CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
Remember I 'thought' I had a cracked chainstay?
(29 posts)-
Posted 13 years ago #
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Ouches.... Slow ride home?
Posted 13 years ago # -
Gulp.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Indeed, I shall be riding gingerly. But it got me here, I'm sure it will survive (and so, consequently, shall I).
Kaff gets straightened out to take over commuting duties until I've got a replacement frame.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Nah, it's just a scratch. It'll buff out. :>
Good cr-mo steel is strong stuff, and you'd probably have a bunch more miles in that frame if you absolutely had to ride it. I don't know how long I'd been riding my old Rockhopper with most of the right-hand chainstay not attached particularly well to the BB. And since steel has substantially better fatigue characteristics than aluminium, you'd at least get some warning as it failed.
Posted 13 years ago # -
gaffer tape.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Arellcat, you've given me some confidence in its get-me-home-ability.
Kaputnik, I've got some of that in the garage right enough...
Posted 13 years ago # -
You're lucky it's a fixie and for the journey home you can perhaps shift the rear wheel back a tad to keep the chain tension as high as possible to slightly increase the compression* acting on the chainstays to keep the ends of the fracture pressed together. Probably. I'd still wrap it in something (even if it's just a bit of gauze from the office first aid kit) just to slightly delay it separating if it decided to snap.
*I expect it'd still be in tension, though very slightly less so.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"even if it's just a bit of gauze from the office first aid kit"
and a lollypop stick...
Posted 13 years ago # -
Sounds like a job for MacGyver
Posted 13 years ago # -
"and a lollypop stick..."
If it's a really fancy first aid kit there might conceivably be a tongue depressor or two in it...
Posted 13 years ago # -
two teaspoons from the canteen a tube of araldite* from the local garage and a bandage from the first aid kit = a solid bodge you can ride around on until you find a cool enough replacement from your battlescarred and home repaired original ;-)
*other epoxy resins are available!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Right, heading off within the next 5-10 minutes. If no-one hears from me in an hour or so then I'm lying in a heap somewhere... (or walking a wonky bike home).
Sent an email to Hubjub as well (where I bought the frame from, then Fixie Inc and Will, who runs the site, had a falling out so they don't sell through them anymore) to see if there was any warranty, and at the very least to get details of the date and amount paid so I can drop a line to fixie Inc. The more I think about it the more I think a frame should last more than 3 and a bit years!
Don't think I'll get anywhere, but you never know!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Posted 1 hour ago #
I take it you didn't make it.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I'll just finish me tea then I'll pop out and look for him.
EDIT: He seems to be safe and alive over on Twitter, so I'll stay sitting here and eat an extra pudding-apple.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Oops. Yep, back fine (having broken my promise to ride sensibly after having a Boardman pass me, clearly putting the massive effort in, then jumping 2 reds and turning at a junction without checking. He got a couple of minutes on me by the time we were at St Leonards. Would have caught him too but for those pesky kids on the path weaving about on their bikes. ;)
Posted 13 years ago # -
Anth, you could see this as an opportunity to mod. your frame ready for belt drive (assuming its on the drive side...)
Posted 13 years ago # -
assuming its on the drive side
Or he could go proper nu-bike and put the drive side on the left!
Posted 13 years ago # -
The more I think about it the more I think a frame should last more than 3 and a bit years!
I should think so... but you do see quite a few cracked frames from 'good' brands at the Bike Works.
Posted 13 years ago # -
Defo were not taking it easy down the innocent!
me on the other hand...
Posted 13 years ago # -
If you do decide to scrap it, would be interesting to saw the tubes apart and inspect, see if you could find any signs of more rust or corrosion etc.
I've a creaky bottom bracket on the SS so I pulled it out last night. I was disappointed to find that the amount of grease used was negligible (my only "new" EBC purchase) and that water entering through the badly-located vent hole in the underside of the BB shell (where on a "normal" bike it would be protected by the cable runs) had caused the body of the BB to corrode badly and left nasty deposits inside the shell.
I realise that the bike shop may get the frames in with the BB installed already, but in our "maritime" climate I would expect they remove, inspect and grease it up properly. The Giant tracknuts that came with the bike began to rust from day 1 so were replaced with cheapy stock ones that are fine to this day.
As it's a sealed "throw it out when it's done" sort of a BB, it's unlikely to be at the root of the creaking (more likely it's just knackered), however if it had been a steel frame it would have been a perfect rust trap.
Posted 13 years ago # -
@Laidback, is that a weakness in construction or an effect of Edinburgh (lack of) road maintenance?!
Posted 13 years ago # -
Will at Hubjub is a top bloke. I got a very apologetic reply from him (not his fault!) saying that Fixie Inc warranties are teeny-tiny short but they miiiiight do a deal on a new frame (would still be out of budget, and I like the idea of getting something older now anyway); he reckoned he might be able to do me a trade deal, but he's apparently struggling at the moment, which isn't nice to hear - I'll have to send some of my rebuild/newbuild cash his way.
Aaaanyway, he did say that normally he wouldn't expect to hear back from anyone at all with frame problems from ones he sells, but I think mine is the third Fixie Inc he sold that has then had 'issues'. And elsewhere someone commented that this was a 'Do Not Resuscitate' as basically the insides of the tubes hadn't been treated and would be utterly rotten, whcih apparently On-One had a problem with a while back.
The frame will get stripped, I'll use some of the more extreme measures required to get the seatpost shifted, now that I have nothing to lose, and I'll hang the frame in the garage until such time as the X is built, the new commuter is running and the Sunbeam is restored, then think about sending it off to get checked over and see if it's worth saving, or if the inside is a morasse of rust...
Posted 13 years ago # -
When my Rockhopper frame died, I sawed it up. The steerer from the fork became a 1" headset crown race tool, and all but one of the rest of the tubes became a deep-toned windchime. The remaining tube I kept in the garage for the Levering Of Things.
Posted 13 years ago # -
"more extreme measures required"
What have you tried?
Some people say 'Coke will shift anything' but never actually tried it.
'Only' way is to cut off seatpost close to frame (enough to grip with mole wrench) and spend time (an hour or so) with a hacksaw blade.
Cut 2 slots - carefully - and peel off the first slice.
Depending how thin the seatpost is and in how many places it's stuck, it may come out or you might have to do more slicing.
Posted 13 years ago # -
I managed to get a seized carbon post out of a alu frame by means of house hold ammonia (boots sell it). Stinks to high heaven but the corroded aluminium turned in to a paste and just had to be wiped up. It still required a lot of swivelling and muscle to get out but it worked.
Posted 13 years ago # -
If you know anyone who works in labs, you may be able to get cryospray, an aerosol freezing spray used for preparing microscope slides, may help contract the seatpost and assist removal.
Posted 13 years ago # -
The stuff plumbers use to freeze pipes they want to cut without draining would do the same job. Available at all good DIY stores.
Posted 13 years ago #
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