Is it feasible to repair a crack in a frame around the seatpost clamp? Being an aluminium frame I understand soldering is problematic. It doesn't matter if seatpost is fixed in place as per a solution involving epoxy/some kind of wrap etc.
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6This is toast, bin it.– Vladimir F Героям славаCommented Jan 28, 2020 at 15:23
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7Also, that's not a 'crack by seatpost clamp', it's right through the top tube/seat tube intersection– Argenti ApparatusCommented Jan 28, 2020 at 16:15
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4Bike is a Boardman Comp and is most definitely alloy. No real financial value - I can remove the expensive bits that I added - however huge emotional attachment from sharing 30k+ kms....– gorytusCommented Jan 28, 2020 at 16:41
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3Do check what frame warranty Boardman offers - and see if you're covered. I would not ride that bike as-is, and I doubt its weldable.– Criggie ♦Commented Jan 28, 2020 at 18:54
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2On Al frames cracks tend to follow weld lines, but these don't. On a Al frame that has no visible welds, there must be filler applied over the welds then sanded smooth. I wonder if the filler and paint has cracked but not the underlying Al frame. (of course there may be a crack in the Al, but the surface crack is in a different place.)– Argenti ApparatusCommented Jan 28, 2020 at 19:54
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3 Answers
Is it feasible to repair a crack in a frame around the seatpost clamp?
feasible:
1. possible to do easily or conveniently.
2. likely; probable.
It is possible to repair an aluminum frame. It is not easy or convenient.
It's all about how much effort/money you are willing to put into this project.
Finding someone with a gas tungsten arc welding rig who would be willing to weld on your frame is one thing. Finding someone who knows what they are doing is something else.
Here is a discussion on a welding forum with an intelligent answer on aluminum bicycle frame repair. Here is a snippet of the conversation relating to repairing a frame:
Any repair should be made via gtaw (tig-heliarc) by an EXPERIENCED welder. If the frame is truely 7005 then 5180 would be the filler material of choice. This will allow the frame to undergo heat treatment to restore it to its original condition. If the frame is actually a t6 alloy more than likely you should use a 4643 filler which again will allow heat treatment.....if you wish to repair without heat treatment use 5356 which will work on either alloy but without heat treatment it will never be in the condition it was when produced.
The most feasible solution is to see this as an excellent opportunity to upgrade.
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1+1, right answer, but it would be good to say more explicitly that one of the major hurdles to repairing it being cost effective is stripping, heat treating, and refinishing. Commented Jan 28, 2020 at 18:06
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@NathanKnutson The quote mentions heat treatment. The linked conversation refers to stripping and refinishing. Thanks for making these steps clearer.– David DCommented Jan 28, 2020 at 18:19
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Good information on heat treatment. The quote makes it clear that it's necessary to know the original aluminum alloy to make a proper repair. Commented Jan 28, 2020 at 21:14
It IS possible to repair this. It is possible to repair practically EVERYTHING that is man-made. Although it is impossible to say how cost-effective or how easy it will be by just looking at a couple of pictures, I would be confident that this frame could be repaired well and fairly cheaply. Yes, I'm one of those that hate the throw-away society we've become.
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2Any general hints on possible methods to repair well and fairly cheaply?– ArmandCommented Jan 9, 2021 at 22:30
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1If you claim it can be reaired cheapky, you really should suggest the way oit could be done or what kind of shop might be able to do it. Else I do not believe it is possible. In general, carbon fiber can be repaired more easily. Commented Jan 10, 2021 at 11:32
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Yea without specifics on how to repair this, it is just an editorial that does not help the OP. Commented Jan 10, 2021 at 14:11
Is it feasible to repair a crack in a frame around the seatpost clamp? Being an aluminium frame I understand soldering is problematic
This is very typical of aluminum frames and in fact is the reason why I don't recommend aluminum frames (and forks) to be used. Instead, double butted chromium molybdenum steel (chromoly) wouldn't have this problem.
Aluminum has a finite fatigue life in contrast to steel that has an infinite fatigue life. The finite fatigue life means eventually after hard use a crack will appear, and start to grow.
Repair requires welding.
Welding an aluminum requires a new heat treatment after the welding in comparison to welding steel that doesn't. (Yet another reason why butted chromoly is better.)
A heat treatment requires putting the whole frame into an oven. This means you want to detach everything on the frame -- in fact, you want to remove the paint too. So you need to re-paint it after the heat treatment.
The expense of all this is so much that it will not be cost efficient. Since you need to anyway detach everything on the bike frame, it would be far easier to start looking for a new frame to attach your components to. Not only that, but if you repair an aluminum frame, the inherent flaw of aluminum that causes cracks to appear and propagate is still present. "It's a feature, not a bug." So the problem will repeat, perhaps after 10 000 km, perhaps after 100 000 km.
Make sure the new frame you purchase is butted chromoly and not aluminum so the problem won't repeat.
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1This is just a rant. There are many reasons why one may want to have an alu alloy bike, not the least that one can buy several such bikes for one custom built steel one. Also, not all all steel alloys are chromium molybdenium. Reyonlds 935 is not and although it cannot be welded it works well. Reynolds 530 is a modern steel alloy that is not chromium-molybdenium. Also, if any problem appears after 100k km, the frame did what it was supposed to do. Most people do not need that, only specialists long distance around the world tourers. Commented Jan 10, 2021 at 11:52