Spaghetti Legs 

CliffordK

I'd buy it if I got a good price for it. But, it depends on what you're planning to do with the frame, and whether you would be able to repair it if it went bad.

I'm not sure I'd wish to ride a bike that I wasn't 100% sure the brake bridge was good.

Is the frame local?

Can you feel any movement in either the bridge or the the seat stay?

Was the frame re-sized from 126mm to 130mm? Are the seat stays straight?

seypat

Is it uniform? Looks uniform. What does the other side of the bridge look like?

mikemowbz

If at all possible, I'd want to ride it first or subject the frame to a bit of load on the DT (i.e. stand on the DS pedal with a bit of weight while braking and observe the area of the crack) to attempt to determine whether 'paint anomaly' or 'brazed joint failure' best describes the situation.

Could easily be just paint, but failure of the joint is a possibility.

I'm pretty sure I've broken my Raleigh Pro in exactly that location, 40 year old brass joint has given way; on a ride, I had a perplexing 'click' make a sudden appearance under heavy load in certain circumstance, and noticed a not dissimilar pattern of cracking following the brake bridge/seat stay joint. The cracking was not there prior to the ride, and the noise cannot be traced back to any of the usual DT suspects. I still need to blast some paint off to inspect closely (and perhaps have inspected by a frame builder if I remain unconfident)...

In any case, it's not like it's a difficult repair if the joint is suspect. But repair is going to take a good chunk of paint off, of course.

If I were purchasing, I would either want to know more, or be confident that I was comfortable with the gamble of not knowing for sure at the price being paid.

Spaghetti Legs 

xiaoman1 

SL,
It is not the best way to start out with a build..If the paint on the right side of the BB is cracked all around it would seem as though there has been some stress put on that joint and there may be a compromise going on in that area. If you do decide to purchase it as others have said put it through its paces...I would put a dab (spot) of nail polish on opposite sides of the bridge that are easy to see and look for any cracks.
GL, Ben

CliffordK

You might as well toss up at least the higher res photo supplied by the seller.



The seller answers a couple of questons in the ad:

• Frame set to 125mm (probably not cold-set, although the previous owner could still have been using 130 or even 135mm wheels in it).
• Cracking is only on 2 sides of the bridge joint (Lower res view of other sides are visible on seat lug photos) showing good paint).

I was initially concerned about marks just below the seat lug on both sides, but I think that is caused by pump wear.

Back to the joint above. To me, it looks like a focal stress to that joint, probably due to an outward pulling of the stays at the bottom (thus affecting the bottom paint without affecting the top paint).

Hard to say, my tolerance is pretty high, but I don't think I would ride that bike without peeling off more paint and carefully inspecting the joint. I presume a repair would be easy, although rust could be an issue necessitating more prep than I would otherwise expect.

Click on the little red "report" button, and ask this thread to be moved to the Framebuilders subforum for more eyes on it.

Edit:
There also appear to be some outward stress cracks in the paint on the seatstay emanating from the bridge. I really think that joint has undergone some extreme stress.

exmechanic89

My guess would be it's the result if the dropout widening, too. I bet it stressed the bridge causing the crack. Can't tell if it's just the paint. Personally I'm not big believer in cold setting frames - aka 'bending' the frame. But as you pointed out OP, not a big loss if you get it at the price you want. I say go for it!

sdn40

I would also be careful about assuming ebay will automatically side with you considering it seems like you've been warned adequately by the seller. Just something to think about

RobbieTunes

Yes.

CliffordK

It should be considered bought as-is for the bridge issue. The seller may or may not know the entire history of the frame, or why it was partly stripped.

Diagnosis likely will require stripping at least all the cracked paint and inspecting the joint under it.

The ultimate price should reflect the expectation of possible damage and repairs.

CliffordK

I suppose, the question would be whether you would pay $260 for the fork, bottom bracket, headset, seatpost bolt, and dropout adjuster screws..

If you aren't doing the repair on the main frame, you might be able to toss it on local Craigslist for $50, although I'm not sure how I feel with selling broken and potentially dangerous parts. Full disclosure?

Manny66 

What Brand/type tubing is the frame? If its a notable frame its worth a shot buying it and fixing.

Luckily its painted solid white, so any repair wouldnt be too hard to touch up paint.

gugie 

If that's the only worry on the frame, git it. If need be, that's fixable at l'atelier for beer money. White paint should be easy to match at an automotive paint shop.

nomadmax 

I wouldn't buy for anything but a wall hanger.

T-Mar

I'd assume that is a crack in the braze due to spreading the rear triangle. It is an easy and relatively inexpensive repair. Also, the repaint of the stays is not a big issue. However, it's $200 plus $90 shipping for a mid-1980s Rossin SL. I'd pass, unless it's one of your grail frames.

Spaghetti Legs 

nesteel 

Pass. If your intention is to have that work done, find something where the price is equivalent to the condition of the frame (IMHO, this one isn't).

gugie 

...rerake forks, buncha heavy custom racks...yeah, might be dangerous sending it to me. I think it's 50-50 that it's a braze failure, based on that picture. It is an easy repair job.

Raleigh74

seypat

Anyone bought it yet?

madpogue 

Since the paint is cracked anyway, maybe the seller should remove some of the paint on the stay and the brace, and get some closer shots of the braze itself. The paint in that area is gonna have to come off anyway, esp. given the relative ease of a match later as said.

nomadmax 

That would be like opening the box that contained Schrodinger's cat He's better off leaving the idea that it's 50/50 than remove all doubt.

CliffordK

Oh, man, @gugie has been salivating about the idea of bending the fork and installing Cantis on a Colnago for me. It is all I can do to keep his torch away from the bike... Well... I HOPE

The repair should be pretty straight forward, but you'll likely be spending $100 to ship the frame across the country and back.

I suppose that might be one advantage of trying to get better info from the seller. Try to determine the status before shipping.

Shipping direct to a 3rd party might be complex, but you could save a little shipping that way.

nomadmax 

You know, I've been thinking about this. Maybe I would buy that frame and go to the trouble of putting it right, even if it wasn't cost effective. If not one of us; who will save these classics?