Ti frame repair?

[Keith A]

I have a friend who crashed recently and cracked his Litespeed frame at the top tube and seat tube joint. He was thinking the frame was toast, but I mentioned this could probably be repaired. I haven't seen the crack myself yet, so I can't elaborate on the extent of the damage. But I wanted to get some recommendations on who to use for this repair and any guesstimation of what the repair cost might be.

Thanks!

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Keith A

I have a friend who crashed recently and cracked his Litespeed frame at the top tube and seat tube joint. He was thinking the frame was toast, but I mentioned this could probably be repaired. I haven't seen the crack myself yet, so I can't elaborate on the extent of the damage. But I wanted to get some recommendations on who to use for this repair and any guesstimation of what the repair cost might be.

Thanks!

No idea of the $, but Mark Nobilette or Nalby Viroqua..both Boulder types.

Maybe Bilenky

[eddief]

http://www.bikeframerepair.com/Pricing.html

[zap]

When my Litespeed cracked (poorly designed bullet cap) the quote I received from Litespeed was $400 plus shipping back and forth. It wasn't worth it to me-hated the frame and it was just going to crack again.

I gave the frame to a friend who promptly cut it up and used some of the tubes for a project he was working on.

[Keith A]

Thanks for the input so far. A related question is if there is anyone that he should avoid?

[fogrider]

well, it just depends on the frame...how old is it, what condition, etc. how much is a replacement?

[Louis]

I'd use that as an excuse to retire the frame and replace it with something even better. (used if he's trying to save $$)

[pcxmbfj]

I've found Litespeed to be high when I inquired.

Unless your friend can meet the frame repairer in person to assess before and after I'd give it up.

[Keith A]

Thanks for all the input! The bike is a Litespeed Ghisallo and he has had this for several years. He already has a replacement, but was trying to figure out what to do with the Ghisallo frameset. He likes the bike and didn't want to just toss it, and thus my reason for trying to get some info about repairing Ti for him.

[Mikej]

Is the actual seat tube cracked? If so, it's generally considered scrap. I've seen Potts replace a seat tube, but it was on a bike he had an attachment to. Not sure if welding a ti tube near a previous weld is something a reputable builder would attempt due to the already weakened nature of the joint post original weld. You really won't have much luck welding a tube outside of a joint.

[mnoble485]

Keith,

I was able to pick up a Ti Lemond several years ago that had cracks at the bottle cage bosses. found a guy in St. Petersburg that built Ti wheelchairs for athletes. His work was really respected in the community. Left the frame with him to study and see if he could fix it. Long story short I rode the frame for a couple of years.

You might check locally for someone like him.

Mike

[efaust_o]

Eagle One...Without a doubt...Send me an e-mail and I will reply with the scoop..
Ed

[Keith A]

Originally Posted by efaust_o

Eagle One...Without a doubt...Send me an e-mail and I will reply with the scoop..
Ed

Thanks Ed, email sent.

[cash05458]

I had a lemond ti/carbon with a crack on ti downtube...had it repaired and think I got another 600 miles out of it and then it cracked again...ti seems like maybe a touchy repair...

[Keith A]

Stopped by the bike shop today to check out my friend's bike and it looks a more difficult repair than what I was expecting. There are actually two cracks and neither of them are along the weld seam. Here's a couple of pictures I took...