Cracked Serotta ti frame located in Berlin, Germany. Recommendations needed

[RickD.]

I have a Serotta Classique Ti CX which developed stress cracks on the driveside chainstay, top and bottom (see pics). I know Serotta is no more and therefore I can't use them as a resource. I'm a US citizen living abroad, and bought this new in the States in 2010. I need to get this fixed but I have no idea who in Germany to contact. Hence the following questions:

1. Can anyone recommend a quality ti framebuilder in Germany who may be able to fix this for me? I'd like to not incur the expense of shipping to/from the US, and I'm sure there are excellent builders here.
2. Is it safe to assume if one chainstay is damaged the other should be replaced as well as it undergoes similar stresses?
3. Any ideas how this happened? Faulty/improper tubing? Rider error? I don't race or abuse the bike, but I'm a big guy (250lbs). My fear is the rest of the back end of the bike will develop the same issues.

Thanks in advance.

Rick


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[Rody]

I had a batch of tubing from the same supplier, of the same timeline, that affected a run of my Ti Luv handles and two frames...had to recall them all and replace. The supplier gave me the tubing but it does not come close to the time it takes to replace the products.

I'd contact Darren at Crisp Cycles in Italy...he has the skills to take care of the repair.

cheers,

rody

[Too Tall]

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Crisp...um/60496315802

Dareen Crisp. It's a bit of a hike but you'll find no better.

[Lionel]

Jean Pierre Levacon in France can easily take care of this for you (but almost no english spoken).

[lfo]

Try to get in contact with Daniel Pleikies (Titanrahmen) located in Berlin (unfortunately Daniel is a very busy man).

MAWIS Bicycles could be an other option.

[RickD.]

I had a batch of tubing from the same supplier, of the same timeline, that affected a run of my Ti Luv handles and two frames...had to recall them all and replace. The supplier gave me the tubing but it does not come close to the time it takes to replace the products.

Rody,

I know you cannot answer this with any degree of certainty, but what are the odds the other tubes are from this same batch on my bike? I know nothing of tubing selection so I don't know if it's common to use tubing from different batches or suppliers when building a frame. I don't want to spend the money fixing this if the others have a similar propensity for failure.

Rick

[e-RICHIE]

RickD. please add your first and last name to all posts on Frame Forum as per the user agreement atmo.
Thanks

[Rody]

Rick,

The batch of tubing affected two sizes; .875" and 1.000".

It would be a safe assumption that the other chain stay is of the same mill run. The error was traced back to debris on the tubing mandrel that left linear irregularities on the ID of the tube wall.

rody

[RickD.]

Rody,

What about the seat tubes? It wouldn't be worth me replacing the whole back triangle of the bike I would think. Thanks so much for yours (and others) input. It's very helpful to me.

[Rody]

Nope.

Honestly, if you are looking to replace the entire rear triangle due to lack of confidence, replace the frame.

Time wise, unless the frame has significant emotional attachment, replacing the rear triangle is a fiscally losing proposition for you.

rody

[RickD.]

No emotional attachment; as long as the seatstays aren't bad I'd get both chainstays replaced. I'm going to reach out to a few of the builders recommended here. Thanks again for everyones' input.

[RickD.]

Reviving an old thread, I finally got the stays on my Serotta replaced. The quality of the welds is acceptable to me, as I didn't expect miracles. It took WAY longer than I expected, something which I'm not happy about at all, but my main reason for posting now is to get the opinions of some of the builders on this message board. In short, the driveside crank was hitting the new stay. I spoke with the person who repaired it, and the solution was to send it back so he could dimple the tube for crank clearance. I even installed the BB and sent the driveside crank (Campy Chorus Ultra Torque, 53/39) to be sure. Well, I received the frame back again this weekend, and you can see in the pic the very minimal amount of clearance that the very small dimple gave me. I've only put about six miles on the bike, but it seems pretty stout and flex free.

My question to you all is, do you think this is enough clearance? I really don't want to send the frame back AGAIN to have the dimple enlarged, especially since I think they should have gotten it right the first (second?) time. I've purposely left out who did the repair as well as some other not-relevant-to-this-question details because I have some strong feelings about the overall quality of service I've received, and my goal isn't to smear someones' reputation or air dirty laundry. Thanks in advance.

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[David Tollefson]

I'm trying to suss out just where the dimple is located relative to the 'ring from the picture -- almost looks like it was done too close to the BB, and the 'ring passes near the end of the dimple.

Personally, I'd want a little pit more clearance, but it's probably not needed for flex reasons. As you said, the frame is plenty stiff, so I'm speaking just from a personal aesthetic point of view.

[RickD.]

It's very subtle, I wish he had made it deeper. I'm not sure where proper placement should be in relation to the BB, but I still think there should be more room between that chainring bolt and the stay.