Manitou FS - my next project

[ti_pin_man]

Found it! I knew it would be somewhere, the inevitable crack. Huzzah.

Part of me is glad to have found it despite the sarcasm above. It means I will now send this to Frank The Welder for repair and it means he, being a bit useful with bike welding, will check the whole frame over for other cracks. He will repair the headtube or replace if needed and make it rideable. Theres some chainsuck scratches he will repair and also a small ding in the top tube. Once hes done his work he then arranges for it to be heat treated professionally. Its not a cheap thing but I'm after a bike to ride... no not to do jumps and gnarly trails but something I trust to ride xc on. No garage queens here!

I've boxed it up and its due for collection tomorrow to go to Vermont.

I'll post up pictures as it progresses as I imagine almost every Manitou frame owner will want to know how well this goes!

 

[Retro Spud]

Re:

Holly fcuk ..... I hope to never follow you, but yeah I'll follow your posts Avidly

would seem they're made of chuffing glass...

 

[M-Power]

Re:

Great thread, always loved these frames as I have said many times. IMO the prettiest FS frame ever. You are doing the right thing getting it repaired by the best man for the job.Looking forward to a detailed review and comparison with other rides.

 

[ti_pin_man]

This is the thread that put me onto Frank to do the work:

http://www.secondspincycles.com/2012/11 ... epair.html

Sooooo it appears everything is do-able at a price. He will look at the frame and assess what needs doing, the weaknesses he sees and then come back to me if theres anything else he'd recommend to get this one usable off road again. He did do a metaphorical 'sharp intake of breath' when I asked about replacing a bottom bracket section so hopefully he'll give it the all clear.

 

[unit3]

Sorry to hear you found a crack, looks quite obvious, did the seller not notice it?

So what's the time line on the work getting done? looking forward to seeing the work getting done

Niall.

 

[passiflora]

Re:

Joe,

once it has been repaired, please use reducers in the headset, as recommended by Doug B.
these frames should not be run with 1/14 headsets, fitting reducers is another layer of protection and tends to help prevent cracks.

Both my Manitou (one now sold) have reducers fitted, & both are uncracked, at the headtube.

 

[ti_pin_man]

Niall, likely the repair will be a month or so but then they send them for heat treating in small batches. Yeah it's an obvious crack but the seller was clearly not much of a biker, it came with bmx handlebar and saddle the size of a continent! Bit was a steal so not too bothered. I half expected it.

It had reducers already onboard and these have gone with the frame for Frank to perform his magic. He'll assess it properly when he gets it and I trust him to make the right decision. He's welded a few Easton frames in his time! ;-) more than I've had hot dinners I suspect.

He's also promised progress photos, so when I get some I'll post them up as I know many Mani owners will be interested to see how it all goes.

Gives me time to find a mani inch quarter stem and some cranks!

 

[nutallabrot]

Re:

Hi Joe, I'll follow the progress with interest. Regarding the XT front derailleur - I would keep it as it came original with the 1995 frames.

 

[Retro Spud]

This is the thread that put me onto Frank to do the work:

http://www.secondspincycles.com/2012/11 ... epair.html

Sooooo it appears everything is do-able at a price. He will look at the frame and assess what needs doing, the weaknesses he sees and then come back to me if theres anything else he'd recommend to get this one usable off road again. He did do a metaphorical 'sharp intake of breath' when I asked about replacing a bottom bracket section so hopefully he'll give it the all clear.

The owner of that website is Martin or mkozaczek on here.... small world

 

[syncrosfan]

Sorry to hear that the frame has a crack! I'll be following the progress of your build, specially the repair. I went over my frame and it seems to be crack free... But I still have to strip it apart and fully polish it. I also intend to upgrade the internals of both forks to Englund air cartridges. The rear fork will be a little tricky, but I really don't like elastomers.
If you decide to do the headset reducer, would you be willing to split with your Chris King in 1 1/4"? I'm searching for one in blue/turquoise with the Gripnut setup but they're pretty rare. Let me know if you would split with that... Sorry the vulture's coming out...