Folks, need your help.
After some thinking I've come to a sensible conclusion that there's not much point in trying to transform this Italian racing stallion into a load-carrying donkey, so instead I'll take the restoration slow and do it well, to have a summer bike for summer 2023.
Since it's just a frameset rather than a complete bike, I can quietly put it into the attic and get myself a full bike to replace the commuter. Not violating the bike limit set by SWMBO.
A perfect candidate came up for sale - an old Bob J, just in the right size, slack geometry and plenty of space for guards, panniers and thicker tyres.
Bought the bike, brought it home, had a good look over it - to my horror found a seatpost crack just under the lug! Seems to have been caused by a too short a seatpost.
I believe in fixing things rather than throwing them away, so can you knowledgeable sirs kindly advise me whether this can be repaired?
I don't expect to be hammering downhill at 45mph on this bike and the damage so far does not seem too critical. I suspect that with a wee patch and a long enough seatpost, this can last for years of commuting. Steel's supposed to be real, right?
My thoughts:
- Drill a small hole at the end of the crack.
- Check if I can get somebody local to weld/braze a patch on this.
- Failing that, talk to a friend who knows a bit about welding (but has no bike frame experience).
- Alternatively, do a carbon fibre wrap around this area.
- Try to return the bike (my least favourable option). Bob J's out of business, this seems to be a nice frame otherwise - lots of wear, but should be OK after a respray, assuming that I can get the quill out.
Also, where does Bob J print their serial numbers? I'd like to date this frameset. It's currently wearing 6 speed Shimmy exage, but the frameset is probably older.