😥

Only had it a few months, balls. I’ll miss you 29er Transition Bandit, you were good fun while it lasted.

Zip ties got me home on last nights ride.

Took a good five minutes of playing with the back end to work out what was wrong before someone noticed the culprit;

[/url]Untitled by Phillip Dalton, on Flickr[/img]

[/url]Untitled by Phillip Dalton, on Flickr[/img]

I’ve only ever heard bad stories of Aluminium repair. Worth pursuing?

Friends recommended this chap and i’m visiting in-laws in Cambridge this weekend so may be able to squeeze me in.

http://www.allmetalweldingservices.co.uk/AluminiumBikeFrameWeldingRepairUK.html

Need to sort something before the Dyfi in a couple of weeks.

I’ll also try Transition, see if they have any rear triangles left.

Maybe time for something new, Codeine 29er are £550.

If you weld it, it will need to be re-tempered afterwards.

That was my understanding scienceofficer (pictures you in lab coat behind bunson burner, please don’t shatter the illusion).

http://m.pinkbike.com/news/To-the-Point-Heat-Treating-Aluminum-Frames.html

http://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-gb/support/welding-how-to/Pages/aluminum-design-mistakes-detail.aspx

If there’s clearance, I’d probably give it a go with carbon and epoxy rather than welding

If it is just the swing arm it might fit in a domestic oven. the temperatures for heat treating aluminium should be easily achievable AIUI. Got to be worth a go.

I’m hearing what everyone is saying, but what i really want to hear is ‘get a new frame bro, new frame, new frame, NEW FRAME, NEW FRAME’

Looking at postage costs, repair costs, price is close to total frame value. I just don’t think i’d ever be happy but seems a waste not to at least try.

Have you spoken to Transition? Replacing parts will often make more sense even if there’s a cost (my Hemlock frame was made entirely out of replacement parts!)

If you want recommendations for frame repair welding then probably orange 224 owners are the best resource. They’ll tell you how bombproof and reliable the frames are, then they’ll tell you who welded up the cracks for them. 😆 (ok more seriously, if you’ve got an uplift venue locally, and a shop that caters well for them, they may have some good advice)

Good thinking Northwind, just emailed windwave and fingers crossed they have a swingarm. Really like the frame so keeping it going is the preferred option.

But the codeine frame is very shiny.

Specialized road frame MY2002, lovely stiff light aluminium frame, after 6 years I found a crack forming from a air (frame casting? Don’t know much about aluminium tubing production) hole at the rear of the drive side seat stay. With nothing to lose, I gave it to the welder father-in-law who passed it on to an alloy specialist welder at his work to have a go at fixing it NB the crack had not yet gone all the way round.

Got it back like this with a comment ‘it went better than expected’ ie he didn’t completely destroy it even though the tubing was so thin.

I used it for a bit of time trialling and to be fair it cracked at a different weld after another year; the repair held ok. I suspect with a MTB and it having cracked through already, YMM considerably V. Bad luck.

Images won’t work because I’ve got spaces in the folder name, duh, so clicky links:
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm30/Dyffers/Spesh%20repair%20Nov%2008/IMGP0005.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm30/Dyffers/Spesh%20repair%20Nov%2008/IMGP0006.jpg

Heat treating performs 2 functions – a stress-relieving, post-welding, but it will now be relatively soft. Many then need to be tempered – heated to 1000 degrees and quenched – to give them the strength. Keeping components aligned is also very important!

1000 degrees, hmmmm, could prove problematic.

So what your saying, if i can read between the lines is to get the Codeine, right?

Have had three broken frames and ime by far the best way to repair them was to GET A NEW ONE

HTH

1000 degrees? Hmmmmm. You think?

You all heard him, get a new frame, NEW FRAME!!!

Aluminium heaterd to 1,000°c?! It’d turn into a puddle! Although at least a puddle with no cracks…

I’ve never known an aluminium repair work very well and that bit will be under quite a lot of cyclic stress. But it probably won’t hurt you badly when it breaks again 🙂

1000 deg for aluminium! Don’t think so.

A little bit on heat treatment of Columbus tubes here.

http://www.columbustubi.com/eng/3_2.htm

Scienceofficer in the lab, earlier today..

This aluminium tech talk is all very interesting, but yeah: get a new frame! And hang that one on the wall in the shed to show how gnar you are.

I have a bigger codpiece.

These days there are plenty of aluminium things being glued together, cars, planes etc, I wonder if one could glue a broken weld back together???

My bad – soaking temperature for aluminium alloy is 500 degrees – a bit hotter than your kitchen oven

Cable ties looks fine to me.

Vernon Barker in Dronfield welded my Scandal last year.
No heat treatment, and the repair seems fine.
APF

I had my scandal welded at the seattube/seatstay interface last week..
No heat treatment.
I’ve yet to ride it.
Will let you know if I die.

DrP

Oi you two, i’d almost convinced myself to get a Codeine and you come in here spouting your helpfulness.

Sooo, Being a curious type, I’ve continued to do a bit of reading.

It looks like the 2nd heat treatment after soaking is to accelerate age hardening. It depends on the specific alloy, but apparently, age hardening at room temperature can take as little as 5-30 days, but in the case of 6000 series alloys often used in bikes, this is a process that can continue for years.

If a medium is any use I have a Codeine frame new in November, VGC.. email in profile.

Thanks rockthreegozy but i’m a lanky devil and after a large.