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Dented my top tube, now what?
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Yesterday while riding my Felt F1R scandium road bike I had a crash going down a hill at about 20mph after getting bumped by a training partner. I got a lot of road rash on my knee, hip, elbow, and shoulder, my STI shifters are scraped, the rear skewer is skinned up, and my new Reynolds Alta front wheel was whacked out of true. But the heartbreaker was the side of the top tube which got a ding on it where the handlebars flipped around and dented it. You can only see the dent/ding when the light is on it just right. You can barely feel the dent with your finger, but it's there.

My question: should I worry about this or is it something everyone has experienced at one time or another and simply ignored while they continue to ride their bike?

Oh yeah, is there some sort of post-crash bike checklist that anyone wants to share?
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Re: Dented my top tube, now what? [tripoet] [ In reply to ]
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I had almost the same experience (handlebars denting the top-tube) when I crashed, but I haven't done anything about it either.
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Re: Dented my top tube, now what? [tripoet] [ In reply to ]
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My bike tipped over and hit the corner of my bed. It has a small ding(about the centimeter in dia) on the top tube. This was a few years ago and have never had a problem.
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Re: Dented my top tube, now what? [tripoet] [ In reply to ]
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that sucks. If it's a small dent, though, it's probably not a big deal unless it throws the alignment off.

After my latest wreck, I took my bike to a trusted mechanic who cleaned it and then inspected it with a little mag light looking for cracks, etc. My frame was a loss, but my dent's were pretty severe (I ended up with a new head tube angle...).

Good luck.

John
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Re: Dented my top tube, now what? [tripoet] [ In reply to ]
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you should take it to a shop and check the alignment of the derailler, fork, etc. I have a alluminum bike with dents all over the thing and I retired it becuase of the knowledge that aluminum tends to fail catastrophically while something like steel wil start to give alluminum can crumple like... an aluminum can...
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Re: Dented my top tube, now what? [taku] [ In reply to ]
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My Guru Cron 'alu's top tube got dented about 5" from the seatpost by a 4-D cell Maglite that fell from about 10'. The guy's at Guru suggeted that I have them replace the top tube. I've not noticed any change in the ride, so I've not spent $470.00 to replace.
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