Aluminum Frame Damage

[c77barlage]

A friend picked up an aluminum frame for his commuter bike. He noticed some frame damage yesterday at the seat tube water bottle mount. Any ideas what would cause this? I would think that over tightening would strip things out before dimpling the frame. Has frame strength been compromised or is this not a big deal?

Thanks for your input.

[David Kirk]

I've got $100 that says it the repair stand clamp was placed over the bottle bolt and cranked down. This is all to common.

I suspect that the life-span of the frame has been shortened but it's hard to say by how much. It might last forever and it might fail right there in relatively short order. It's not the kind of failure that should cause you to hit the ground. When the tube fails it will make really bad noises and drive you nuts before you can hurt yourself. I think it will last longer if you don't bolt a bottle cage to it and put more stress on that mount.

Dave

[c77barlage]

I've got $100 that says it the repair stand clamp was placed over the bottle bolt and cranked down. This is all to common.

I suspect that the life-span of the frame has been shortened but it's hard to say by how much. It might last forever and it might fail right there in relatively short order. It's not the kind of failure that should cause you to hit the ground. When the tube fails it will make really bad noises and drive you nuts before you can hurt yourself. I think it will last longer if you don't bolt a bottle cage to it and put more stress on that mount.

Dave

That seems logical. Thanks for your input. I'll pass along the info.