Is this still usable?

I got my Lennie Rogers frame back from the blaster yesterday.
He pointed out these holes (and some very tiny ones in the toptube).

Is it still usable?
It's certainly not worth having repaired - though I have the paint and new decals for it!

Its too small for me so I'd be selling it on - probably as a complete bike but I don't want it to break on someone.

 

You're joking? Right?

No. It's not useable. Unless you want to turn it into a lamp.

While it is certainly possible to replace the rusted through chainstay(s) and top tube it is highly probable that since it is rusted top-to-bottom the remaining tubes are likewise compromised.

To put it the vernacular of Star Trek: "It's dead, Jim!".

Now that you're this far along into finding out you own a boat anchor, spray bomb it a color that matches your man cave décor. Decal it back up. Fit it with several LED (got to be environmentally friendly!) lights and a pair of cup holders for your beer.

 

I once again agree with you, Bob. This frame is not only not usable, it is actually dangerous.

 

Yikes. Yea, not much to add to this thread. That's scary stuff. And if there's holes there, other areas are probably super worn.

 

Its only dangerous if I trip over it while its lying on the ground

 

Or it is made into a bike, and someone tries to ride it.

 

At least he asked, OP, keep that thing off the roads. I worry about buying second hand from anything but bike shops(especially with carbon). I often see high caliber bikes on craigslist with big mark downs, something tells me a lot of them were crashed before or rusted.

 

Holes are not good if they weren't put there by the factory and those were not, this tells me there is a lot of rusting going on internally and the tubing in most areas is probably paper thin which means it could collapse on a person riding the bike. If the bike collapses on a person you sold it to knowing that those holes were there, and we all now know those holes are there as does the blaster, you would not only get sued for selling a bad bike frame but if the buyer suffers a major injury or worse you could get sued big time and maybe even go to jail for an extended vacation.

 

Last year I built up and sold 18 bikes (this year I'm up to about 6). All had secondhand frames.
I'm pretty careful about looking for damage (this is the only frame that I've had like this).
I only had one complaint and that was about a component.

 

Don't worry
I won't sell it / build it up etc.


"maybe even go to jail for an extended vacation" - this is New Zealand - we're not that draconian.

 

Well...

Considering that chain stay failures tend not to be that dramatic, I'd MIGHT consider building that bike up if it had emotional value for me. For the purpose of the occasional, careful ride, by me, into nostalgia.

But as a bike meant for someone else, forget about it.

Or do something truly weird and financially pointless - wrap it in carbon fiber.

A 1 mm thick layer of CF laminate should make it strong enough.

 

The reason I said that is because Americans, which I'm one, are money hungry and would do anything to make a buck, so a typical American would bondo it to fill in the holes, smooth it all out then paint it, then sell it of course to the unsuspecting person as a great restored frame.

Sorry to hear the frame is that bad, but better you found out before it's too late. I would not repair that frame and ride it because you could be the one to get injured or worse unless someone thinks that the mentioned idea of using 1 mm thick CF wrap would work, but the cost would be a lot more than the frame is worth so I wouldn't do that, I would recycle the it. Sad to see a once upon a time good frame go to waste.

 

Agree with dabac. I've seen a chainstay weld fail at the BB and the rider barely noticed. He was still able to ride the bike about 5 miles back to the start with the chainstay moving back and forth about a cm on every pedal stroke. The rear wheel still has 3 more tubes locating it in space after all......unlike the front wheel.

 

Froze, we must know different "typical Americans". I don't know anyone who would do what you described. Much easier just to steal a complete bike and sell it.

Also agree with dabac about the potential risk. A chainstay isn't a front fork. I've seen a chainstay weld break at the BB and the rider barely noticed. He rode back to the start, about 5 miles, with the NDS chainstay moving back-and-forth with every pedal stroke. The remaining 3 tubes did a good-enough job at locating the rear axle to get him home.

 

Right about the chainstay, but why would you ride a bike that potentially could break? There are other problems that could crop up suddenly that most don't realize, that stay could break and still be rideable, or it could break in such a way that as a result of the break take out the rear wheel with it which could cause some anxious moments depending on where on a ride it occurred. Of course I was talking about a worse case scenario, but you can't guarantee that a worst case scenario would never happen. The advice to build it and ride it was not wise advice in my opinion of course.

There are people who bought bikes on E-bay and even Craigslist only to find out about major issues after receiving the bike and usually during a ride. This may not happen a lot but it happens, people trying to pass off junk as something great, not just with bikes but with anything.

 

I could make one of these;
View attachment 1598

 

Froze, believe we are in agreement here. I also wouldn't build and ride a frame like that, no way. And yes, a worst case scenario could always happen. A buddy of mine had his DS rear dropout separate (screw failed) so that the seatstay wasn't connected at the bottom end. Again, he didn't notice until it was pointed out by a following rider that something seemed wobbly. After the climb was a long and twisty 40+ mph descent....not the place to find out the back of the bike was coming apart!

And agree about ebay as well. There probably are a few people in the big world out there who would just put the frame on ebay as is and not say anything about rust, or maybe even try to crudely paint over the damage. Wouldn't suspect any Americans (or Kiwi's) to attempt anything so unseemly though.

 

I see some holes on the frame. It looks like it could snap relatively quickly if you put enough pressure on it. It's a no go.

 

Well, according to the way it looks I would definitely not use it if I were you, it could be dangerous, it could even finish with your cycling career whatsoever, do not use it, trust me.