What do you think of this frame damage (Reynolds 531)?
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What do you think of this frame damage (Reynolds 531)?
This is my 1951 Raleigh Lenton Sports:
The frame is made of straight gauge Reynolds 531 tubing.
There is a ripple in the steel on the lower side of the down tube. It is subtle, but you can see it in the center of this photo:
Zooming out a little, you can still see it here:
The ripple is about two inches below the end of the lug; a full three inches below the head tube. It is not severe enough to measurably affect the frame geometry or the ride (it rides straight, steering isn't wonky). I detect no other signs of frame damage; no irregularities to either top tube or fork.
My question is, can a head-on crash cause this kind of damage so far down the tube? If so, what preserved the top section; that is, why didn't it bend right below the end of the lug, rather than two inches down?
I have two theories:
1. They built the frame with a bent tube (and it hasn't been crashed)
2. They built the frame with a butted tube (and it has been crashed; and the ripple is just below the end of the butted section).
Thoughts?
The frame is made of straight gauge Reynolds 531 tubing.
There is a ripple in the steel on the lower side of the down tube. It is subtle, but you can see it in the center of this photo:
Zooming out a little, you can still see it here:
The ripple is about two inches below the end of the lug; a full three inches below the head tube. It is not severe enough to measurably affect the frame geometry or the ride (it rides straight, steering isn't wonky). I detect no other signs of frame damage; no irregularities to either top tube or fork.
My question is, can a head-on crash cause this kind of damage so far down the tube? If so, what preserved the top section; that is, why didn't it bend right below the end of the lug, rather than two inches down?
I have two theories:
1. They built the frame with a bent tube (and it hasn't been crashed)
2. They built the frame with a butted tube (and it has been crashed; and the ripple is just below the end of the butted section).
Thoughts?
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Classic front end crash damage where the lug was heated up a lot during the build. This transfers the HAZ further down the DT and a weak area corresponds with the butt end. Any way the ripple looks to be pretty minimal. I'd be more concerned about HT/ST twist alignment then HT push back. Andy.
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Classic front end crash damage where the lug was heated up a lot during the build. This transfers the HAZ further down the DT and a weak area corresponds with the butt end. Any way the ripple looks to be pretty minimal. I'd be more concerned about HT/ST twist alignment then HT push back. Andy.
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since you said it was straight gauge, I assume it's not butted. It's probably at the edge of the heat affected zone. Definitely a frontal collision
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I don't assume anything. Just saying what I've seen before. But I will say that my experience with 1970s bike boom Raleighs was that actual spec was all across the board. Granted this bike isn't of that era. Andy.
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REYNOLDS
'531'
T U B I N G
'531'
T U B I N G
or something like that.
Anyway, many thanks, gentlemen! I appreciate your input.
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