Mending handlebars on GiantOCR1T

One side of the handlebars on my Giant OCR1T has gone all wobbly and creaky (see post below) so I
stripped back the tape to have a look. The handlebar is built in three pieces (why?) with a straight
bit in the middle, and two curly bits inserted on either side. I'd guess they are somehow sweated
together with some kind of solder. Can I just re-sweat the dodgy side with a small blow torch? Or
would this not be recommended? I would imagine the melting point of the solder will be well below
the temp at which the alloy starts to lose its tempering on cooling.

"Ric" <spam@off.com> wrote in message
news:c03efk$mu1$1@news-reader5.wanadoo.fr...
> One side of the handlebars on my Giant OCR1T has gone all wobbly and
creaky
> (see post below) so I stripped back the tape to have a look. The handlebar is built in three
> pieces (why?) with a straight bit in the middle, and two curly bits inserted on either side. I'd
> guess they are somehow sweated together with some kind of solder. Can I just re-sweat the dodgy
> side with
a
> small blow torch? Or would this not be recommended? I would imagine the melting point of the
> solder will be well below the temp at which the alloy starts to lose its tempering on cooling.
>

Buy a new set of handlebars before you have a serious accident !

Graham

Ric wrote:
> One side of the handlebars on my Giant OCR1T has gone all wobbly and creaky (see post below) so I
> stripped back the tape to have a look. The handlebar is built in three pieces (why?) with a
> straight bit in the middle, and two curly bits inserted on either side. I'd guess they are somehow
> sweated together with some kind of solder. Can I just re-sweat the dodgy side with a small blow
> torch? Or would this not be recommended? I would imagine the melting point of the solder will be
> well below the temp at which the alloy starts to lose its tempering on cooling.
>
No. Don't attempt to repair them at all, or ride on them. Take them back to the shop and get
them replaced.

"Ric" <spam@off.com> writes:

> One side of the handlebars on my Giant OCR1T has gone all wobbly and creaky (see post below) so I
> stripped back the tape to have a look. The handlebar is built in three pieces (why?) with a
> straight bit in the middle, and two curly bits inserted on either side. I'd guess they are somehow
> sweated together with some kind of solder. Can I just re-sweat the dodgy side with a small blow
> torch? Or would this not be recommended? I would imagine the melting point of the solder will be
> well below the temp at which the alloy starts to lose its tempering on cooling.

Scrap 'em and get new ones.

--
simon@jasmine.org.uk (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

-- mens vacua in medio vacuo --

On 7/2/04 9:04 pm, in article c03js7$rp2$1@newsg1.svr.pol.co.uk, "Zog The
Undeniable" <ggg@hhh.net> wrote:

> Ric wrote:
>> One side of the handlebars on my Giant OCR1T has gone all wobbly and creaky (see post below) so I
>> stripped back the tape to have a look. The handlebar is built in three pieces (why?) with a
>> straight bit in the middle, and two curly bits inserted on either side. I'd guess they are
>> somehow sweated together with some kind of solder. Can I just re-sweat the dodgy side with a
>> small blow torch? Or would this not be recommended? I would imagine the melting point of the
>> solder will be well below the temp at which the alloy starts to lose its tempering on cooling.
>>
> No. Don't attempt to repair them at all, or ride on them. Take them back to the shop and get them
> replaced.

Seconded. They may well be swaged together using the central collar so they will be impossible to
repair without the appropriate tools.

Heating up aluminium alloys is an 'interesting' thing to do as an experiment when you are the tester
and the price of failure could be a serious accident. Is 30 quid worth it for peace of mind?

..d

Ric wrote:
> One side of the handlebars on my Giant OCR1T has gone all wobbly and creaky (see post below) so I
> stripped back the tape to have a look. The handlebar is built in three pieces (why?) with a
> straight bit in the middle, and two curly bits inserted on either side. I'd guess they are somehow
> sweated together with some kind of solder. Can I just re-sweat the dodgy side with a small blow
> torch? Or would this not be recommended? I would imagine the melting point of the solder will be
> well below the temp at which the alloy starts to lose its tempering on cooling.
>

Never three pieces, only ever a maximum of two (main part of bars and a sleeve section). Yours are
broken. Bin them. Consider yourself lucky you didn't crash, etc

--
Pete

interchange 12 for 21 to reply

"Ric" <spam@off.com> wrote in message
news:c03efk$mu1$1@news-reader5.wanadoo.fr...
> One side of the handlebars on my Giant OCR1T has gone all wobbly and
creaky
> (see post below) so I stripped back the tape to have a look. The handlebar is built in three
> pieces (why?) with a straight bit in the middle, and two curly bits inserted on either side. I'd
> guess they are somehow sweated together with some kind of solder. Can I just re-sweat the dodgy
> side with
a
> small blow torch? Or would this not be recommended? I would imagine the melting point of the
> solder will be well below the temp at which the alloy starts to lose its tempering on cooling.

Aluminium is not "sweated" together, it is either welded or bonded, (a posh name for glueing :-)
Aluminium alone is rarely, if ever, used on bicycle frames or components, it is usually mixed with
other goodies to become an alloy, this is often then treated to improve its properties, even a
skilled welder would destroy these properties. With a bit of research you could probably find a
suitable bonding agent, however, you will need to observe strict cleanliness and perhaps need a
curing oven. Aluminium alloys do not take to being flexed beyond a certain point and if this has
occurred then catastrophic failure is very soon on the agenda, to see what this means go to:
http://www.super70s.com/Super70s/Tec...raft/Comet.asp

Note the box headed "Metal Fatigue" , which is possibly what your bars are suffering from, then see
the paragraph headed "Tragedy" which is what you may suffer if you don't replace them.

Of course, rather than write all this I could have just said "replace them", but I, and several
others already have and you don't seem to be getting the message :-)
--
Regards, Pete