Framebuilders - welding track dropouts onto aluminum road frame?

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tFUnK
05-28-10, 03:57 AM
i am contemplating the idea of putting track dropouts on an old cannondale 2.8/3.0 criterium road frame. i will not be doing this myself; a skilled expert will be sought, iff the answers to the following questions render this idea feasible.

does the post-reweld loss-of-strength of age hardened/heat treated aluminum make this a bad idea? or will the new dropout areas be strong enough for moderate-aggressive on-road riding?

assuming loss-of-strength is not so severe as to render the frame completely useless, how much should one expect to pay for a professional-quality job?

TIA

unterhausen
05-28-10, 09:14 AM
Dropouts have always been a point of failure for frames, so skipping the heat treatment is probably a no-go
Cynikal
05-28-10, 12:19 PM
Save you money and buy a White Ind. ENO hub or one of these http://forwardcomponents.blogspot.com/ .

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BwroRVbKVHo/Sy56HkghjZI/AAAAAAAAACc/xa1IhXi9gzE/s320/EBB+Bearing+Housings.jpg

ftwelder
05-30-10, 10:11 AM
I would charge $350 for such a job. Almost any option would be cheaper. There are very few frame builders willing to deal with heat treating. There really is no standard drops available in small quantities so everything is done custom.

There would be no loss of strength if the work was done properly. This would of course include solution heat treating to T-6 condition. Re-heat treating can be done but when a frame is heated to 950 degrees some risk is involved. I do a lot of this this type of work and have very few issues.
bobbotron
06-16-10, 11:42 AM
Save you money and buy a White Ind. ENO hub or one of these http://forwardcomponents.blogspot.com/ .

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BwroRVbKVHo/Sy56HkghjZI/AAAAAAAAACc/xa1IhXi9gzE/s320/EBB+Bearing+Housings.jpg

I agree. A forwards component BB is a good call for this.
zzzwillzzz
06-16-10, 12:28 PM
another one against trying to add track dropouts, the cannondale 3.0 and 2.8 have cantilivered dropouts like these:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c202/gt4mainman/029.jpg

although now that i look you 'might' be able to cut off part of the old ones and weld new ones on the inside and go from 130 to 120 spacing, if you can deal with the heat treatment issues. it probably not worth the cost of doing so, though...