kranz

I have a '73 Raleigh Supercourse frame with a damaged seat stay. There is a crack where the plane of the flat seat cap intersects the tube of the stay. It can be seen outlined in yellow in the photo below. What would the recommended repair be? What kind of talent should I look for to make the repair?

Thanks!

Scooper

The stay cap is brazed to the end of the stay, and needs to be rebrazed. The damage is mostly cosmetic since the brazing joining the stay to the seat cluster lug appears to be sound.

Rebrazing the cap is a simple task any framebuilder can do, but repainting the area after the repair will be necessary.

Where are you located?

kranz

Hi Stan,

Thanks for taking a look at my frame. I'm located in Atlanta. I'm not familiar with any framebuilders here, but then this is the first time I've needed one.

Will heating/brazing the seat stay have any effect on the other joints? Where the seat stay is joined to the seat tube, for example?

I figured some painting would be required. How localized will it be? Just the area around the seat stay, or will it spread further?

thanks,

kranz

Scooper

An experienced framebuilder knows how to use the torch to control the heat so that rebrazing the stay cap would not affect the seat stay to seat lug joint.

The paint damage should be limited to the area around the seat lug cluster.

I'm not aware of any local Atlanta framebuilders, but Clarke White has a pretty complete list of framebuilders on his website HERE (click on "FRAME BUILDERS SECTION"). You can browse the links and see if there's somebody within a reasonable distance you can talk to.

Another thought is to check with local bike shops in the area and ask if they know of any local framebuilders who might be interested in brazing the seat stay cap for you. Reality Bikes in Cummings appears to have a large service area and may know of a local framebuilder.

JohnDThompson 

As Stan mentioned, it's not a structural issue, just cosmetic. If it were mine, I'd wait until the frame needed repainting and fix it then. In the mean time, clean it up the best you can and wax over it to keep moisture out.

Scooper

Great advice.

kranz

Thanks, guys. That's great advice. I had been laboring under the asumption that it was a structural issue. The frame is in otherwise beautiful low mileage condition and I was agonizing over having to do surgery to it. I'll ride it and keep a watchful eye on it.