[Closed] Advice needed......

£700 for a cracked frame is quite a gamble...

Thats the worry....is the 'strengthening weld' hiding the fact its cracked!

why else would you dump a big lump of moulten metal at the seat post join?

they were being practically given away last year as most of them cracked.

Walk away young man. Its not worth the smashed nuggets when it fails.

[img] [/img]

Wouldn't go near it

you right guys, just the advice a wanted to hear!

Would you say its best to go for a 2010 onwards meta 55???

Walk away from it, or rather start sprinting now and don't stop.

The commencal 55 has a 6061 Aluminium frame and my wee speel below will explain the above sentence.

When you weld a 6061 tube to another 6061 tube, the newly welded joint and area around the join has lower strength than before it was welded. You have to then apply a carefully controlled process known as solution heat treatment, and then artificially age the frame, to return it to it's previous strength. Basically your ****in about with the crystalline structure of the frame.

Heat treating is actually known as "thermal treatment" (for metallurgical reasons it is), usually involving two processes.

1 : Solution heat treatment, Between 800 Fahrenheit and 1000 Fahrenheit for a preset number of hours dependant on many factors. The frame is then quenched in water or supercooled air dependant on the alloy to return back to room temperature.

2: 6061 Aluminum needs to be aged after heat treating (precipitation hardening), this is usually done in an oven at 250 Fahrenheit to 350 Fahrenheit for 8 - 48 hrs.

Whom ever welded this frame did not carry out the above process for the most glaringly obvious reasons, this is before we get into what type of filler rods he used and single pass or double pass welds etc...etc..

The frame is scrap, don't buy it.

Auction's closed now anyway.

reckon its a bit dodgy even selling that bike without a warning that its dangerous to ride and the only value lies in the components