I always figured they were supposed to look like that to be honest. Orange seem to have an agricultural machinery vibe going on. Sort of “Hand made in West Yorkshire” vibe. Everything in West Yorkshire is a bit shabby looking and I should know as I was born there and look very shabby.

edit: I found a picture of the frame when it was new and in its original Orange paint ***if I can upload a picture on the forum

Glad you mentioned the colour. The blue one is miles better.

Glad you mentioned the colour. The blue one is miles better.

Took me a second but 😂😂

I’ll hold my hands up to being totally wrong now I’ve seen that original picture of the frame, that first picture does make it look bad but it looks pretty good in the other one.

lets not let facts get in the way of a good rant.

its still poor

I recall being told about welds that if they look good then they can still be crap but if they look crap, then they definitely are crap.

From the original pic, that one sits in the second group.

It’s not for looking at, and it won’t break. Wouldn’t put me off buying if I wanted a Stage 5 (which I would, if I didn’t have a Five).

That headtube welding admittedly looks pants , i thought it was expanding foam at first

Light grey matt paint job doesnt help either , you wouldnt notice any of it if it was gloss black.

Knowing it was to be resprayed i’d have been tempted to flatten & polish smooth alot of those welds , but thats probably because i dont have a girlfriend and have oodles of spare time lol

I love all the armchair welding experts on here, judging a weld from a photo taken 5 metres away. Yes it’s not as pretty as some, but it’s pretty complex geometry, it’s bound to be a bit wiggly. Alu welds are bigger than the pretty steel welds in the shot, I’d still rather not drag a steel full sus frame about the place, pretty as it looks. And yes there are fancier, probably better peforming, processes that give nice smooth welds, and that’s fine, but it doesn’t mean this is somehow sub-standard.

You can make pretty aluminium welds, takes time and practice. It’s a 2k frame, it should look right, those welds don’t. If you can’t weld straight, cheat and use a jig to guide the torch…

You don’t need fancy equipment, it’s practice and a methodical process. Make sure the fit up is perfect, the surfaces are clean, good shielding and hours of practice.

PS, I used to weld a fair bit 😉

If I saw that…I would he going ..hell no!!..I work in the motor trade and seen a fair bit of painted welding..I would return that asap..its possibly ecsabibated by color and light but those welds look to be done too hot hot and fast…not structurally dangerous but to need that much weld..my guess..bad penetration..