Is this head-tube crack fatal ?

That is some set of welds 😯 🙂

Any maybe that’s a warning that something else is about to let go?

Even if you never rode if off road again, falling at even 10mph onto the tarmac can hurt.

Tried a sticker on it ?

You’re not a proper Orange fanboi if you haven’t sent a worthless frame halfway across the world to have it repaired by a legend of the business.

That is some set of welds

I was pretty serious about the repair! 🙂 I want to ride it, like proper ride it, not just pootle.

Ha, I’ve got one of those E6s (well have passed it on to the girlfriend for a commuter now as it’s a bit small for me).

Had it from new – bought from Mountain Trax back in the day. Only changed the forks to a set of exotic carbon rigids. Everything else just keeps on going.

Don’t think I’ve seen any others about (apart from this one now).

yes it is repairable. Frank the Welder has a frame of mine at the moment. He is replacing the whole headtube.

I had a headtube replaced on a frame as well, a friend gets frames manufactured so he just stuck my frame in the hold when he was going over to Taiwan and asked the factory’s prototypers to do it while he was in a meeting. The cut the old head tube off, welded a new one on, put in the alightment table to straighten everything out, heat treated it, and aligned. By now the clear coat was totally fubar so it was sandblasted then joined the production like of a bunch or Birdy frames and was powder coated in Reise and Muller grey (lucky escape as the batches of frames before and after were being painted to look like new york chequer cabs). After powder coating it was re-aligned again. No small amount of work and given what I’d bought the frame for and it having no market value at all in any condition it wouldn’t have been worth doing

All done as a freebie which was nice, but it was no small amount of work and given what I’d bought the frame for and it having no market value at all in any condition, it wouldn’t have been worth paying to have it done.

After all that the frame was good as new, but striped and repainted and without its original decals and the like its just a frame, not my old bike reborn – ‘just’ a usable frame, not special in anyway other than it being a good fit for my gangly lanky bod. I still use it as a hack in fact (1999 frame repaired in 2006 I think)

But if a frames charm is its originality then it won’t seem very original after all that – finding an old frame that matches the components you have would result is something more authentic

That is some set of welds

I have to say the welds on mine aren’t so conspicuous, that said, in all likelihood it was getting repaired in the factory that built.

FTW can indeed remove the lacquer (and did this) get polished and re-lacquer if needed. Decals are relatively straight forward to replace and as its a piece of mtb design history I pulled the trigger and shipped it over. He repaired some chainsuck marks too. Looks nice, just have to be patient waiting for it.

Nice to get it done by the same factory and I wish mine was free, haha.

Two jubilee clips, top and bottom …sorted

If it needs to be ridden enduro then grip fill first, duck tape and then the clips.

What could possibly go wrong?

What could possibly go wrong?

This is what happens if you only use one jubilee clip 😉

My mate used to have an E3. All the welds looked like that.

Just lob it in that canal and be done with it.

We won’t tell anyone.

Just lob it in that canal and be done with it.

OP’s in HK, it’ll have to be the harbour!

Great excuse for a new ride 🙂

Drill holes at the base of the cracks and get a local fabricator to weld it all up. You’ll get a few more years of commuting out of it at least.

The bit I love is that after posting the little crack and picture initially, you followed it up with “also found this” and a picture of the san andreas fault, located about 2 inches away from the other, smaller crack.

As above, financially it’s for the bin, you just need to work out what the intangible value is and go with that. I’ve kept one of my frames going for ages past the point where it stopped making sense in monetary terms, because I love it.

For now, I reckon you’d have to be properly mad to ride it. If nothing else, it’ll probably make the cracks work but generally I don’t like my forks exiting through the front of the bike

Sodajim – Member

bigyinn if you were the original owner Marin’s had a life time warranty on all their frames. If you take it to a Marin dealer I’ve seen very old stuff replaced with new in the past without any problem.
The cracked frame was a discounted replacement for a steel Pine Mtn that had a crack behind the headtube due to a hefty frontal impact at some time. I got a replacement for the cracked frame at the cost of £125 which actually worked out out very well as I wanted a disc hardtail frame and most of the bits to upgrade it were already in the shed. WIN!

Thnx All. Northwind, the sequence was due to lack of computer skills! I’ve taken on board your comments, bike will be put on gardening leave for a while, until I get some time. All input appreciated. Won’t bore you all with a what CX bike for commuting … *** scuttles off to view the Tripster thread ***

a manitou FS is worth repairing.

a generic aluminium orange frame that was made in Taiwan? Viking funeral and new frame time.

Are you sure it’s a crack and not a sticker?

Update, of sorts for those interested. Slipped the fork out, and the inside of the tube is fine. Minor corrosion on the headset, steerer of the fork, all within expectations for a bike of its age. Wet’n’dry on the cracks, not as horrendous as I’d feared.
On advice/warnings/sympathy/scorn all gratefully taken on board, I rode (yes !) to the local aluminum window frame maker, who has promised to drill a couple of small pilot holes (oo-err missus) and tack the thing up. For a couple of quid, I am happy to take a chance. It’ll be relegated to shopping and pub duties, but shall be loved in its dotage.
Once again, thanks for taking time, I’ll stick a pic up when it’s done.
Jon