Totally Devastated!!!

[tommywilsonuk]

Hi all

Well something bad has happened, or I think its bad.. hopefully you will clarify my fear, that indeed it IS bad!!

I was about to head out on the Dawes this afternoon.. The bloody headtube is cracked ... You can see the fork through the headtube... thats how bad it is (ill post pics if required for anyone who would like to let me know if its broken or fixable). The crack runs pretty much right around the headtube.. My freind said its possible it could be welded?

Im utterly devastated!!??

Please help!
Thanks

 

[danson67]

Tommy,

Sounds like a new headtube...but post a pic.

All the best,

 

[JeRkY]

Just looked through your other posts and see its a steel frame, it is fixable, even if it means putting a new head tube on.


As an idea http://www.bobjacksoncycles.co.uk/repairs_pl.php and you can be sure if you go with Jacksons it'll be a great job.

Oh dont forget to factor in the cost of a respray, again Bob Jacksons resprays are excellent, but powder coating is usually a cheaper option.

 

[Robbied196]

Best to post a photo, but there's a good chance it can be welded, although you'll still need paint

Quite unusual to crack at the headtube without having suffered any impact damage, which I assume there wasn't. If its metal fatigue it would be worth having the whole frame checked over.

 

[hamster]

If it is 531 you cannot weld it, but a fillet brazed repair should be possible. If it is lugged, then a new head tube can be let in.

 

[ed_de_ball]

If you need to weld it it will have to be 'TIG' welded because 'MIG' welding will just blow holes in the tube. I've just had a frame welded by a local exhaust manufacturer.

 

[Robbied196]

If it is 531 you cannot weld it, but a fillet brazed repair should be possible. If it is lugged, then a new head tube can be let in.

It can be welded, you just need someone who's good with a torch. We have a guy at work who welded a 1" crack in a 531 tube for me, he drilled a hole at each end then used A15 wire. Grind it back down and its all but invisible. He says the trick is to be quick and not get the metal to hot.

 

[hamster]

See here:
http://www.classiclightweights.co.uk/bu ... lders.html

"Alloy steels such as Reynolds 531 are known to become what in the UK is known as 'hot-short' at higher temperatures, that is, they can become brittle and break up. Anyone who has tried to remove a stubborn bent tube from a lug will know this problem. Presumably the temperature required for fusion welding could cause the hot-short phenomenon."

The main reason why 531 disappeared from production bikes was that it couldn't be TIG welded, unlike the majority of frames made in Taiwan. It is a Manganese-Molybdenum alloy no Chrome-Molybdenum. Reynolds instead introduced 520 and 525, which can be welded.