Quoth David Bilenkey:
>I have a 1972 Bevilacqua racing frame that I was given a few years ago.
>I got around to examining it closely today. I noticed the slightest bulge
>under the TT and DT just behind the head lugs and paint cracks up top.
>As I'd been intending to repaint it anyway (it's not sporting it's original
>paint) I cleaned the paint off these areas and inspected the tubes. It's
>obvious that this has had some minor front end trauma, but looking at
>the tubes there are no cracks or rust or anything, just the almost
>imperceptible distortions in these tubes.
>
>Checking the alignment it all checks out fine, but I guess my question
>is what would you do with such a beast? I'd been planning on stripping it,
>pulling off all the braze-ons that were added by Marinoni in the early
>80's,and repainting and building it up as a fixed gear initially (maybe
>putting drillium parts on it later), for occasional light duty, and
>after seeing
>the damage I'm still of that mind. Given that I'm 160lbs soaking wet, I
>don't really think this frame will get over stressed under my weight or riding
>style. Anyone have any different thoughts about how safe this frame
>would be
>to ride?
Frames with mild front end damage are not at risk for breakage, the issue is that the handling may be compromised by the changed head angle.
Before you put money into paint, build it up with some usable parts and ride it around for a while. If it handles OK, go for it.
Sheldon "Ouch!" Brown
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| If we had no faults, we would not take so |
| much pleasure in noticing them in others. |
| - Francois, Duc de la Rouchefoucauld |
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