Seat tube reaming question

[CEarly]

I recently got a new Gunnar Rockhound mtb frame that accepts a 27.2mm
seatpost. The seat tube was reamed in the top 10cm only. I can't insert a
seatpost any deeper than 10cm, which is only about 2.5cm more than the min
insertion depth of the Thomson seatpost I have for this frame. The seatpost
hits a small ledge inside the seat tube where the reaming stopped. Is this
typical, or a manufacturing defect? Seems like very little height
adjustability on a mtb frame to me. How could this be rectified so I could
get more seat height adjustment on this frame? Yes, I'm asking Gunnar about
this, but thought it might be worthwhile to hear disinterested opinions as
well.

Cal

 

[Werehatrack]

On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 18:44:05 -0800, "CEarly" <[email protected]> may have
said:

>I recently got a new Gunnar Rockhound mtb frame that accepts a 27.2mm
>seatpost. The seat tube was reamed in the top 10cm only. I can't insert a
>seatpost any deeper than 10cm, which is only about 2.5cm more than the min
>insertion depth of the Thomson seatpost I have for this frame. The seatpost
>hits a small ledge inside the seat tube where the reaming stopped. Is this
>typical, or a manufacturing defect? Seems like very little height
>adjustability on a mtb frame to me. How could this be rectified so I could
>get more seat height adjustment on this frame? Yes, I'm asking Gunnar about
>this, but thought it might be worthwhile to hear disinterested opinions as
>well.


By any chance, does the seat post stop at about the same place where
the ferrule is welded on for the front der shift cable?


--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

 

[A Muzi]

CEarly wrote:
> I recently got a new Gunnar Rockhound mtb frame that accepts a 27.2mm
> seatpost. The seat tube was reamed in the top 10cm only. I can't insert a
> seatpost any deeper than 10cm, which is only about 2.5cm more than the min
> insertion depth of the Thomson seatpost I have for this frame. The seatpost
> hits a small ledge inside the seat tube where the reaming stopped. Is this
> typical, or a manufacturing defect? Seems like very little height
> adjustability on a mtb frame to me. How could this be rectified so I could
> get more seat height adjustment on this frame? Yes, I'm asking Gunnar about
> this, but thought it might be worthwhile to hear disinterested opinions as
> well.

A common practice among modern bike builders.
Either pass a reamer through deeper or cut off the excess
post and mark a new "max height" line 60mm from the cut.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

 

[CEarly]

"Werehatrack" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Wed, 2 Mar 2005 18:44:05 -0800, "CEarly" <[email protected]> may have
> said:
>
>>I recently got a new Gunnar Rockhound mtb frame that accepts a 27.2mm
>>seatpost. The seat tube was reamed in the top 10cm only. I can't insert
>>a
>>seatpost any deeper than 10cm, which is only about 2.5cm more than the min
>>insertion depth of the Thomson seatpost I have for this frame. The
>>seatpost
>>hits a small ledge inside the seat tube where the reaming stopped. Is
>>this
>>typical, or a manufacturing defect? Seems like very little height
>>adjustability on a mtb frame to me. How could this be rectified so I
>>could
>>get more seat height adjustment on this frame? Yes, I'm asking Gunnar
>>about
>>this, but thought it might be worthwhile to hear disinterested opinions as
>>well.
>
>
> By any chance, does the seat post stop at about the same place where
> the ferrule is welded on for the front der shift cable?
>
>
> --
> My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
> Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
> Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.
>

Nope, it clearly stops right where the small ledge has been created at the
10cm depth the seat tube was reamed to. The ferrule welded on the back of
the seat tube is about another cm below that and there are no irregularities
visible inside the seat tube until the upper water bottle screw comes
through, about 23 cm below the top of the seat tube.

Cal

 

[CEarly]

"A Muzi" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> CEarly wrote:
>> I recently got a new Gunnar Rockhound mtb frame that accepts a 27.2mm
>> seatpost. The seat tube was reamed in the top 10cm only. I can't insert
>> a seatpost any deeper than 10cm, which is only about 2.5cm more than the
>> min insertion depth of the Thomson seatpost I have for this frame. The
>> seatpost hits a small ledge inside the seat tube where the reaming
>> stopped. Is this typical, or a manufacturing defect? Seems like very
>> little height adjustability on a mtb frame to me. How could this be
>> rectified so I could get more seat height adjustment on this frame? Yes,
>> I'm asking Gunnar about this, but thought it might be worthwhile to hear
>> disinterested opinions as well.
>
> A common practice among modern bike builders.
> Either pass a reamer through deeper or cut off the excess post and mark a
> new "max height" line 60mm from the cut.
>
> --
> Andrew Muzi
> www.yellowjersey.org
> Open every day since 1 April, 1971
>

Thanks for the observation that this is common. I've never encountered it
on other frames I've had though. I neglected to mention that the internal
ledge at 10cm in the seat tube is just on one side, indicating that the
reamer was misaligned in the tube. I'm guessing that whoever was doing the
work realized that and stopped before irreparably damaging the frame, which
is why I'm only able to insert a seatpost to 10cm. So, if I want a low seat
position for DH, it looks like I'll get to haul a shorter seatpost around
with me. Guess I'll chalk this up to experience and reject a frame with
this problem immediately in the future, not to mention avoiding Gunnar. Too
bad their QC missed this. With the misaligned reaming job so far, trying to
ream it deeper would seem to risk perforating or seriously weakening the
seat tube.

Cal

 

[Meccanico di Bici]

Reaming deeper is no problem, but call 'em, they'll make it right.

 

[[email protected]]

Yeah, just do it by hand instead of a milling machine. It should mill
deeper and accept the post just fine.

 

[Bill K.]

Isn't reaming a "bike shop" thing ?
Since Waterford doesn't sell direct, you had to buy this bike from a
bike shop. You would think that any bike shop worth it's salt would
ream out the seat tube and check the BB threads. Same for preping the
frame for a headset.

 

[Velo Psycho]

heh heh.... you said "ream"

 

[Tim McNamara]

"CEarly" <[email protected]> writes:

> Thanks for the observation that this is common. I've never
> encountered it on other frames I've had though. I neglected to
> mention that the internal ledge at 10cm in the seat tube is just on
> one side, indicating that the reamer was misaligned in the tube.
> I'm guessing that whoever was doing the work realized that and
> stopped before irreparably damaging the frame, which is why I'm only
> able to insert a seatpost to 10cm. So, if I want a low seat
> position for DH, it looks like I'll get to haul a shorter seatpost
> around with me. Guess I'll chalk this up to experience and reject a
> frame with this problem immediately in the future, not to mention
> avoiding Gunnar. Too bad their QC missed this. With the misaligned
> reaming job so far, trying to ream it deeper would seem to risk
> perforating or seriously weakening the seat tube.

Ummm, maybe this is a weird question, but have you called Gunnar and
talked to them about this? I have found them ("them" being Waterford
precision Bicycles, the owner and manufacturer of Gunnar- Gunnar being
named after Richard Schwinn's dog, IIRC) to be very helpful and to
provide excellent customer service. Rather than just grousing about
them, perhaps you might see if they would be willing to make it right.

 

[CEarly]

"Tim McNamara" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "CEarly" <[email protected]> writes:
>
>> Thanks for the observation that this is common. I've never
>> encountered it on other frames I've had though. I neglected to
>> mention that the internal ledge at 10cm in the seat tube is just on
>> one side, indicating that the reamer was misaligned in the tube.
>> I'm guessing that whoever was doing the work realized that and
>> stopped before irreparably damaging the frame, which is why I'm only
>> able to insert a seatpost to 10cm. So, if I want a low seat
>> position for DH, it looks like I'll get to haul a shorter seatpost
>> around with me. Guess I'll chalk this up to experience and reject a
>> frame with this problem immediately in the future, not to mention
>> avoiding Gunnar. Too bad their QC missed this. With the misaligned
>> reaming job so far, trying to ream it deeper would seem to risk
>> perforating or seriously weakening the seat tube.
>
> Ummm, maybe this is a weird question, but have you called Gunnar and
> talked to them about this? I have found them ("them" being Waterford
> precision Bicycles, the owner and manufacturer of Gunnar- Gunnar being
> named after Richard Schwinn's dog, IIRC) to be very helpful and to
> provide excellent customer service. Rather than just grousing about
> them, perhaps you might see if they would be willing to make it right.

Why, yes, I've contacted Waterford Precision Bicycles (Boy, it was tough
resisting that one!), as I mentioned earlier in this thread, explaining what
problem was. Today, I was offered the opportunity to send the frame back to
them. Problem is, they're in WI and I'm in WA. I'm not real thrilled about
the increased potential for damage to the frame inherent in two more
cross-country trips with shipping companies, not to mention having to pay to
send it there. So, I've counter-offered to take the frame to a local bike
shop and get the re-reaming done and send the bill to Waterford for
reimbursement. I'll see what they think about that idea tomorrow.

At least I know from their reply that Waterford thinks it's okay to
re-ream the seat tube to correct this problem. I don't know how thin the
walls of those tubes are, nor what the potential weakening effect of taking
more metal off in the process of trying to straighten out the reaming would
be, but I'm relieved to hear that this may be correctable.

I'll let you know how "excellent" their customer service turns out to be.

Cal

 

[Tim McNamara]

"CEarly" <[email protected]> writes:

> "Tim McNamara" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> "CEarly" <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>>> Thanks for the observation that this is common. I've never
>>> encountered it on other frames I've had though. I neglected to
>>> mention that the internal ledge at 10cm in the seat tube is just
>>> on one side, indicating that the reamer was misaligned in the
>>> tube. I'm guessing that whoever was doing the work realized that
>>> and stopped before irreparably damaging the frame, which is why
>>> I'm only able to insert a seatpost to 10cm. So, if I want a low
>>> seat position for DH, it looks like I'll get to haul a shorter
>>> seatpost around with me. Guess I'll chalk this up to experience
>>> and reject a frame with this problem immediately in the future,
>>> not to mention avoiding Gunnar. Too bad their QC missed this.
>>> With the misaligned reaming job so far, trying to ream it deeper
>>> would seem to risk perforating or seriously weakening the seat
>>> tube.
>>
>> Ummm, maybe this is a weird question, but have you called Gunnar
>> and talked to them about this? I have found them ("them" being
>> Waterford precision Bicycles, the owner and manufacturer of Gunnar-
>> Gunnar being named after Richard Schwinn's dog, IIRC) to be very
>> helpful and to provide excellent customer service. Rather than
>> just grousing about them, perhaps you might see if they would be
>> willing to make it right.
>
> Why, yes, I've contacted Waterford Precision Bicycles (Boy, it was
> tough resisting that one!), as I mentioned earlier in this thread,
> explaining what problem was.

Sorry, I didn't see in your post that you had done this.

> Today, I was offered the opportunity to send the frame back to them.
> Problem is, they're in WI and I'm in WA. I'm not real thrilled
> about the increased potential for damage to the frame inherent in
> two more cross-country trips with shipping companies, not to mention
> having to pay to send it there. So, I've counter-offered to take
> the frame to a local bike shop and get the re-reaming done and send
> the bill to Waterford for reimbursement. I'll see what they think
> about that idea tomorrow.
>
> At least I know from their reply that Waterford thinks it's okay
> to re-ream the seat tube to correct this problem. I don't know how
> thin the walls of those tubes are, nor what the potential weakening
> effect of taking more metal off in the process of trying to
> straighten out the reaming would be, but I'm relieved to hear that
> this may be correctable.

If it were my frame, I'd ship it to them and ask them to refund my
shipping costs if the frame is in fact incorrectly made. And to
replace the frame if it is. They might or might not go for the
shipping thing. The rest should be handled under warranty, as ISTR
that the frame is quite new.

The tubing is already quite thin and I would not trust a bike shop to
re-ream it without causing further damage. A custom frame builder
with much experience, perhaps; but not a bike shop (unless I was very
sure of the mechanic's skills, that is). You can see the wall
thickness by looking at the top of the tube, unless there is some kind
of lip or lug applied to the top for a pinch bolt. My Gunnar has a
separate aluminum collar for the pinch bolt, and the tubing thickness
is easy to see.

> I'll let you know how "excellent" their customer service turns out
> to be.

I hope it turns out well.