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Cracked Serotta Steel Frame - Who Ya Gonna Call?

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Cracked Serotta Steel Frame - Who Ya Gonna Call?

Old 01-20-16, 11:07 PM
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Cracked Serotta Steel Frame - Who Ya Gonna Call?

I got a crack on the downtube towards the top above the DT shifters that's over 50% of the diameter of the tube.......don't ask, let's just say the wife and her car are involved!

Can it be repaired to it's original strength and beauty......so that I can still ride it??

Who do I contact and how much $$ should I expect for this life saving operation??
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Old 01-20-16, 11:11 PM
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Originally Posted by Bjbusa
I got a crack on the downtube towards the top above the DT shifters that's over 50% of the diameter of the tube.......don't ask, let's just say the wife and her car are involved!

Can it be repaired to it's original strength and beauty......so that I can still ride it??

Who do I contact and how much $$ should I expect for this life saving operation??
Try Bill Mcdonald at B Mac.

Not a bad place to start.
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Old 01-20-16, 11:26 PM
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Any custom frame builder should be able to fix most problems.
Had a full tube replaced on one of our tandems that had only 50,000 miles on the frame. After tube replacement rode it for another 14,000 miles!
If you like the bike, it's worth fixing!

Last edited by zonatandem; 01-20-16 at 11:28 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 01-20-16, 11:32 PM
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Yellow Jersey can replace entire tubes and his prices are pretty reasonable. Lots of examples on his website. You'll have to repaint.

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Old 01-21-16, 04:54 AM
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BTW Bill M. worked at Serotta for a dozen years. Should know how to handle one for you.
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Old 01-21-16, 06:39 AM
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Originally Posted by Bjbusa
I got a crack on the downtube towards the top above the DT shifters that's over 50% of the diameter of the tube.......don't ask, let's just say the wife and her car are involved!

Can it be repaired to it's original strength and beauty......so that I can still ride it??

Who do I contact and how much $$ should I expect for this life saving operation??
Depends where you are. The most local to me (southeast Michigan) are Assenmacher Cycles (near Flint, MI) and Franklin Frames (near Columbus, Ohio), and both of them have price lists up on their websites. Both can do frame tube replacements, both can source decals, and both can repaint.

There are other good frame repair specialists elsewhere in USA and Canada.
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Old 01-21-16, 09:15 AM
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Marinoni
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Old 01-21-16, 10:46 AM
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Anybody got a West coast suggestion???
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Old 01-21-16, 11:30 AM
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Northwest - TiCycles. They've done probably every type of repair out there. Repaired the seatstay caps on my Trek that had cracked through the deeply stamped "R" in "TREK". Did both sides (after telling me over the phone before they saw the bike that the other side would have cracks started also. Pointed those out to me when I brought the bike in. More recently I brought them a 40 year old Raleigh of unknown history to have stripped, inspected, work done if necessary and repainted. Turns out I bought a "Monday/Friday bike. Very little braze under the lugs. A half days work got me solid joints throughout the bike, new seatpin ears, a derailleur hanger that works with modern derailleurs, waterbottle bosses and two cracks repaired.

They build mostly TIG welded bikes, steel and ti but also brazed steel forks regularly. I got to look at a fork with the blades cut off. (Post crash forensics.) The radius of the braze around the tube end in the crown socket looked like a machined radius, except with the matte finish of raw braze; eyes and tools had never seen this until the blade was sawed off. Beautiful work!

TiCycles is well connected with painters so that shouldn't be an issue. The work I had done cost $800. That covered the strip and powdercoat paint, a half day's labor (the hourly rate isn't cheap, but what happens in that hour is impressive) and a couple of specific charges. Give them a call. A tube replacement is pretty straightforward so they probably can quote you over the phone.

Another plus for TiCycles: They do both belt drive bikes and S&S couplers. Some of the best frame builders in the country send their almost finished custom frames to TiCycles to get couplers and belt dropouts installed rather than messing with these operations they rarely do. I see drool-worthy frames jigged up to be cut and coupled on my visits regularly. Your bike will be in very good hands.

Ben
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Old 01-21-16, 11:38 AM
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Thanks Ben,

I assume you mean: I'll email them.
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    Old 01-21-16, 11:42 AM
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    Yup, that's them.

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    Old 01-21-16, 11:49 AM
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    Originally Posted by Bjbusa
    Anybody got a West coast suggestion???
    west coast is pretty big if you are in the San Jose/San francisco/Silicon Valley area try Bronson Silva Silva Cycles
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    Old 01-21-16, 12:04 PM
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    In Portland you only have about a dozen or so local framebuilders

    But wherever you are on the west coast, you might find one fairly local to you, so you don't even have to ship the frame it to get it looked at.

    What town are you in @Bjbusa?
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    Old 01-21-16, 12:20 PM
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    Originally Posted by Bjbusa
    Anybody got a West coast suggestion???
    If you're in the Bay Area: Ed Litton - he's been doing frame repairs and paint for decades, he's also Bianchi's "authorized" west coast frame repair guy.
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    Old 01-21-16, 01:33 PM
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    Ticycles is 4+ months out..... and estimated $1000 just for repair....so that's a no go.

    Ed Litton doesn't seem to have an email address and nobody answered the phone when I called the shop......not impressed

    Haven't heard back from Siva
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    Old 01-21-16, 03:29 PM
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    Originally Posted by Bjbusa
    Ticycles is 4+ months out..... and estimated $1000 just for repair....so that's a no go.

    Ed Litton doesn't seem to have an email address and nobody answered the phone when I called the shop......not impressed

    Haven't heard back from Siva
    Give Ed Litton a second try. He painted my Mooney 30 years ago with a fantastic Imron paint job. A year before I crashed it and bent the fork. Watched him straighten it, ordered a new one from Peter Mooney and had him strip the frame and paint it and the bare fork. He was right on with budget and time and a pleasure to work with. Paint job was flawless and every chip that paint has acquired in the past 30 years was earned. I have heard my experience from others as well.

    Ben
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    Old 01-21-16, 04:15 PM
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    $250 per tube is what i was quoted on one --- A Serotta should be worth that ---- you might feel under the top tube as well to make sure there's not a wrinkle there as well -- usually goes hand in hand with a goofed up down tube in that area
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    Old 01-21-16, 04:24 PM
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    I'm in the camp that there are a lot of good used frames out there. I'd probably tinker on the frame myself, but I'd choke on paying someone $1000 to fix it, and it may never be as good as new.

    Cost of paint?
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    Old 01-21-16, 05:09 PM
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    Yes I agree $250 per tube is exceptable............but $600 labor seems high for replacing just one tube.
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    Old 01-21-16, 06:03 PM
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    Is the frame lugged or tig welded?

    Tube replacement would be vastly different depending on the two designs.
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    Old 01-21-16, 06:32 PM
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    Originally Posted by CliffordK


    I'm in the camp that there are a lot of good used frames out there. I'd probably tinker on the frame myself, but I'd choke on paying someone $1000 to fix it, and it may never be as good as new.

    Cost of paint?
    To compare, my quote from Matt Assenmacher to replace two frame tubes, mod a few braze-ons, strip, prep, repaint one color, make decals, apply decals and clear coat was just under $1000. I don't know if that's too much. The tube replacement (one tube) is $185.

    Lugged frame.
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    Old 01-21-16, 07:44 PM
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    Originally Posted by Road Fan
    To compare, my quote from Matt Assenmacher to replace two frame tubes, mod a few braze-ons, strip, prep, repaint one color, make decals, apply decals and clear coat was just under $1000. I don't know if that's too much. The tube replacement (one tube) is $185.

    Lugged frame.
    That price is pretty acceptable.
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    Old 01-21-16, 09:58 PM
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    Originally Posted by 79pmooney
    Give Ed Litton a second try. He painted my Mooney 30 years ago with a fantastic Imron paint job. A year before I crashed it and bent the fork. Watched him straighten it, ordered a new one from Peter Mooney and had him strip the frame and paint it and the bare fork. He was right on with budget and time and a pleasure to work with. Paint job was flawless and every chip that paint has acquired in the past 30 years was earned. I have heard my experience from others as well.

    Ben
    This. Ed doesn't do e-mail, but he does return phone calls. His prices are not cheap, but are reasonable for the quality of the work. He is both a frame build/repair and a paint guy. Knows his stuff, and is a nice guy to boot/
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    Old 01-22-16, 12:36 AM
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    I'm gonna try Assenmacher...............don't like having to ship but I imagine Ed is back logged like ticycles. Being able to use it for Erocia CA this April is seeming unlikely. I will put it on hold if I have to wait 4 months....................Oh Well, a good excuse to buy another old/new bike! Yeah! I like that idea!!
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    Old 01-22-16, 04:40 AM
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    In my area, best options are Spectrum in Breinigsville or Bilenky Cycle Works in Philthadelphia. I've used Eagle One in southern Virginia to repair the Bridgestone RADAC and the gent there did a superb job.
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