Classic & Vintage - Replaced dropout / is this frame ok to ride?

I bought a donor bike for some other parts. I'm trying to figure out whether the frame is safe to use. At one point, it looks like one of the forged dropouts (with adjusting screws) was replaced with a campagnolo dropout. I don't know much about welding but it looks like a pretty shoddy job:

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/6619/campydropout.jpg

Anyone have any advice if this should be safe? Does that look like it's just extra welding residue around the top part? Should I grind it down with a dremel? Should I toss the frame? Should I just ride it and not worry about it?

I spy a suntour cyclone.... probably a GT with that freewheel.

Part it out and send that cyclone this way!

There's no obvious holes in the weld....It could be a good weld that was just poorly cleaned up. Doesn't affect the strength...just looks ugly. You could clean it up yourself with a file or a rotary tool..

....It could be a good weld that was just poorly cleaned up.

I agree, I don't think you could really tell without it being cleaned up to see the integrity of the metal underneath.
Even if it is shot, you could probably get a frame builder to fix it for a pretty reasonable price (if the frame is worth it, of course).

That looks like welding and not brazing. I would think welding is a stronger joint to start with, so if it's done correctly. that DO is on there for good!

Chombi

That looks like welding and not brazing.

Yep, +1 looks like TIG

What I see are two dissimilar metals, perhaps three, if you count the welding rod/wire, coupled with a pretty thorough contamination of the weld, with a fourth metal - brass. Now, I guess it might hold but would I trust it at thirty and forty mile per hour speeds. Not a chance!

Thanks everybody, I was feeling pretty good about it until randyjawa's post! I might end up just building this up as a slow townie bike that probably won't see intense speeds, so I guess it shouldn't be too big of an issue?

Also, like I said, I don't know too much about welding / dissimilar metals or what would involve a contamination of the weld but the dropout is uncoated steel (hence some of the post-replacement oxidation) and the stays were chromed steel that look like they had the chrome sanded off the ends before the dropout was replaced.

I might just grind the rougher parts of the welding residue a little bit to smooth them out without really taking structural material away from there. If anyone else has any input or personal experience to share though, I'm all ears.



I spy a suntour cyclone.... probably a GT with that freewheel.

Part it out and send that cyclone this way!

Good eye! I don't know how you spotted that from that photo, but it is indeed an old first-gen cyclone. Unfortunately, it is a short cage version.

Thanks everybody, I was feeling pretty good about it until randyjawa's post!

Sorry and I am not trying to be nasty. I just thought you might want to think this one through.

No problem, I didn't take it that way, I just meant my confidence in it had dropped a bit after that. That's why I posted it here though, to get some advice on it.

No problem, I didn't take it that way, I just meant my confidence in it had dropped a bit after that. That's why I posted it here though, to get some advice on it.


Good weld or bad...cleaning in up with a grinder won't make it worse and you'll know for sure........I'm guessing it'll be fine.....

If it were my bike, I would test it with a rubber mallet. Try to knock it off repeatedly, and if it falls of (or forms a crack), be grateful that it happened while I wasn't riding on it.

Tom

If that's a steel frame, it better be brazed (effectively glued together with molten brass or silver alloy without melting the pieces actually being joined) and not welded (basically melting together the two pieces being joined) unless you are certain the seat stay and chain stay are made of a kind of steel that can stand up to welding temperatures (e.g. Reynolds 853). If it is an aluminum frame, I'd want to know who did the joining and that they were more than a "weekend warrior" with a torch.

Considering this is the place most likely for a frame to fail (and this one did once already), I wouldn't ride it unless my life depended on it.