Frame failure experiences

[bikeworkshop]

I did wonder if you could. After trawling through the ad again, and this time noticing the crack in the photos, I know that sometimes sellers can argue that it was 'in the photos which form part of the description '... Thought it might have gone down that route

Ebay is strong for buyers.
Biggest problem is if the courier says its delivered but it isn't.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Have you thought of having a word with @danson67 to see if this can be rescued?

The cost, even at trade price, would be substantial.

 

[highlandsflyer]

I did wonder if you could. After trawling through the ad again, and this time noticing the crack in the photos, I know that sometimes sellers can argue that it was 'in the photos which form part of the description '... Thought it might have gone down that route

The description 'no cracks' trumps all else; and a picture proves it was pre-existing.

 

[highlandsflyer]

Hard to believe the crack was not spotted at the time of advertising and packing.

Agree, poor design. The diameter and wall thickness of the downtube should have been enough in most riding circumstances.

View attachment 891914

Cove are a favourite of 'huckers', and gusseting often lends an impression of mighty strength. Also quite an old frame. Seller may well be in a rush, and may have been working off a smart phone, without getting in close on the pictures they may have taken hurriedly, or perhaps having a minion do the packaging and posting.
Ironically, it is still worth most of that price to someone. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

[greencat]

Yep, Ti the wonder material again.

I think it's also quite easy to persuade yourself as a seller, and an owner that a crack is just a scratch - particularly if frame isn't creaking etc and you've been riding it for ages without problems. No-one wants to believe their pride and joy is now essentially worthless.

As a buyer though, why would you take the risk?

 

[d8mok]

There was an example for sale on here
https://www.retrobike.co.uk/threads/mig-titanium-red-frame-£375.463725/

Came from the same people as this DNA I picked up this week.

The build quality is certainly above Taiwan made but not quite as nice as a US made frame. But still nice.

 

[Woz]

1995 Gussets on a Bontrager Ti Lite.

Nothing sharp with leverage to "puncture" or "pull" on the tube wall. I understood the cut-outs of this design are to allow some flex, but
increase the surface area at the join with the head-tube.

 

[Woz]

Actually @bikeworkshop - if that failed frame is still in your possession and not packed up for return, it would be interesting to share the frame size and weight of the frame and also that failed down-tube outer diameter (I assume the seat-tube is 31.8mm / 32mm OD and the top-tube nothing spectacular from normal).

I suspect like @novocaine mentioned earlier in the thread, this is a case of doing something in AL which wasn't suitable in Ti. I think too much faith was put in that gusset, and I presume it was a clever idea (work around?) for fork clearance but the consequence is raising the down-tube even higher at the head-tube and having even more strain on it.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Packed up already, but by feel I'd put it closer to 3 1/2lb than 4.
As I said earlier i see way more ti frames broken than I should.
Across the welds and at stress risers, or split along the tubes from torsion.
You can often see the naivety of the design - this is a perfect example.
The gusset served to shorten the frame's life. You really don't want any point load on bicycle titanium alloys.

 

[ChromeChainstay]

In bikeworkshop's commercial experience, the common causes of a broken frame are disappointingly mundane:

Wrong size seatpost,
Too little post insertion
Riding a loose headset for years
Loose bb cups
Wrong axle length in rear dropouts
Chain gouge on the stay
Basket rubbing on the headtube
Broken bearings caught between the steerer and headtube
Attempted theft
Friday-night bikehater Vandalism
Crashing

and *riding after a pub run