Picture: A 2005 Turner 5-Spot frame that cracked on the top tube (all the way around) at the weld that holds the gussett to the seat tube.
Imagine: Welding the frame up (known aluminum welder) and riding the heck out of it for four months afterwards.
Picture: Carrying the bike off the trail, back to the truck, after a four mile hike-a-bike session and being thankful that my thigh or other body parts were not impaled.
Synopsis: If you break it, dont fix it. Dont think you can fix an aluminum tube by simply having it welded. The heat treat is not performed and the tube hardness, along with surrounding welds, goes to ZERO once heated. Yep, lesson learned.
Hope: Are there older Turner 5-Spots available here and if so, is it really worth consideration since there is a life limit on aluminum regarding stress fatigue. Hmmmm??
Contact Greg at Turner. They're super cool. They've had history of some really amazing deals as far as frame replacement, purchase new with deep, incredible discounts. It's not specific to the original owner - ANYone owning a Turner frame.
Glad you are alright and not hurt. Yeah re-welds don't hold well on bikes. When I was a kid I kept breaking the bottom tube of my bmx, My dad got tired of buying new bikes (I was only 8 or 9 at the time so I couldn't buy my own) so he took it to some industrial welders to weld it back together. Guess what I still kept breaking it until the welders got fed up and welded another flat bar on its side to the tube.
I've spoken to Greg in the past and called him again today. They do get older frames in for either replacement, rework or other. I should be getting a call soon (I hope) for him to let me know if they have any front triangles. Would be nice!!
It depends most aluminum are heat treat ,when you reweld them you lose the heat treating making the frame weak. Most steel and Ti can be rewelded without a problem. What is the frame made of? Some bike makers have what they call a crash replacement deal and some of those will sell you a new frame for less than you could get one otherwise.Check with your LBS.
Loving the Maxi Pad post. I just hope its the "large" size. Other than that, I dealt with Turner reps that found me a replacement front triangle. Its from an 05 RFX and yes, the rear triangle from the 5 spot will work very well with this frame.
From the "suspension" forum, not sure who tagged me, or posted all the **** I saw with my name on it but, hey, this is the online world. TURNER RULES!! Back on trail soon after all parts from Chain Reaction.com arrive!! YAHOO!!.
I've always wondered about this....interesting. I do not know the process but would any kind of shops be able to weld it more properly? Or is the heat treated process only really done at the bike factory?
If you have an aluminum frame welded, the HAZ ( heat affected zone) is weak. You need to strip the frame and have it properly heat treated. There are companies that do this. I had a C'Dale Jekyll welded and professionally heat treated. They brought the repaired frame back to T6 temper. It involved heating the frame to 1,050 degrees and then quenching it before baking in the oven at 400 degrees for 4 hours.
This is not a process to be taken lightly. If you don't do it right, don't do it at all!
I did it. I did research on welding and type of rod to use and what had to be done after welding. It can be done, but it is neither cheap nor fast. But if it is done right, no worries.
My name is Chris and I ride a Prophet 650b with a Lefty.
HTS-2000 welding rod is supposed to work well for that application(advertized but not personal experience). Reported to work at 300 deg to not affect any precipitous effects or extreme HAZ issues. Obviously not as neat as a factory replacement, but a good option for heading off an early detected crack in aluminum.
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