Well it is your call but it can be pulled out or you could replace the top tube head tube and down tube. I would go for the straighten it out and just keep an eye on it steel is pretty forgiving and if you are not racing it, it should still last a long time. If it ever cracks you could replace the tubes then and the paint would look worse then and you would feel it was more justified then. Steven Willis The Bike Stand 1778 East Second Street Scotch Plains NJ 07076 908-322-3330 http://www.thebikestand.com
> So, while on a jaunt on my De Rosa Professional SLX pista with a friend
> for
> lunch on Wednesday to seek out a bit of delicious noodle in Chinatown, I
> had
> the misfortune of hitting the lone pothole the size of a basketball on an
> otherwise smooth stretch of road (though I suspect there was a second
> pothole on the grassy knoll) leading me to go over-the-bars face first,
> cracking my helmet, giving me a black eye, dislocating my shoulder, and
> much... MUCH worse, rather severely pranging my De Rosa.
>
> The top tube shows the most microscopic of paint cracks on the top of the
> tube, and a slight bulge (to the extent that you can feel it rubbing the
> tube, but I was unable to successfully photograph it.) The downtube,
> however... well, let's just say that tire clearance and toe overlap is a
> bit
> more of a problem. Apparently, while looking over my shoulder to see
> where
> my friend was, I entered this enormous pothole straight on -- to the
> extent
> that the tire/wheel caught on the downtube and then bent the downtube into
> a
> rather graceful arc.
>
> The frame, as a whole:
> http://www.flickr.com/
>
> Graceful arc, with straight edge:
> http://www.flickr.com/
>
> So, as I loved this bike dearly and would REALLY like for it to be
> operational again, what are the limits of alignment to fix damage like
> this? As there are no hard creases anywhere, is it possible that I could
> have the frame realigned, or am I looking at a full replacement of the
> down
> and top tubes? I desperately want to rescue this frame, but I also don't
> want to break my teeth if the steel has been weakened to that extent that
> it'd be failure prone.
>
> Any thoughts or past experience with damage like this?
>
> sasha 'bartender? motrin 800, water back.' eysymontt, nyc.
>
> --
> ---
> ,+'^'+ sasha eysymontt
> sashae at gmail dot com - http://subtle.org/
> `+,.,+` new york city.