Bike Forums - View Single Post - Montague Frame Cracked

08-13-16 | 12:46 PM

#14

BruceMetras

Senior Member

Joined: Aug 2005

Posts: 2,097

Likes: 8

From: San Rafael, California

Quote:

Originally Posted by BruceMetras

Sorry to hear that you crashed and glad you were not more seriously injured.

Looking at the pictures of your bike, that frame isn't cracked , but it would appear that there is way too little seatpost/sleeve insertion into the frame.. that sleeve that is shown as broken should be further into the main tube at least 3" or better than is shown .. the seat post q/r should be basically sitting on the two jam nuts, and then the seatpost should be inserted appropriately so that there is proper insertion..

I'd want to know why there is that much sleeve showing .. as your bike appears to be a 2009 or older, I don't know if the seat tube parts are available from Montague, but if they were, and assembled properly, the bike could be safely used again..

Quote:

Originally Posted by BruceMetras

Someone modified the bike from original design.. that is not a Montague problem .. that would be on whoever modified the bike .. probably going for more seat extension .. check out how it should look..

Ok, this thing has been bothering me .. to the point where I took my Montague apart to check it out.. the short answer is the OP's frame (pivoting rear assembly) is indeed shot .. there are no serviceable parts to correct the break ..

After viewing way too many Paratrooper pictures it appears that there are two lower pivoting triangles that were used, and from what I could make out from pictures , not related to being 18" or 20" models, although it would make sense that the 20" sized frames would have the longer seat tube .. and, there is nothing height adjustable to screw up ... so the main seat tube is continuous from the top of the clamping area to the bb .. the tube is roughly 35mm od, with a bore of 27.2" and a post clamp diameter of 32mm..

My new contention is that I could see breaking a Montague frame with the longer seat tube (as the OP's bike clearly has) if the actual seatpost didn't actually go down through the 32mm od part of the seat post and get into the main frame (2 1/2") where there is complete support (like on mine, an 18" frame) .. this would make minimum insertion markings on normal seatposts irrelevant unless you were a knowledgeable bike person .. not knowing what length seatpost was supplied as original makes an after break assessment difficult, but I could easily now see a costly mistake could be made.. as yet, I have not read anything from Montague addressing this.. could be out there, just not something that I have found..

Now I'm going to put my bike back together..

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