Is this reparable?
 

If not............RIP-BMC.

Thought my Chinese Brooks knock-off Gyes brand saddle had slipped a grommet.
No, it was the danged alumnium frame!

If only it were steel! Then the village smithy could forge it back it shape, while his
daughter fed me peeled grapes and danced barefoot 'neath the banyan tree.


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...50b729e1f3.jpg

So just 12 years and 120,000 miles and no warranty?
Inconceivable!

Well, okay then!
Lawn art it shall be.

Ray Magliozzo of Car Talk, after patiently listening, with an occasional "ungh": "Ya done for."

Several years ago I made a nice beer bottle opener from a rear dropout and chainstay from an old bent frame.

Maybe carbon fiber to the rescue? Many of the early so-called carbon bike frames were actually aluminum wrapped with carbon. If that were my bike and I hoped to save it, I'd ask in the Framebuilders subforum whether such a repair would make sense.

Try with two or three pipe clamps, maybe it will work.

So how many miles per penny of original cost did that add up to?

Maybe if you had ridden more this would not have happened.

That's not a bad idea. Welding there would probably not hold up due to the heat-affected zone, though would help if welded and then post-heat treated as is typically done with 6061-T6 frames (not required on 7005 aluminum; do you know which it is?). However, welding may still be helpful to greatly reduce movement versus an open crack, before wrapping with carbon and resin. A lot of work in paint stripping, welding and surface prep for carbon wrap, but if worth it, find out the details from someone that knows and go do it.

I asked on of my southern friends and they said "duct tape and balin' wire"

It would get you home, except for the seatpost moment loads; For that I would take something with no stretch, like safety wiring or ultra-high-strength line, loop around the head tube then cross under the top tube, then over it and back to the top of the seat post, tie a trucker hitch to get plenty of tension, and that'll get you home. I've MacGyvered worse on military vehicles.

If you want to try to repair it, you could buy some fiberglass tape, maybe an inch wide. That is just a fabric tape but very high tensile strength. And some two part epoxy glue to saturate the tape. Wrap the tape around the area that is cracked, let it harden. But make sure no epoxy gets inside the seatpost hole, if any does wipe it out before it hardens. Cracks often continue, but if you drill a small hole at the ends of the crack before you put the tape on, that often stops the crack from continuing. But the hard part here is seeing exactly where the crack ends, if you put the hole in the wrong place it accomplishes nothing. Clean the surface off really well first before you do anything.

Disposable gloves would be a good idea.

It will be ugly, but once hardened, you could spray it black to match. Then less ugly. But if you keep it ugly, it is more theft resistant.

She's a goner, although money can solve any issue. I know how you feel. My Bombtrack Hook EXT-C needs some carbon fiber repair around the bottom bracket, just plain worn out. Is it worth the repair? To me it doesn't matter the cost, this bike has taken me everywhere I ever wanted to go without issue. In 2022/23 we went on a perimeter tour of the US, for 323 days we went through hell together. It's not just a bike now, it's my best friend.

The top tube is about to come apart. Don't ride it, don't try to fix it. (You could wrap a significant amount of that area with epoxy and carbon or fiberglass. But that's like repairing your bike shorts with plastic wrap and staples.)

The frame I believe was $100 purchased october 2011, then add in all the piece parts, probably around $350 in total. But that was while living in china, with overnight delivery from the world's bicycle component factory floor. The poor dear saw duty in central and southern China, Laos, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore and Vietnam, with some pretty rough terrain in parts.

Won't be fixing this one, it's a goner. Maybe I'll just hang it on the wall, make a helmet/gloves rack. Fortunately, I've got my LKLM 700cc that I built up just before leaving China. Still almost new.

Unfortunately, I'm in Thailand where bike parts are mostly curiosities. Half the time I order on Lazada, and get stuff drop-shipped from China. spent a couple hours last night searching for a new frame to transfer the parts onto, but, well, in the land of 5-foot rice farmers, the 6-foot hansum man has to drive a toyota.

Too dangerous.

Anything crafted from that frame might assplode and get fragments in muh beer.

Bin dere, dun dat!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...79d4fee494.jpg



https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...20986d4626.jpg

Can you get any bargain frames from Aliexpress shipped to you?

Possible, also looking at Alibaba.

I'm thinking best option is take the high-speed rail from vientienne to kunming, buy a bike and ride it back.

didn't you buy a Seacrest or Seaboat frame, or some brand like that? I see em on Ali under a couple brand names.

Yepper, that's my 700cc LKLM.

I'm looking for similar in 26". Most are S frames with the occasional M, so choices are limited.
Finding an L frame with touring-like geometry, preferably in steel, preferably with a horizontal top-tube, ain't easy.
I'll take another aluminum if that's all I can find.


https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3ad211c873.jpg

Change of plans.

Got the 700cc fully assembled and adjusted today.

Not much luck finding a suitable 26" frame for me, so I'll strip the parts and build a bike for the wifi.
Size S frames are readily available.

May need to pick up a square taper crankset, make it into a 1x9.

If it is carbon fiber, yes.
Years ago, one of the sailors in a singlehanded round the world race broke his carbon fiber mast in the Southern Ocean. He put in to a deserted cove (can't accept outside help) in South America and, using empty water jugs floated his spar ashore. There he built a fire to warm it, patched it, took it back to the boat, based it and passed two other competitors before the finish in England.

It's worse than I thought. Crack runs around the seatpost on both sides.

Removed all the components, all can be reused. Even the BB popped out easily. I think we'll reuse the Deore crank, remove the 22T and 44T, keeping only the 32, and putting an aluminium ring guard on the outside 104 hole. Wifi doesn't need front derailleur for around town.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a2a5e0919a.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...2accdbba9d.jpg

Years ago I was unhappy with the prices I saw for bashguards, but saw an extremely low priced big ring on clearance. Bought the big ring. Used my saber saw to cut off all the teeth, used up two blades as the aluminum would fill in gaps between the saw teeth. Then put the ring on my crank. Turned it by hand for maybe 15 minutes while holding a file on it to remove the saw cuts and get it nice and round.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...a4445c7a9f.jpg

After I took the photo, removed it and sprayed it black. It still says 52T on it, but you really do not notice that.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...c8692b8641.jpg

Do you have any other plans for the 44T chainring?