Advice sought: Ritchey Timberwolf frame bottle cage mount repair

[d_douglas]

I am looking at a very cool Ritchey Timberwolf frame for my son, and it has one red flag (a fairly good sized one).

The original owner had a set of water bottle cage bolts on the underside of the downtube installed. He said he was told it was done by a local framebuilder, but (IMO) they foolishly never touched up that area, and now it looks pretty damned ugly and a bit scary.

If there a reason to fear buying this? If I were to buy it, what would I look out for? (bubbling in the paint, formation of rust around rivets, etc)?

If I were to buy it (it is cheap), what would I do to protect the frame from future damage? sanding, priming, painting?

[d_douglas]

damn, this is supposed to be in the General Discussion section ! Sorry folks..

[Peter P.]

If the price is truly that appealing, buy it. I'd sand the edge of those circles then shoot some rattle can primer and color. Don't fret about color matching.

But I'd probably not use those mounts. Typically there are reinforcements brazed underneath the threaded boss because the tube is thin in that section. Without the reinforcement, I'd question the long term life of the tube.

[tellyho]

I imagine it's likely okay under that mess but you could definitely use that as a big bargaining chip. I rescued a yo Eddy from a lot of rust squiggles under the paint a couple years ago and found it pretty superficial.

[d_douglas]

Thanks. It is dirt cheap so I am tempted by this (I actually really wish it was an XL for me!). I likely wouldnt use the bottle mounts anyways, but my concern is that the structure is compromised. My son is about 160lbs and rapidly growing, so I would estimate that he would be out of this bike within two years, but it would be a glorious two years of use!

[AngryScientist]

Moved.

Yes, it's ugly, but other than that, I dont see any major red flags there. If the price is right, go for it. Clean it up with sandpapar and a dremel attachment and touch it up with the closes color from the autoparts store touch-up paint rack and call it good.

[CMiller]

Definitely not the worst place to have a modification or a failure, but I wouldn't give anything to my son if it looked a bit sketchy. Around town bike for myself with sand paper and spray paint? Sure!

[d_douglas]

So I saw it. It looks ok, but I can’t decide whether it’s the depth of the paint that I see or material removed. How thick is paint?

It looks super cool

[boomforeal]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

If there a reason to fear buying this?

You mean besides the absolutely atrocious geometry? I’ve never understood the attraction of these things besides the name. Don’t do it man, get him a proper bike

[d_douglas]

Funny you should say that! The seller actually let me take it home to compare against my son’s bike and it isn’t big enough. I am not buying it and will return it to him.

The geo did look really odd too - the seat angle was really slack or something bizarre.

That said, it was pretty damned sexy!

[unterhausen]

That looks like it was done by someone who knows what they are doing, but it also looks like they just burned through the paint. That's why there is that crusty ring at the edge of the paint, and was also bad for their lungs. I feel like I know what I'm doing, and I would have ruined more paint than that. With what I see, I'm curious how they cleaned up the area to be brazed. I would have sanded off the crusty ring of burned paint.

[tellyho]

Originally Posted by CMiller

Definitely not the worst place to have a modification or a failure, but I wouldn't give anything to my son if it looked a bit sketchy. Around town bike for myself with sand paper and spray paint? Sure!

Ha! You should see the dented IF that my son rode for the past 3 years.

[EB]

Originally Posted by d_douglas

Funny you should say that! The seller actually let me take it home to compare against my son’s bike and it isn’t big enough. I am not buying it and will return it to him.

The geo did look really odd too - the seat angle was really slack or something bizarre.

That said, it was pretty damned sexy!

Ritchey consolidated all of their trail bike offerings into the newer Ultra.

It's ok. Certainly a better bike than the Timberwolf. But also a 29er, which depending on your son's riding style and height might not be what he's looking for. Steel 27.5ers are kinda thin on the ground unless you want a bikepacking plus bike.

[Pelican]

Originally Posted by EB

Steel 27.5ers are kinda thin on the ground unless you want a bikepacking plus bike.

I've got one and am trying to decide if I should build it up, or chop it and make a tandem MTB. I've also got three carbon hardtails, so steel just doesn't have much appeal outside of bikepacking or super slacked out trail hardtails.