Originally Posted by
unterhausen
I would make sure the joint between the seat stays and seat lug isn't cracking. It looks suspicious, but the seat post binder bolt is hiding it. The problem with a lot of these bikes is that the stays weren't attached too well, they drilled a hole in the wrong place, and they take a 27.4 seatpost, so everyone just puts a 27.2 in it and calls it good. Then the stays crack.
Thanks so much for the tip. I will make certain to scrutinize that area. I don't know whether the seatpost is original and the correct 27.4 or not. I assume a smaller post would work with a shim, right?
Anyways, thanks for the help. How prevalent was this issue? Was it something that happened the majority of the time, or just when people didn't treat the bike properly?
Thanks!