Local commute suggestions

[thebrad]

Well I have no one to laugh at but myself so I'll spill the beans to share the laugh.

I took the bike down to my local bike shop to have it fitted with new clip-in pedals and have the derailers adjusted. Installing the pedals they noticed the frame was cracked.
They suggested taking it to a muffler shop and having it welded, but cautioned it would weaken the surrounding brazed joints...

So for $170, I really did get a junky rusty bike. At least I can't complain about false advertisement.
Luckily the shop had a beater that had been donated to them and I'm paying them to swap over all the hardware in the hope that it will work out for me.
If not, I'll wait for my federal rebate to come.

[LostCause]

Sorry about the crack. Hopefully the guy who sold it to you was unaware...Depending on how bad/where the crack is, I wouldn't worry about it in the short term.

I'd just take it to a TIG welder and tell them to be careful of the brazed joints. If they are slow, there should be little heat damage. I've watched a welder join a bearing to a metal plate without causing it to seize. If your frame is aluminum, it'll definately be tougher to weld then steel. It might be pricey, though ($30-60).

- LostCause

[boxchain]

Seconded on the TIG weld, my local bike shop does it, and it held up pretty well afterwards.

[thebrad]

Well... shit!
They made it seem fifty-fifty and rather than bike down to try welding it and paying that expense and being in worse shape I just went with what seemed somewhat logical and spent the $60 toward swapping hardware onto a thrashed Raleigh.

I think the bike could be steel after all. Not sure, shop said it was steel and then I was talking about it with my friend and he was pretty sure it was just chromoly steel and that's where I got the lightness from.

As of right now I am out 365 on this biking deal, I think I should have just bought a $300 bike. Hahah

[LostCause]

Just think of that as motivation to start saving more by bike commuting.

If you don't mind, could you tell me where the frame cracked? I think I have a bike that is very similar to yours and I wouldn't mind checking. If you still have the bike and any intention of welding the frame, it is probably 1020 Chromemoly steel.

I'd ask to watch the bike shop staff when they swap components or do any work. Observing and asking questions about what they are doing should help you save money in the future by allowing you to do your own bike maintenance. A metric wrench set and some specialized tools could take you a long way.

Good luck and I'm glad things finally got sorted.

- LostCause

[thebrad]

I had every intention of staying to watch, but they had other bikes they had to get to first, so I just took off.

The frame cracked where the vertical bar that holds the seat meets the pedals and closes the y shape. Or 0 in my drawing...

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[Nden]

too bad u live so far up north brad. any mexican muffler shop in chula vista/san ysidro down in 619 would hit that up for prolly $10 . i got snaked out of a Z1 i was watching on ebay =( rats! better luck next time

[Nden]

just a thought... JB weld or quicksteel? till u weld it

[thebrad]

I've got the newer new used bike, the Raleigh from the shop. So no more worries about the cracked frame, but I've been a little busy so I couldn't update with pics.

[thebrad]

Happy family

Raleigh Record with Motobecane components

Motoleigh, mang.

Pricey pedals