That $300 mistake I made buying a used frame sight unseen

Bought a vintage steel frame off eBay a few years back for $300. Seller said it was 'lightly used' but when it showed up the bottom bracket shell was completely ovalled out from being ridden with a loose crank. Couldn't even fit a new BB in there without facing problems I couldn't fix at home. Anyone else get burned by trusting photos too much on a used bike part?

2 comments

2 Comments

skyler_white28d ago

Hold up, wait. You paid three hundred bucks for a frame that had an ovalled out bottom bracket shell? That's just... wow. I mean, how do you even miss something like that in photos? Was the seller like "oh it's just cosmetic" or what? That's such a bummer though because there's nothing worse than getting all excited for a project and then you open the box and it's basically junk. You probably could have had a local shop fix it with some kind of retapping or oversized bottom bracket but that's more money and hassle and for $300 you'd think it'd roll ready to go.

troy43927d ago

Nah, $300 for a frame that's ovalled out is rough but it's not like the end of the world. Plenty of shops can put in a threadless bottom bracket or sleeve it for like $50-$75. I've fixed way worse with a Park Tool tap set and some patience. People act like a slightly tweaked BB shell means the frame is garbage but half the time it's just poor assembly from the factory, not a fatal flaw.