Has my bike died :-(

[Red Eye]

I've got an old GT RTS3 which i'm currently striping to place the parts onto an Orange aluminium O for the wife to ride ;-)

While doing this i've noticed a small crack in the BB & a large crack in the top of the headtube (approx 1/2" long) :-( I will be honest it did fall of a car roof rack oneday while going out for an away ride, but that was some +10yrs ago !!

What I want to know is, has the frame finally died :-( or could it be repaired and bought back to life again, cos it was a great ride when it did work ;-)

Thanks for yor help & input
Greg

 

[marin man]

You need to drill a small hole at the end of the crack and then make a collar up to knock over the headtube where the crack is,and the same for the bb if there is room,I have seen a few manitou frames repaired like this before and if done well you wont see it and it will last a few years longer,pm me for some tips.

 

[highlandsflyer]

I would get a proper repair done. Nice bike.

 

[marin man]

If you can get it welded,go for that,but welding heat treated alloy is a bit risky and it will never be as strong,if you want to do it yourself it can be done though.good luck.

 

[lewis1641]

my experience of rts bottom brackets is that it'll crack again :cry:

 

[MJN]

An RTS3 will be made from 7005 aluminium alloy so could be welded, I'd just shrink fit a collar on though and then look for a new frame, it is a GT after all

 

[Khane]

maybe talk to Legacy555 on here he recently had a crack to the BB on his RTS fixed and must say they did an awesome job.

 

[THWANG-666]

get it welded up quench in cold water leave it for 2 wks min in that time it will age harden
welded

painted

done

 

[Scrat]

If you can get it welded,go for that,but welding heat treated alloy is a bit risky and it will never be as strong,if you want to do it yourself it can be done though.good luck.

What are you basing that crap on? Heat treating done correctly will realign the molecules. There is no reason why it wouldn't be more than strong enough.
Its only a crack. The main parent material is still sound
Its not like the whole headtube has detatched, but even if it had, You'd go back to first principles. Re prep the area, and reweld as it would have been done at the manufacturers shop.

Knee jerk comments like yours piss me off royally

 

[highlandsflyer]

Chill out!