Touring - Weird weldings - bulges on my Lombardo

Hi, forum!

I've just bought this bike - Lombardo f-cross 700.
It has very good specs for its price. But I'm little worried about the frame. What do you think about weldings - bulges between top and low tube? I've never seen something like that. Bike is also VERY heavy 14.9 kg. Does this mean that the frame is cheap?

I'm planning to use this bike for loaded touring, so I have to be sure it takes some weight.257811

Your link doesn't work for me.

Your link doesn't work for me.

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I get this from your link:

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I cant see your image, but that might be a Chinese thing.

z

Gusseted top and down tubes are not unusual on mountain bikes.

15 kg is a little heavy.

A front-suspension bike is usually not the best choice for loaded touring, unless you intend to ride primarily on unpaved or rough roads.

Gusseted top and down tubes are not unusual on mountain bikes.

15 kg is a little heavy.

A front-suspension bike is usually not the best choice for loaded touring, unless you intend to ride primarily on unpaved or rough roads.
In Europe, this style of bike is very popular for touring, and much of the riding is on paved roads and paths. Often they are referred to as trekking bikes, although the application is touring as we know it.

Heaviness is likely related to the weight of the front fork. I think the concern is about the shape of the downtube, rather than the welds. Often, the shape of the tubes making up the main triangle of the bike have been "sculpted" to make the bike look different from others in the marketplace. I don't think there is any significant different in how the frames perform over the others.

The OP needs to decide how much gear is to be carried, and to determine at least that there are braze-ons adjacent to the rear axle so a pannier rack can be attached.

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OK, I've tracked it down. It's called a cross bike, but in the Netherlands, that is what hybrids are, and this is sort of one of those. It is quite a good quality bike, with Deore and XT components, and a lock-out RST fork and 40mm 700C tyres.

However, if the OP is keen on touring, they should look at the Trekkingraeder bikes. From a quick glance, the bikes on this page

http://www.fahrradversand24.de/Fahrraeder/Trekkingraeder/8/

look like a good selection in the price range indicated by the OP.

Hmmm... I misread the OP, so the bike in question has already been bought. And we can't tell what the problems with the "welding" might be unless a picture of the area on the bike in question is posted.

257683

Click on the bike, then enlarge it to see gussets at the TT-HT and DT-HT joints, or as the OP calls them, "weldings - bulges".

zelje - the gussets are reinforcements, they make the frame stronger.

I hope this reinforcements are not some sort of compensation for weak frame as i've never seen something like that. I've posted a closeup pic of it in first post.

Thanks for your help. It's hard to get good spec'd steel touring bike in Europe. With the exception of GB.
I did some touring with trekking bikes and they work quite well. Allthough previus one (Haibike Land) was a bit sluggish.
I'm not worried about falures, as I ride occupied areas mostly.

Maybe i'll do a review of it after my tour from Ptuj(SLO) to Split(CRO).

Many mountain bikes have had those sort of strengthening gussets welded in those places for some years now. I think it might be a bit of overkill, personally.

Mountain bikes get beat up in normal service, why wouldn't you want reinforcing gussets?
they're aluminum too..

Tubus makes a rack for that type of fork. it mounts high, so the suspension responds
to rocky terrain, without rattling the load with every bump.

It basically doubles the material in high stress areas that are most common to fail. Commonly found on mountain, cyclocross, and touring bikes.

Tubus makes a rack for that type of fork. it mounts high, so the suspension responds
to rocky terrain, without rattling the load with every bump.

Thanks. Are there any cheaper aternatives with similar mounting sistem?

40 years professional airframe welder here, looks good to me.

Mountain Bikes make great touring bikes if you put smooth wheels on them. Knobby tires will wear faster on pavement and slow you down a TON, and they weigh more, so centrifugal force means your wheels feel heavier.

Put a pair of commuter tires on your rims and you'll have road bike responsiveness and grip with the added suspension of a hydraulic fork.