techie

I bought a nice, grimy bike for cheap last week and after cleaning off all the grease and dirt I saw the head tube has a crack about an inch long and splits at the bottom of the crack and goes about a cm in each direction. Like an upside down Y.

I work in a body shop as a painter (I've painted a few frames) and we have aluminum welding gear here. I've heard people say not to weld aluminum frames so I'm wondering if I can or cannot be fixed. The frame is 7005 aluminum if that matters.

Nessism

7005 is the most repairable of the various aluminum alloys because it age hardens on it's own after welding. That said, it's hard to say if welding on that particular frame is advised. Some photos showing the damage would help make that determination though.

techie

Andrew R Stewart 

We've seen quite a number of production frames (made of AL, likely most were 7005 if I had to guess) with similar cracks. As the far majority of them weren't sold by us we referred the customer to their shop of purchase for warranty. As this frame is basically toast now and if there's no warranty chance what have yo got to loose by trying to weld the crack? I think you'd want to let the tube/weld age before remachining the head tube. Also don't be surprised if the other end cracks at some point in the foreseeable future. Andy

Nessism

That split in the crack forming a Y doesn't look good. A chunk could fall out. If you do try to weld it I'd try to compress the crack together first to make the bearing area round beforehand.

Dan Burkhart 

Probably no chance of warranty as you say you just bought the bike and therefore are not the original owner. Aquila is the house brand of Racer Sportif in Toronto. https://www.racersportif.com/
Nothing to lose by contacting them and see if there is anything to be done.

wsteve464

mtbikerinpa

I would be reluctant to put the frame through more rigors of use after a repair from damage like that. It is stress from a hard life and the fatigue life of other stress locations may be approaching a critical phase. Do certainly check with a very fine tooth comb. I have had an aluminum frame welded and it was never fully dependable afterward.

fietsbob

You get to keep the components and look for another frame..
steel is a better choice for pig-in-a- poke used bike bargain shopping ..
make sure you can get the seatpost and stem out, before paying for it..