Seat tube frame repair advice - alpine stars cro mega

I've just picked up an alpine stars cro-mega which is in reasonable shape. Despite niggling doubts surrounding whether it is too large for me or not, my main area of concern is some seat tube damage. I was hoping you retro gurus could advise as to how bad you think the damage is (I'm guessing the cause was an attempt to free a stuck seat post), what the likely remedy would be, and if that is not asking enough already, recommendations of who could undertake the repair?

I'm also considering having the frame re-finished (it'll needsomething after the welding), so also after thoughts on what would suit the frame - as is, or another a-stars colour scheme.

Here are some pics of the frame and the damage.

I appreciate your advise.

Ian

wow thats a doozy! need to get the end re shaped and the the cracks welded and reamed (sp), probably be easier to get a new seat tube fitted. probably be about 80-100 inc paint.

Cheers for the help - do you know where I can get this done? When you say inc paint, were you assuming a full respray, or just the frame tubes affected?

The damage isn't really that bad, and the deat tube itself is solid, just looks messy at the top.

My main issue is that I've always wanted an e-stay frame, and whilst I'm happy to get this frame sorted, I fear that it is a little on the large side, and after popping a spare set of wheels on it and standing over it, there is little room to manouver.

Ian

ouch , that is a bit of a mess.

is there a crack going between the rear stays?

being steel, it can be repaired, but at what cost?

and then you say it may be too big.

rough rule of thumb - road bike frame size is 1/3 your height or 10 inches subtracted from your trouser length. (horizontal top tube, old skool I know)

for mtb, you subtract another 5 inches.

Cheers for the sizing guide - it does actually work, and also tells me that the frame might be a few inches too big - hmmmmmmmm.

you should be able to get that small horizontal crack TIG'ed out
there will only be localised heating with TIG
find a local fabrication shop ,should be a tenner or so if that
then just dremel the inside to clean the face up
a good welder should be able to do this with minimal disturbance to the
inside of the tube ,so talk to him first to impress the delicacy of this operation , and for christs sake dont MIG it or stick weld it

then you need to fit a longer clamp like the one i have pictured
i made these for my cro-megas as the seattube top seems a bit fragile
this clamp offers more support for the post/frame so should stop it cracking

is the post the right size ? 29.4

Thanks Mikee, very helpful. Do you think it would be best to get a frame builder to do this, or will any welder worth their salt be able to do this?

I'm liking the home-brew clamp. I may need one myself should I get this fixed - I think it's too big, but if I got it fixed I guess it would make it more saleable?

Ian