Bike frame damaged

timetrialler
timetrialler Posts: 315
edited December 2009 in Workshop
HELP!


This is a really long shot and I think I know the answer already but perhaps you guys have some other ideas….

Some stupid bike thief tried to steal my friend’s very nice Ridgeback flight last night (£900 ish I think).

In the process of trying to steal the bike the thief cut the top tube so the frame is totally written off - or is it? There is a 2-3” section missing now – can it be repaired? Is it worth it? I can’t believe how wreckless it all is. I can however see that – even though the frame is the most expensive part, the other bits – disc brakes / wheels / gears …etc are also worth quite a lot…

So what do you think – any comments on potential repair of frame? Know any good sources to buy a replacement? (His insurance is £500 excess) …

Look after your flashy bikes gents…

Comments

  • John.T
    John.T Posts: 3,698
    He should be able to get a new frame for about the same price as a repair would cost (if he could find anyone to do it). The other bits will go straight on.
    My Fleet.
  • gundersen
    gundersen Posts: 586
    In the process of trying to steal the bike the thief cut the top tube
    There is a 2-3" section missing now

    What would a thief do with a bike that has no frame????
  • ballspondroad
    ballspondroad Posts: 181
    Strip and sell the components is the idea I think gundersen. Bike thieves are very rarely bike fanciers it seems.
  • Buckled_Rims
    Buckled_Rims Posts: 1,648
    gundersen wrote:
    In the process of trying to steal the bike the thief cut the top tube ....There is a 2-3" section missing now....What would a thief do with a bike that has no frame????

    Sounds like the thief couldn't get the bike and so out of malice sliced it!

    If it's an Alu frame, that's it. I doubt it's repairable.
    CAAD9
    Kona Jake the Snake
    Merlin Malt 4
  • Heckler1974
    Heckler1974 Posts: 479
    Buckled_Rims wrote:
    Sounds like the thief couldn't get the bike and so out of malice sliced it!

    Let's hope so, it's a worrying development if there is a sufficient market for parts to justify stripping a bike.
  • cf4231
    cf4231 Posts: 2
    Sadly this was my bike.

    It certainly wasn't out of malice - the thief clearly used a pipe cutter to cut the frame, and was just starting to ride off on it when I saw him and shouted. He literally threw the bike at me and ran off. The lock itself was untouched, still attached to the object it was locked around.

    Its looking like I will be in the market for a new frame ...

    CF
  • geohorn
    geohorn Posts: 11
    Hey CF hope your recovering from last night :?
    I suggest finding a frame builder in the Cambs area and ask if they can weld a plug or a section of tube in place, this would be a lot cheaper than a new frame. Being in the aerospace industry, I know that ally is repairable by welding, but a good frame builder is worth speaking too. :wink:
    If you need any further help let me know and I can ask the question at my cycle club forum in Nottiingham. :wink:
  • softlad
    softlad Posts: 3,513
    geohorn wrote:
    Being in the aerospace industry, I know that ally is repairable by welding,

    it's not quite as simple as that though - the frame will probably need jigging and heat-treating as well...
  • VinceEager
    VinceEager Posts: 247
    the thief was making his escape on a bike with a 3" section missing from the top tube? :shock: :D
    ...the bicycle is the most efficient machine ever created: Converting calories into gas, a bicycle gets the equivalent of three thousand miles per gallon...
  • cf4231
    cf4231 Posts: 2
    VinceEager wrote:
    the thief was making his escape on a bike with a 3" section missing from the top tube? :shock: :D

    Indeed - needless to say I didn't cycle it home - it is looking rather sad in my living room at the moment :-(
  • Buckled_Rims
    Buckled_Rims Posts: 1,648
    geohorn wrote:
    I suggest finding a frame builder in the Cambs area and ask if they can weld a plug or a section of tube in place, this would be a lot cheaper than a new frame. Being in the aerospace industry, I know that ally is repairable by welding, but a good frame builder is worth speaking too. :wink:
    If you need any further help let me know and I can ask the question at my cycle club forum in Nottiingham. :wink:

    If you can find a frame builder/repairer who can work on 6061/7005 Aluminum for a few hundred quid please name him as he'll soon be a millionaire with all the work he can handle :wink:

    Having just thought it through, it's possible to turn a tube to plug the missing section, but it can't be welded, it would have to be bonded somehow. But as most Alu tubes are hydroformed and butted nowadays it might be difficult.

    Nar, new frame!
    CAAD9
    Kona Jake the Snake
    Merlin Malt 4
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    I doubt you'd be able to repair the frame economically - factor in the cost of a respray too when you can buy a new alloy frame for less than £200. I'd also suspect the integrity of any weld repair - aerospace specialist or not - tube walls are very thin and the weld-bead itself would act as a stress-raiser probably shortening the frame life - this is before we get into the subject of post-weld heat treatments
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..

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