aluminium frames

Quoted message said:

Hi Got a couple of large bubbles on my aluminium frame.
The bike is now 5 years old. Please tell me, it is about
to crumble or is it nothing to worry about.

Probably just salty water getting under the paint, oxidising
the alu and lifting the paint off. Bob Jackson in Leeds will
re-enamel alu frames - my Cannondale is beautiful now, and
the paint is much tougher than isocyanate 2-pack or whatever
it is 'Dale use at the factory (stove enamel is almost
unheard of in the States).

Cracks would be worrying, but not bubbles.

Thanks

Zog The Undeniable said:

Quoted message said:

Hi Got a couple of large bubbles on my aluminium frame.
The bike is now 5 years old. Please tell me, it is about
to crumble or is it nothing to worry about.

Probably just salty water getting under the paint,
oxidising the alu and lifting the paint off. Bob Jackson in
Leeds will re-enamel alu frames - my Cannondale is
beautiful now, and the paint is much tougher than
isocyanate 2-pack or whatever it is 'Dale use at the
factory (stove enamel is almost unheard of in the States).

Cracks would be worrying, but not bubbles.

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Cracks would be worrying, but not bubbles.

But I'd get a 2nd opinion (lbs or similar) just in case.

--
Mark (MSA) This post is packaged by intellectual weight, not
volume. Some settling of contents may have occurred during
transmission

MSA said:

But I'd get a 2nd opinion (lbs or similar) just in case.

Personally I'd strip off the paint with Nitro-Mors and have
a look, as the finish sounds to be ruined anyway! I can
think of some LBSs who would seize the opportunity to sell a
carbon frame as the best solution ;-)

Zog The Undeniable said:

MSA said:

But I'd get a 2nd opinion (lbs or similar) just in case.

Personally I'd strip off the paint with Nitro-Mors and
have a look, as the finish sounds to be ruined anyway! I
can think of some LBSs who would seize the opportunity to
sell a carbon frame as the best solution ;-)

I'd check on the can before applying nitromors to a non-
steel frame. Fairly aggressive stuff. Cheers Graham

MSA said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Cracks would be worrying, but not bubbles.

But I'd get a 2nd opinion (lbs or similar) just in case.

Ok, my opinion is also that a bit of bubbling under the
paint is nothing to worry about. Our Cannondale tandem has
been like that for years (except in our case it is a _lot_
of bubbling, and the paint has completely peeled off in a
few places). I once exchanged a couple of emails (or it may
even be on usenet) with some Cannondale tech guy who used to
be on usenet, who assured me it was merely cosmetic, and I
see no reason to doubt that.

James

Graham Bowers <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I'd check on the can before applying nitromors to a non-
steel frame. Fairly aggressive stuff.

I've used a DIY own-brand (Do-It-All, or Focus as they are
these days) paint stripper on non-ferrous stuff [1] before
now, and it came out fine. The paint remover in question was
a clear, jelly-like substance with dichloromethane as the
active ingredient, so this and similarly-labelled products
ought to be OK.

David E. Belcher

[1] Not bike frames, but Hornby-Dublo diecast model
locomotive bodies.