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I thought I'd share the results of a descent yesterday - no BB clearance issues, no crashes. This was caused by stones/rocks flicking up off the front wheel.
XT cranks got clobbered too, but only paint/finish blemishes are visible, no dents.
Do any of you run protection on your Alu frames?
Never thought my Chisel FS frame would be so soft... I was riding what would be considered an easy XC trail, so nothing out of the ordinary.
I'll get it inspected just in case - though it's probably just a crack in the powder coating. 🤞
I've applied heli tape to the underside of my down tube, but not the BB area.
Rockstop or similar for the win.
https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Rockstop-Frameguard-For-Alloy-Frames_275631.htm
That’s nothing, I have had an actual dent in the aluminium about 3mm deep on the bottom of the downtube where it meets the BB shell and I havent died. I’ve seen dented top tubes that have been ridden for years after and been fine.
What you have is purely cosmetic, I’d only be worried about carbon.
I would not care about that, it's just paint chipping. Add a rubber/plastic frame guard, as above.
Never thought my Chisel FS frame would be so soft...
The aluminium frame is fine, the paint has just chipped a bit, such things happen.
I’ve put a dent in a frame on its first ride with a rock strike in the Alps. Either don’t worry about it or fit a guard.
If one isn’t available, you can make one yourself with a sheet of 3mm Kydex and a heat gun.
Even in the mellowness of Surrey Hills, I’ve had a rock pick up, put a dent in my shin and scratch the bike.
As above, that's just a paint chip.
I apply 3M 2228 mastic tape to the lower downtube on my MTBs. Worth having a roll anyway, as it's also useful for putting under mudguard zipties.
Thanks for the re-assurance(s) and suggestions.
Not interested in the cosmetics, more the frame itself - I'll get something applied to the area.
Servicing the bike last night (500 miles already), it's quite a substantial ding. Perhaps I could have taken a better pic of it.
The top left ding looks like a small void under the paint/coating. It could be the photo exaggerated the ding though. Possibly also an area of thicker paint that is less robust.
I'd be tempted to probe around the area with a blunt object to see if more of the paint surface deflects.
I'd not be worried about the frame though.
Edit do manufacturers use filler around welded areas prior to painting to get a smoother finish? I'd not thought of it before but it would be a way of taking out small imperfections.
In 2005 I got a Turner 6 pack. Within a couple of months I'd had a stone flick up and dent the down tube close the the bottom bracket weld. I rode that bike until 3016 when I sold it. It's still going strong now.
Since then I've always added a short length of 3M 2228 mastic tape to this area.
However, as others have said, that doesn't look like an actual dent in the material