need advice - Atlanta frame damaged by facing tool

[marTIn]

hi folks - i have a problem with my Serotta Atlanta...

bought it used, rode it occasionally, sold it because too much bikes..
when cleaning and preparing for shipping i found the damaged lug on the joint steerer/downtube caused by reaming/facing the steerer tube.

offered the buyer to give his money back, but what to do with the frame?
riding and carefully watching?

I'm not sure with the evaluation of the damage, harmless or harmful?
what ist your advice?

thanx,
Martin

[mike p]

I'm not a frame builder hence not gualified to give advice but that never stopped me before. I really don't think it's that bad. It is on the underside where there's much stress but it dosent look like the integerity of the lug has been greatly compromised. Wait for competent opinion and disregard mine but I'd ride it, as of matter of fact what size is that.

Mike

[catulle]

It doesn't seem to cut all the way thru the lug. So it could be the same as having a window cut in the lug, atmo. Maybe all you need to do is to paint it. But then, what do I know...

[stevep]

i would say no harm.
but i would have a talk w/ the idiot who faced the frame.

[merckx]

It looks like a lot of material was taken off the bottom of the head lug. So despite the argument of whether the integrity of the lug was compromised, the head angle will be a bit steeper. This will change the steering trail. I would get a new head tube and bottom lug installed and eliminate all possible infractions.

[Louis]

So despite the argument of whether the integrity of the lug was compromised, the head angle will be a bit steeper. This will change the steering trail.

:confused: :confused: :confused:

Things might deflect a tiny, tiny, tiny, so tiny as to be imperceptible, bit differently when under load, but statically the HTA is unchanged.

This is a fatigue problem, not a handling or trail problem.

Louis

[csm]

I'd put some red paint on it and ride it until the seat tube rusts through.

[gt6267a]

It looks like a lot of material was taken off the bottom of the head lug. So despite the argument of whether the integrity of the lug was compromised, the head angle will be a bit steeper. This will change the steering trail. I would get a new head tube and bottom lug installed and eliminate all possible infractions.

not sure i follow you here. i could see how if a lot of material was removed from the bottom of the lug, that would change the hta, but we don't know that. all we know is that material was removed from the lug tab, for lack of knowing a better way to describe it. would it not take a good amount of the lug bottom to be shaved off before the impact on the hta would be noticable?

no doubt, i have not done this work, but i am interested to hear more about what is behind your post.

[csm]

I suspect that post was tongue in cheek.

[David Kirk]

Put some touch up paint on it and ride it for the rest of your life and then pass it on to your kid.

I seriously doubt it will ever give an issue.

Enjoy.

Dave

[csm]

if you are really worried about it, send it to me for fatigue testing. I will build it up and ride for the next, say, 10 years and see how things go.
it won't be my everyday bike, but I will ride it at least once every 2 weeks in season.
what size is it? the above offer is contingent on it being my size.

[Louis]

Put some touch up paint on it and ride it for the rest of your life and then pass it on to your kid.

I seriously doubt it will ever give an issue.

Based on what Dave says I would

1) Try to get some sort of compensation from the folks who did the refacing. (Assuming it was somthing that happened while you owned the bike.)

2) Try to sell the bike at a significant discount and have the compensation make up for what you loose in the sale. However, I think that it will be very difficult to sell if you are honest about it. (By the way, congratulations - some people would have painted the spot and sold the bike as is without saying a word about it.)

If you can't sell the frame then clean / prime / paint it and inspect it every now and then. Chances are if you do have a failure it will be quite gracefull and give you notice. It will likely not fail "all at once" especially if you have been inspecting it.

Quite a few years ago I had a DT fail a few inches farther down from that (due to a crack that happened because of a head-on collision I had had with a truck a few years before). Stupidly, I did not inspect the portions of the DT and TT that I knew had been damaged because of the wrinkled paint. I was riding along and all of a sudden the bike felt very squirrely. I got off to check the tires and they were fine. I rode some more and it was wiggling all over the place. Finally I noticed a black line halfway around the DT, about 1" down from the HT / DT lug. I was able to ride the bike about 2 miles home (very carefully), and as I got to my apartment entrance the tubes sheard off completly. I have to say, I was happy that the failure did not happen on a high-speed twisty descent.

Good Luck

Louis

[Larry8]

How faced was the guy who did that? Bondo followed by red paint...

Good Luck,

Larry

[malcolm]

Larry8 has my vote, just a dab of bondo or similar filler a touch up paint then forget it.

[superunleaded]

Leave it as it is and call it a special feature. a custom cut :)

[rwsaunders]

Why not fill, sand and paint the lug? We have used a two part epoxy material to repair metal pump housings.

[AgilisMerlin]

Put some touch up paint on it and ride it for the rest of your life and then pass it on to your kid.

I seriously doubt it will ever give an issue.

Enjoy.

Dave


i would choose yellow paint. It would then match the fork. :banana:


AmerliN

[dave thompson]

i would choose yellow paint. It would then match the fork. :banana:


AmerliN
Yep, yellow paint to fill the 'lug window'.

[Larry]

Years ago I caught my seat post in a covered parking area.
It was my 1987 yellow/ white SLX Guerciotti. It snapped the seat right off the post and pulled the carrier tube down into the top of my Nissan.
Years later it was discovered that there was a significant crease/bend
at the joint of head tube and down tube (underneath). I never noticed it for
about 4 years of riding. When I sold the bike, a serviceman noticed it.

I say ride on and do not worry about it. If a crack starts to develop, then it becomes an issue......perhaps in 2040.

[Larry]

Nice close-up pictures of the Atlanta lugs.
Very classey workmanship!! I will go polish
my CSi right now! It is almost icey outside.
What a better way to spend Sunday evening!!!!

[stevep]

[QUOTE=Larry .
Years later it was discovered that there was a significant crease/bend
at the joint of head tube and down tube (underneath). .[/QUOTE]

not a good idea to ride a bike with this kind of problem though.
dangerous. might last long time...might not.

[Peter P.]

The other posters made a good observation; looks like whoever faced the headtube took too much material off, and the cutter ate into the lug.

That cut doesn't look deep enough to have damaged the integrity of the lug so I have to agree with Dave Kirk; just ride it.

Problem is; you wanted to sell it. You have a choice now; keep it, or sell it, disclosing the defect, and expect to discount the sale price heavily.

[pdxmech13]

facing bikes and chasing threads is absolutly rediculous on any high end frame. You could have the best tools money could buy but it ain't close to what the builder has.


Stupid stupid stupid.

[marTIn]

well, thanks for your statements - for myself it would be o.k. to ride the Atlanta...

for a fair trade with the buyer i wanted to hear some more or less independent opinions, i don't want to be the guy who is selling scrap...

I'm located in germany (more specific: the bavarian alps) and not the original owner, there is an sticker on the bike where it was sold (and my speculation also prepared): a shop in Pleasant Hills, PA...
if the deal will fail i won't try to sell it again, too much hassles...
though it's pure luxury...perhaps rebuild as an winter bike
but this winter is no winter and i'm still rolling on one of my Legends...doesn't rust ;)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/135/339803096_5993861abf_o.jpg

[csm]

wow, that looks like my legend. I had to go check and see if it was in the garage.

[72gmc]

Ah, Pisten Bullys... reminds me of nights after the lifts had closed, sliding down the slope on trays liberated from the lodge, headlights of Pisten Bullys crawling around high on the mountain...

I coulda been a ski bum.

[Lincoln]

Ah, Pisten Bullys... reminds me of nights after the lifts had closed, sliding down the slope on trays liberated from the lodge, headlights of Pisten Bullys crawling around high on the mountain...

I coulda been a ski bum.

coulda? It's never too late, atmo.

[Tom Kellogg]

... and think of all the weight you have saved. Keep it and pass it onto your kids. Enjoy the heck out of it!