i recently noticed a hairline fracture around the bottom bracket shell of my 7005 aluminum frame. The importer tells me it likely cracked because the bike shop did not face the shell. Does anyone know if this is repairable? Would love to make this thing safe again.

Interesting looking crack - seems to be quite uniform around the shell.

I'd say the frame is junk. You would have to un-glue the carbon back end before any type of weld repair is performed. 7005 does not need heat treat but not sure if more heat cycles are good for the metal.

Regarding not facing the frame, this is a VERY poor excuse. I'd call the manufacture on this and ask to see documentation on where they instructed the dealer to do frame prep. If the frame came with instructions to face the shell then they may have a point. Otherwise, they are blowing smoke.

HI...

probably using that something2000 aluminum welding system? The only problem is that probably it will crack again anyways. U can try with that dude, it worth to try and u can do it at home, a regular flame thing and the especial 2000 rod would do it.

Thanks.

Are you inebriated, ultraman?

No, i havent been xposed to any chemichals but i do smoke pot very often.

If the bike shop faced the shell there should be some residual evidence. If there was paint all around the BB face, then that should no longer be there. Evidence of a cleanly cut face, there shouldn't be any gaps with the bottom bracket pieces. For that mater the newer BBs don't always contact the outside face of the BB so flatening that part would not be sturcturally important. One chases the threads to insert the supports of the facer, at least with mine, so you can leave that step out and it leaves protective paint on the BB itself when it is steel. I just don't really see that BB shell fracture as being the fault of frame prep anyway. I could see a loose BB doing that. Some of the ones I use have cartridges in them which makes it at least theoretically possible for the nuts to get out of wack without the cranks feeling all that loose, and that could overload the right side of the shell. Any sign of it being loose?

You say you recently noticed this failure. While you may be owed a new frame, I am not convinced there is any terrible lack of safety in the BB as it is. As long as it has sufficent bearing to hold the cranks firmly in place. If you just noticed the crack rather than feeling something, it may be something that you could get along with for a while.

what if you face off the bad part with a facing cutter, keeping in mind how much you take off and have a spacer made to make up the difference? The bb cup should have plenty of threads to engage into the bb shell.

Another option if you are going to be stuck with it for a while would be to get some decent quality epoxy like WEST system of System 3, sometimes they have sample packs. glue the whole bottom bracket in there. This would be more practical with a cheap cartridge bearing, Nashbar has them for about 10 bucks. You would need to get something like bees wax and cover all the entry points where the glue might get into the cartridges or otherwise bung things up. But if done carefully the whole BB would become a solid block with the BB inserts. This would probably not be sufficient if the crack was far enough over the BB would be in need of replacement for structural reasons, but if it's just a little ratty it would hold things together.

I would certainly go the refacing route first if that would do it.

I think this is the best suggestion. Crack looks uniform, from the top anyway. Face it square and use a spacer. Should work fine if a one piece BB like a Shimano Octalink jobby is used.