| It depends on how big it is and where it\'s located.
It\'s the crease. If the dent is a simple dimple, then there\'s no problem.
It\'s when the dent is deep enough to form a crease in the tube. The crease indicates a level of deformation that you can\'t pull out of a tube. Should you have another impact in the future, this becomes a potential crumple point for the frame. In addition, this area is often exposed to the elements, making it more suseptible to corrosion.
Generally, if it\'s just a dimple, we roll it out and/or fill in with a bit of Bondo. If it\'s got a crease, we like to replace the tube.
Where it is: Dents and other deformations within an inch of a joint (like right next to the head tube) often result from a front-end impact. These are areas subject to relatively high stress. Weakening of the tubes here can lead to more disastrous failures down the road. Also, since we used butted tubes, whatever deformed the tube had to be a lot bigger a force than something that hits the middle areas of the tube.
One of the advantages of our alloys is that they fail more slowly and more obviously than other materials. Just the same, you can\'t ignore any dents. At least have your shop check it out.
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