurally. You can fill it and re-paint,
but I don't think it's worth the process. I'd use the dents to get the
price knocked wayyy down and just use it as it. I'm fairly certain it won't
affect the long-term durability much, or the ride.

Cheers,

Scott..

On Mon, 8 Dec 2003 21:36:57 -0500 in rec.bicycles.tech, "S.
Anderson" wrote:

I don't think you can repair it structurally. You can fill it and re-paint,
but I don't think it's worth the process. I'd use the dents to get the
price knocked wayyy down and just use it as it. I'm fairly certain it won't
affect the long-term durability much, or the ride.

and your expertise is?

dents in aluminum frames can cause severe structural failures if
they are deep enough and in certain locations. more than
cosmetics needs to be considered here. safety, for instance.

"Dennis P. Harris" wrote in message
...

and your expertise is?

dents in aluminum frames can cause severe structural failures if
they are deep enough and in certain locations. more than
cosmetics needs to be considered here. safety, for instance.


I think you're over-reacting Dennis. The OP mentioned he is not worried
about straightness, just cosmetics. Since he's seen the frame (which
neither of us has) and he's not worried, I suspect the dents are relatively
minor. I've got more dings in my MTB frame that I can recall. Structural
failure is not likely. My expertise is repairing bikes and frames for 12
years. If a frame is going to fail, it's going to fail at a weld, most
likely the head tube/downtube, BB or rear dropout. I've never seen a frame
tube fail that wasn't the result of a crash.

Scott..

Prometheus wrote:

Would repairing a dented aluminum toptube and downtube be a
trivial/non-trivial process?

I saw a frame for cheap that had a dent or two, but otherwise looked in
pretty good shape. I'm not concerned for straightness, just cosmetics,
but I suppose its not a big deal.

If it's just caused by the bars coming round and hitting the top tube,
fill it with auto body filler and repaint.