FRAME CONDITION - DAMAGED?

QUESTION:  "Is the frame set straight, bent, cracked or damaged in any way? "

Make sure that you ask if the frame set is bent, dented or damaged in any way.  Any one of these deficiencies will lower the value of the bicycle.  An entry level bicycle with any or all of these issues is an unlikely candidate for restoration.  The cost to repair will far exceed the rebuilt value.  However, if the bicycle in question is rare, old, special or possesses some other redeeming quality, then the frame damage becomes simply another hurdle to be cleared.  This very old French Rochet Paris, as found, was badly rusted just about everywhere.  To add insult to weather sponsored injury, the top and down tubes were both bent where they enter the head tube lugs.  All that said, I had every intention of restoring this old road bicycle because it was Old and Old does make the extra effort and cost worthwhile in this case.

Bent:  Very few vintage road bicycle frame sets are still bang on straight.  In fact, is it rare that I come across a perfectly straight frame.  More often than not, the stays are spread just a bit, exceeding the specified 120mm or 125mm rear drop spacing.  This is not a major issue for someone like me.  I have the knowledge and skill to affect minor frame set repairs.  However, for the novice vintage bicycle owner, a bent frame set can often be considered a deal breaker unless, of course, the bicycle in question is rare or unusual, as was the case with the very old and structurally challenged Rochet "Paris".  The Rochet was badly oxidized and the frame tubes were bent at the head tube but I had already made the decision to restore the bike, though I never did get the chance.  Why?  Because someone wanted to restore it more than I did.

Dented:  A great many vintage road bicycle frame sets are dented or have tubes crushed.  The after market bicycle side or center stand of years gone by, was a bicycle frame killer.  If you see an after market stand "clamp" mounted to the road bicycles chain stays, expect structural damage.  Structural damage in the form of crushed chain stays.  The distorted stays will probably not impact the way the bicycle rides but the damage will lower the bicycle's value.  It is a simple as that.

If you see an aftermarket stand mounted on a very high end bicycle with thin light exotic tubing, expect considerable damage.  Often times, the thin walls of the tubing simply will not support the clamping pressure of the stands.  The stays will become badly crushed, perhaps even splitting in the process.

A second common dent is often found on the bicycle's down tube, where a side pull brake calliper has been allowed to bang into the frame set.  Once again, this sort of structural damage will not be felt in the seat of the rider's pants but the dent, which will be quite visible I might add, will certainly detract both from the bicycle's beauty and ultimate value.

If you do run side pull brake callipers, ensure that either the calliper is padded in a strategic place, as is the case with Campy side pulls.  If no calliper padding is present, wrap something around the down tube to cushion any calliper related blow that eventually WILL happen.

Any and all dents, in the tubing, will lower the value of the bicycle or frame set!  After asking is the frame is bent or dented, as for the drop spacing numbers.  You are seeking bang on measurements of 120mm or 125mm for the rear drops and 95mm or 100mm for the front drops.  If these numbers are off, even by a millimetre, expect some form of frame or fork damage.  Finally, consider what kind of damage the years and Mother Nature could have created and ask about it.

NEXT- FRAME CONDITION - RUST?