1991 Orange Aluminium Elite

jimo746

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So I picked up this frame from retrobike member "hullborn", it was a freebie as it has a crack in the bottom bracket shell. I was told the the crack hadn't worsened during his ownership of the frame, i don't know how much it was ridden in that time though.
There's a Mavic bottom bracket fitted at the moment, it seems smooth enough, so I'm tempted to leave it be and find some suitable cranks and just ride it. There's a lot of material/weld around the BB so I'm thinking it's unlikely to fail catastrophically, I imagine if the crack does propagate across the BB shell then I'll find the BB coming loose or notice play in the cranks.

Is my logic "logical" here?

And can anyone date the frame from the serial number below?
 

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Re:

If I remember correctly, it’s year then month of manufacture after the A, so this is December 91.
 
Re: Re:

iveto1983":3gd0w2w3 said:
If I remember correctly, it’s year then month of manufacture after the A, so this is December 91.

Great! Thanks.
 
Re:

I've ordered some headset reducer shims to allow the use of 1"1/8 parts, as 1"1/4 forks especially seem non too common.
Fortunately I have a couple of 1"1/8 forks to choose from, will probably go with a suspension fork I think.
 
Re:

Nice looking frame.. I've always wondered how these rode, but never have taken the plunge .I've worked with a number of aluminium cargo bikes one the years, so know a thing or two about cracking, sadly :(

FWIW I reckon your logic is sound enough based on my own experiences. I wouldn't be wanting to do a lot of hoofing out of the saddle, but for light riding it will probably be okay. I would probably drill a stop hole at the end of the crack if possible, just to make sure it doesn't travel further.

Hope this helps :)
 
Re: Re:

mynchiboy":1wjab2xa said:
I wouldn't be wanting to do a lot of hoofing out of the saddle...

Oh.... That's mostly what I do :LOL: :mrgreen:

I think I'll ask a forum member who has experience of repairing aluminium frames before I go building this up, just to be sure I'm not wasting my time. :)
 
I had a cracked aluminum elite frame I bought on here, although not sold as a cracked frame (annoying)..
Just never bothered building it up, just couldn't justify building up a bike that I didn't 100% trust.. horses for courses tho. And you got the frame for free in fairness ...
 
As said above it shouldn't give out catastrophically. You could always fasten a jubillee clip around the shell to help it.
Build it anyway for the sake of pics & nostalgia.
 
get it welded, most alloy welders will do this for a drink, do the prep yourself and as it's under the bb shell, it doesn't have to look pretty. explain to the welder that you want the crack opened up on the outside of the shell and welded without the weld going through and needing the threads re cut, leaving a steel bb cup in place could do this. i'd try as you have nothing to loose!
 
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