harryzee

Hello all,

Apologies if this is in the wrong place.

I am getting my Dawes Galaxy's 631 steel frame powder coated. After cleaning it and looking it over I noticed a rather nasty looking gouge in it.
It's not dented and it's about 1mm deep.

I know nothing about steel frame damage: should (or indeed, can) this be patched up a little before the new coat goes on, or is it nothing to worry about with a steel frame?

Would post a picture but I'm new here! Any opinions much appreciated.

seeker333

1mm is a pretty deep gouge considering the tubing wall thickness is only a bit over 1mm thick at the butts (the thick wall section at tubing ends where tubes are joined by welding or brazing). Wall thickness in the middle of the tube is often less than 1mm on road bikes.

This may be serious damage. You may want to have a professional framebuilder inspect the damage before powdercoating.

See the 631 tubing profile chart at this link, about a third of the way down the page. See the 1.2/0.6/0.9... I believe the units are millimeters!

harryzee

Ah! Thanks for the chart. I think I may have slightly overstated the depth... I work in 1mm units
I'll try and find some way of measuring it more accurately.

harryzee

Looking at it again, it is a little dented.. I don't think there's much material missing, but rather it's been a bit compressed.

djb

take opinions from strangers as they are, but a slight dent generally isn't a problem and depending on where it is and how dented, it most likely is alright.

again, getting a couple of experienced opinions from knowledgeable people who can actually look at it first hand is your best bet, even from older experienced mechanics that have seen and experienced this sort of thing first hand for decades would be good (bicycle frame builders arent around every street corner).

veganbikes

I would take it to your local frame builder or frame repair shop if you have one and if not check with the head tech at the local bike shop or maybe the person who has been there the longest.

It might be nothing or it might be something and guesstimating is not a good idea. Certainly you can post plenty of good clear pictures with some measurable items (like a common coin or measurement device) and people can take a look but at this point we are just guessing.

fietsbob

ask the powder coater what filler can be used and is compatible with the upcoming applied coating melt
It may need nothing as the molten powder will fill it while being cooked.

or they may do that filling as part of the prep for coating. ..

alan s 

Under no circumstances should you ever ride it again. Send the frame to me and I’ll dispose of it properly.

delbiker1 

Dent is sort of visible below decal just above the fork.


Dent really shows up in this photo
this is the finished bike.
Without seeing the gouge/dent, everything is just a guess. I recently had a steel frame/fork powder coated. The fork had a nickel sized dent in it, and it had been there since I bought the bike new in 1992. The dent had not changed in any way after 27 years. No paint chipping, cracking or any other sign of worsening damage. When the powder coating was done. the powder and the baking process filled in the dent, and now you have to really look closely to see any sign of it. If you did not know it had been there, you probably would not notice any sign of it.

Dent not vivible
Other minor scratching and chipping are now gone.

seeker333

A dent may be nothing more than a detraction from appearance, a blemish.

A deep gouge near a joint may serve as a stress riser which over time can lead to a tube or joint failure / ruined frame.