Best way to clean a titanium frame?

[Yog Sothoth]

 

[Yog Sothoth]

Whoops! Sorry about the last one! That's Sophia Loren. She's not part of the deal.

The frame is a giveaway btw, so I thought it was worth the postage to at least have a look at it.

The BB will be a problem. I'll have to look at engineering solutions if I decide it's worth it.

The bike was in a barn/garage that was set on fire. It is/was a Muddy Fox Ti, from around 1998, according to its owner.

 

[poweredbypies]

Dibs on the rings

 

[Yog Sothoth]

Dibs on the rings

Yours!

Whole thing's a challenge, I'd say.

 

[danson67]

Yog:

I am unfamiliar with titanium so not sure how it reacts or how easily damaged it is.

I refer you to my earlier post. The tubes might be "sound" but the material isn't.

The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society: "The temperature limitation for titanium alloys, other than specialized engine alloys, is about 540°C. Above this temperature oxygen contamination becomes an issue, embrittling the surface."

If that frame's been hot enough to melt the Alu components (660+°C) and possibly distort the rear end, all the Ti is suspect. It's all been well into the danger zone for an unknown length of time in an uncontrolled atmosphere with loads of hydrocarbons from the grease and plastic around, then cooled very slowly, again in an uncontrolled atmosphere.

Yog:

I'm assured that the tubes are all sound, and the stays are bent by virtue of weight being put on it while it was outside.

Titanium must be built straight in the first place, not be aligned/bent to correct welding errors. Jim Kish calls this pre-crashing...Bending it back and riding it after an uncontrolled heat and bend is madness.

Clean it up if you've really got nothing better to do with your time, but don't ride it (or let any one else ride it, at least).
I'm out. :roll:

 

[unkleGsif]

^^^^^^^^^

Listen to this man... for he knows is onions




G

 

[cornholio's RC200]

This is an anti-Nike frame... Just DON'T do it...

 

[Yog Sothoth]

OK, I bow to your superior knowledge. I'll tell my friend not to bother posting it. Back to ebay (this was to replace my Cromega with the jammed seatpost).

 

[Woz]

That seat-post shim looks like it will need replacing too....now joking aside, what WOULD be the forecasted disaster from a cyclists point of view if it was built up and ridden gently? It would be good to be more specific.

Would the tubes just come apart suddenly? Would it gradually crack? Would the cables guides fall off? Would it be less resiliant to scratches? Would it have a strange odour?

Just so there is no misunderstanding, I'm not being cockey, but would like to understand such risks and failure modes.

 

[Rampage]

I think it would look nice hung on the wall 'as is'.