Steel or Aluminium

[misteroo]

I presume its the gold Explosive on Ebay.....I was watching that too!! Nice bike.

The P7 ended early!!!

:?

 

[Anthony]

The only aluminium hardtail I had ridden before was a 1999 Stumpjumper M2 that I bought and set up for a friend. He is very pleased with it, but I thought it was terrible - heavy and dead compared to my lighter steel bikes.

:shock: Eh? Oh course these things are subjective but an M2 'heavy and dead'? My experience is that they are fantastic frames. Light enough, comfortable, very fast and lively. Maybe yours had 'gone off'.
I only ride steel now though and prefer it over anything else.

I can only speak as I find Carl, but bear in mind that I am comparing a factory-built Stumpjumper with an Orange E4 built by me, with wheels built by me, etc. I didn't deconstruct the Stumpjumper, so I don't know what the frame weighed, nor what it would have been like with a similar build to the Orange.

I'm not sure that I believe in the old 'gone off' concept, at least in relation to aluminium frames built after the initial learning phase in the late 80s/early 90s. FWIW, the Orange frame is older than the Stumpjumper and, from its appearance, the Stumpjumper hadn't had a hard life, the paint was almost perfect.

 

[Anthony]

'Tis a big ding but yeah, tube seems straight, it's on the left hand side and is thus hidden by the cable routing when viewed from above; which gives you an indication of its depth. It does have a 'pinch' at either end of the ding at the top and bottom, the centre of the ding is oval with this pinch effect at the extremities. Safe for a 9 stone rider?
Some paint is missing and a wee bit surface rust.
Should i just wet and dry the area to remove rust and seal it again with some laquer and be done with it?
There's another few points on the stays that have slight corrosion...
Same again there or I am I best to strip the whole frame and powdercoat it?
that'd be a lot of work for a coupla small areas of minimal corrosion huh.
I'm only picking it up as a cheap (made cheaper still by the ding) hack, persay, while i finish my builds.

Seem to remember there being some kind of 'plaster-cast' frame-tape available, applied wet then it drys solid? Not immensely kind to the eyes but it does support the tube.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by the pinch points. Perhaps best to take some photos if there's time, and open your own thread.

In general, the spots of rust can be treated with Kurust from Halfords, which is just zinc basically and will convert surface rust into a stable base for over-painting.

I personally can't see the point in filling a dent with braze, as I can't believe it adds to the strength of the 'repair' and even the gentler heat of brazing as opposed to welding is still a super-hot experience for the tube which could weaken it slightly. I would use car body filler myself.

I use Humbrol modelling paint for the finish. Most of the colours are matt, so I give it a clear coat as well. £1.50 a tin and I find no 75 isn't too bad for a 96 Explosif, although you can never match perfectly to a metallic as it is such a different colour viewed from different directions. 75 is a bit darker, which helps, and only a sad git would really notice IMPO.

 

[hamster]

I have to admit being totally surprised by Alu. I bought a 1999 Cinder Cone as a hack and love it to bits. I ride it far more than my other bikes. The frame is lighter than an Explosif of the same year. Geometry is king, most of us could not tell the material in the dark. There are stiff and also flext steel frames.

 

[jonnymcenroe]

'Tis a big ding but yeah, tube seems straight, it's on the left hand side and is thus hidden by the cable routing when viewed from above; which gives you an indication of its depth. It does have a 'pinch' at either end of the ding at the top and bottom, the centre of the ding is oval with this pinch effect at the extremities. Safe for a 9 stone rider?
Some paint is missing and a wee bit surface rust.
Should i just wet and dry the area to remove rust and seal it again with some laquer and be done with it?
There's another few points on the stays that have slight corrosion...
Same again there or I am I best to strip the whole frame and powdercoat it?
that'd be a lot of work for a coupla small areas of minimal corrosion huh.
I'm only picking it up as a cheap (made cheaper still by the ding) hack, persay, while i finish my builds.

Seem to remember there being some kind of 'plaster-cast' frame-tape available, applied wet then it drys solid? Not immensely kind to the eyes but it does support the tube.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by the pinch points. Perhaps best to take some photos if there's time, and open your own thread.

In general, the spots of rust can be treated with Kurust from Halfords, which is just zinc basically and will convert surface rust into a stable base for over-painting.

I personally can't see the point in filling a dent with braze, as I can't believe it adds to the strength of the 'repair' and even the gentler heat of brazing as opposed to welding is still a super-hot experience for the tube which could weaken it slightly. I would use car body filler myself.

I use Humbrol modelling paint for the finish. Most of the colours are matt, so I give it a clear coat as well. £1.50 a tin and I find no 75 isn't too bad for a 96 Explosif, although you can never match perfectly to a metallic as it is such a different colour viewed from different directions. 75 is a bit darker, which helps, and only a sad git would really notice IMPO.

:worthy: