Small crack in aluminium frame - repairable?

starbuck

I have an Orange Evo2 LTD edition that I've had from new for years.

Today I noticed a small crack in a rear stay
It doesn't go all the way round, only about halfway and it's a pretty small crack. I'd like to repair it if possible as it was the first bike I was ever able to buy new, worked my a** off to pay for it and we've ridden thousands of miles together.

Is it repairable? Where would I start looking to find someone who could repair it properly (I'm based in Southern part of UK).

oxoman

Possibly repairable by a good ali welder, however It can get brittle and work hardened so would probably go again somewhere else. I'd consign it to the bin pronto if it was mine, to big a risk to take in my book.

kirkymtb

After welding an aluminium frame is "normalised" by heating and cooling, otherwise, as said above, it's going to crack elsewhere. I had a Voodoo which had a crack in the swinging arm. I welded it but it failed. Fortunately I was able to fabricate a steel replacement which transformed the handling from vague to fairly decent!

bonzo_banana

Can't see it being worth investing money in, the whole frame is probably heavily fatigued and weak. Sounds like you got great value from it and some great times perhaps repurpose it as something else. Polish it up and hang it on a wall or maybe just cut off the headtube and polish that up and repurpose it.

billycool

I think it's seen better days and I could never trust a frame that's cracked and then been repaired.

Up to you - but maybe time for n+1

cougie

You now have a turbo bike...

steve_sordy

A crack that goes half way around the frame is NOT a small crack!

Either buy another frame or bin the frame.