Just bought a cracked ti frame.. where to repair?

Evening all,

Been looking out for a cheap Cotic Soul for a while and have just ended up buying a Soda that has a small crack near the seat clamp.

Seem a few people get these repaired.. where’s best for a decent titanium repair/weld?

Any help much appreciated

Paul

Where are you based?

Nottingham, did you have somebody in mind or?

Vernon Barker, Dronfield.

Not really, I know a Ti Framebuilder but I am not honestly sure he’d be competitive on a repair. However the info might help other people help you.

If you have no other good leads you can try asking Rich at Baldwin Titanium, though as mentioned, he may not be able to do it cheaply as he’s set up for whole frame builds.

Ted James Design does ti repair.

Thanks, sent an enquiry to Vernon.

Any other recommendations?

Edit.. people posted inbetween my posts, cheers guys. Will have a look.

http://limitfabrications.co.uk/%5B/url%5D

Patrick Banks did a superb job on my old Ibis.

Was that the one in Brighton on eBay? People have suggested Enigma bicycle works[/url] before, the are also local to Brighton.
Also seen people suggest jubilee clip to support it 🙂

I got mine fixed just outside of Brighton, they did a good job and only cost me £20!

Verdon Barkers repairs seem to be……well pretty ugly. He says they’re functional. I say if you can get function and aesthetics then go for that. Enigmas work looks ok.

Cx Thomson… where was this at?

Riddock… yes it was, took a punt. Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll look into them.

Daveatextremistdotcodotuk… thanks will also have a look. Was that a ti ibis?

I’ve used Enigma and would recommend them ,quality work lovely workshop and nice people to deal with . drop Mark an email with some decent pictures and he’ll give you a quote , might have to wait a while for an appointment tho .

Seen some of Vernon’s work.

Makes my Mr big’s welding look good.but as they say a good looking weld isn’t always strong….

Email me for the info. C Z J Thompson @ Gmail dot com

Have you tried asking Cotic – they might be able to point you somewhere?

I bought a cracked gen 1 Soda, got Enigma to weld it up- jamj1974 bought it off me and as far as I know the frame’s still going strong. Cost me something like £100 including return postage.

Way I see it, it’s true that a weld doesn’t have to be pretty to be good… But tidy, quality work shows skill and care. And if you can have strong and tidy, why would you not? If I had a titanium gate that needed fixed I might get Vernon Barker to do it.

No I haven’t asked Cotic actually, not a bad plan!

The frame is still going well for me. No further issues and the repair is still sound. Love that bike!

another vote for enigma here. used them and very pleased with the result

Depending on where the crack is exactly, you may be able to get away with using a double bolt clamp – something like this – and possibly a dropper post.

I did that with my old Setavento after advice from an engineering mate that as long as the cracked area is under compression, the crack is unlikely to propagate. You could always drill a hole at the end of the existing crack as a double insurance if you do that.

Obviously it depends on where the crack is, but if its under the clamp, it’ll save you getting it welded, though it’s not particularly pretty. I am not an engineer btw, but it’s worked for me for the past six years or so.

Thanks for that, I’m going to get it welded though as I paid less for the frame than I would have done for a Cotic Soul which I was on the look out for, well worth repairing if it comes in under a ton. Cheers anyway.

Another vote for Pat @ Limit.

Great chap to deal with and very well priced.

Having seen some of Vernon’s work he wouldn’t be my first choice.