after nearly 2 weeks of weeping and gnashing of teeth over the accidental cutting of my downtube from a bike rack incident; i finally have some closure. the crash replacement deal wasn't looking too good and i was told by a few specialized folks that the location of the cut was not likely to have much stress on it and that it should be ok to ride.
so anyway, i was telling a buddy of mine about this predicament and he recommended welding it. i know absolutely nothing about welding so i went to Bill Davis Racing, (NASCAR race co.) in my town to ask some pro-welders about it. i took the bike with me and let them look at it and they agreed that it was definitely fixable. they also eased my fears and told me that the heat wouldn't weaken the edges of the tube because the aluminum is so thin that it doesn't require much heat to make it weld.
so long story short, i had my frame welded by some of the best in the biz and the head welder (master degree in physics/engineering) said that it should be stronger than it was before and if it broke there he'd pitch in on a new frame.
and all this for free! this is the same company that designed the new sticker kit for out patrol cars so i kinda have the hookup
now i'm no NASCAR fan but it was pretty neat seeing my baby on a table getting worked on right next to a line of race cars in various states of repair. crazy props to Bill Davis Racing for hooking it up
before
after
go ahead and flame away with all the "you're crazy to ride a cracked frame...blah, blah, blah." i'll be sure to post pics of me racing it on through next season
so anyway, i was telling a buddy of mine about this predicament and he recommended welding it. i know absolutely nothing about welding so i went to Bill Davis Racing, (NASCAR race co.) in my town to ask some pro-welders about it. i took the bike with me and let them look at it and they agreed that it was definitely fixable. they also eased my fears and told me that the heat wouldn't weaken the edges of the tube because the aluminum is so thin that it doesn't require much heat to make it weld.
so long story short, i had my frame welded by some of the best in the biz and the head welder (master degree in physics/engineering) said that it should be stronger than it was before and if it broke there he'd pitch in on a new frame.
and all this for free! this is the same company that designed the new sticker kit for out patrol cars so i kinda have the hookup
now i'm no NASCAR fan but it was pretty neat seeing my baby on a table getting worked on right next to a line of race cars in various states of repair. crazy props to Bill Davis Racing for hooking it up
before
after
go ahead and flame away with all the "you're crazy to ride a cracked frame...blah, blah, blah." i'll be sure to post pics of me racing it on through next season