In need of repair.

[karlkras]

I'm not getting much in my local area for help on this so I'm hoping I may get some ideas of how to fix this in this forum. I've posted this:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=264822

in the recumbents section and it was suggested I try this forum instead. I'm hitting bottom on this. I really don't want to dump the bike but given ATP no longer in business I'm sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place. The actual assembly is pretty compact (no longer then 12") and light so if I need to ship it can be arranged. Thanks for any help on this.
K2

[Peterpan1]

I would call up Strawberry cycles in Portland and ask them if they could recomend anyone in the area who might take on this kind of job. They sell frame building tools and may know some local types for whom this would be an appealing project. Portland has a lot of framebuilders, so it's the ideal place to be asking.

This kind of job may be a hard sell to framebuilders. If you can find a guy doing recumbents there is at least the hope of getting over the prejudice factor (I like both kinds of bike myself, but a lot of frame builders who are in business are working on a particular niche). It's also not a standard part and a framebuilder may not stock that kind of tubing. Many do keep some straight 4130 around for custom parts, but there are lots of sizes and wall thicknesses so it may be difficult to get. If the FB has to order in, it immediately becomes a job that probably can't pay. The same goes with the fixturing which they won't have for that part. A lot of frambuilders like have to perfect stuff for the work they do, they don't just jiffy rig a jig, they use specialty jigs. They also may not be equipt to cope that tubing for the joint. The are tubes about that size on most bikes, but they butt with the seatpost, not a crosspiece, and it not the right size for most copes on bikes.

It's a simple enough job, so you might contact metal fabricators like amateur aircraft builders try an EAA chapter, or you might try motorsport or general fabricators since some of them use 4130 extensively.

[Greg Fox]

Yellow Jersey in Madison, WI works on quite a variety of bikes http://www.yellowjersey.org/ It would be worth a call to them since the part is small enough to ship without great expense.