casualty??

My Dean has a big dent in the top tube. I am bummed - I've been really loving this bike since I built it back up to be a geared HT.

I have no idea what happened. I noticed it when we were on the way to Fruita so it didn't happen at Fruita. I had ridden @ Walker the week before but I didn't crash. ??

A couple of years ago it had a dent in the down tube and started cracking at the dent. Even tho it's not at a high stress point and will probably last for years longer - that and a couple of other issues was all the impetus I needed to order a new frame.

The the other issues are 1) it doesn't have disc brake tabs 2) the rear triangle is narrow and tire clearance is at a minimum - the widest tire I can run is a narrow 2.1.

I briefly toyed with the idea of getting Dean bikes to replace the top tube - after all they did replace the down tube already. But I don't like dealing with the Dean folks - when they built the bike and when they fixed it they lied to me. About time frames, where the bike was in the process, the parts they put on it, etc.

So with all those considerations - bike issues 1 & 2 and I don't like people to lie to me - I called up James from Blacksheep and ordered a new hardtail steel frame. He said he can make the frame to be just like my Ti SS frame. So I'll buy a new frame and swap all the parts off the Dean hardtail to the Blacksheep hardtail.

Oh and I'm getting away from the color brg(british racing green) that used to be my favorite color. And I'm not painting it red either. I decided a darkish burnt orange with a cream color triangle shape on the seat tube, rear triangle, top tube to give it that retro look. hmm....I'm also thinking about seeing if I can get a 9ball painted on the head tube - in honor of my old pool playing days.

(photo credit vanilla bikes - super cool bikes for sure! http://vanillabicycles.com/ )

It will be nice to run some big fatty tires on a HT and have disc brakes.