moxfyre

Once upon a time, I was riding my bike down a hill at 40 mph, and the downtube started to crack. Thinking quickly, I whipped out a delicious blueberry pie. It was tough to choose to sacrifice the pie, which I had loved for all my life. But recently I had become more of a peach cobbler kind of guy, so I blinked away the tears, and smeared the pie across the rapidly faltering downtube.

Needless to say, my frame is now fine. I've taught this trick to a few buddies who are into DH mountain biking, and they swear by it now.

mcatano

Took the frame in today - Dave, the wrench, said that he didn't have high hopes but that said he'd take it home and see what he could do. Knowing Dave, this means he'll most likely be able to fix it; if he didn't think he could fix it, he wouldn't have taken it. He's a little gruff like that. So it seems like worst case he'll put a threadless BB into it, best case he'll tap it out and chase the threads. Either way, I think it'll be OK. We'll see in a day or two for sure.

m.

jimv

Hmmm. I just had a thought. Back when I was a young lad I was an auto mechanic (funny because I hate cars now and don't even own one). We had a device for spreading the end of an exhaust pipe just enough so that another pipe could fit inside. Sure, we used alot of heat to 'stretch' the pipe to a larger size but we also used to drop pipes and dent the ends and would use the same tool to re-round it.....no heat and very little effort was required for that fix. The spreading tool is very robust. So if your mechanic can't fix it, you could try bringing it to a muffler shop and throw a few $$ their way.

Jim

icithecat

This is for sale on Craigslist Vancouver. Hopefully you will be in better shape.

The frame is very rusty! (but I like to think rust is a theft deterrant)
The frame has a hairline crack by the bottom bracket. The BB is locktite'd in place, and I cannot possibly predict how long it'll stay put. Depending on your weight, and how many curbs you jump, tt might last you a month, or it might last many more years.

mcatano

Woke up this morning, found $5 on the ground outside my house and rode to the LBS to find my frame fixed, with a round BB shell and threads that work. Someone must've shoved a horseshoe up my bum last night while I was asleep.

m.

jimv

Excellent! Did he say how he fixed it??

Jim

mcatano

I think he used a variation on icithecat's suggestion of tapping it out with a plug and a wedge. He had to chase the threads afterwards, but apparently they weren't too bad and the BB went in fine.

He also said that having had this exact situation (things being dropped while they're drying) happen to him is why he always puts a pair of junk bb cups into frames when he's painting them... seems like a sensible idea.

m.