Bonded aluminum???
09-22-19, 07:11 AM
#26
Bianchi Goddess
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Steel, Aluminum, Carbon, Wood all frame materials can fail
"Necrobumping" I like that.
"Necrobumping" I like that.
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“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk
09-22-19, 09:44 AM
#28
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Bikes: Ron Cooper touring, 1959 Jack Taylor 650b ladyback touring tandem, Vitus 979, Joe Bell painted Claud Butler Dalesman, Colin Laing curved tube tandem, heavily-Dilberted 1982 Trek 6xx, René Herse tandem
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Looks for cracks in the lugs as other posters have stated. For the Vitus there was a weight limit recommendation(?). 75kg comes to mind(?). Maybe other forum members can chime in about weight limitations, or lack thereof, for the various frames. I bought this 979 'Aerodynamique' around 1982 or so and still have it. A couple of years ago I was weighing ~172-5 at 5'10"...*ouch*. I have gotten my weight below 160lbs and am shooting for my race weight of 148 during that time so I can ride this beautiful frameset again!
It all depends how you ride, those weight limits were just guidelines and I've never actually seen them in writing. I'm also the type of guy who doesn't really get flats or break axles, but having said that I stand up and mash gears when I feel like it. If you break lots of stuff, maybe you should stay away, but if you "ride light" or as my old friend said, "ride like a jockey" you'll be fine on a bonded frame.
That said, I'm well-versed in weird metalwork because of my job, so I think I'll know when something's wrong before anything catastrophic happens.
I was kind of hoping my Vitus would break so I could post a "DIY re-glue-your-Vitus" thread. I have a plan to use Araldite 2011, which cross-references to Redux 203, which is one of the adhesives mentioned in the original Vitus bonded frame patent available online (patent US4479662A). My plan was to apply the epoxy and then hold the frame together with ratchet straps while it cured, maybe touch it with a heat gun and instant-read thermometer to get the optional heat-cure, and then cackle at the naysayers. I was hoping I could use J-B Weld to be extra redneck about it, but its shear strength is only one-third of the Araldite 2011 so I can't.
Last edited by scarlson; 09-22-19 at 10:11 AM.
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09-22-19, 11:10 AM
#29
Junior Member
The Bridgestone Radac came after Vitus and looked very much alike, some people were even saying back then that Bridgestone contracted Vitus to make them aluminum frames. Those frames were nearly as much as the Vitus in weight but very strong and nowhere as flexy. Bridgestone I believe made many variations of the Radac between 87 and 1994 (I believe), but the variations between their local, US, and UK/European markets were so many that it is hard to find some to be alike. Some were hybrid with Al main triangle, steel fork and steel stays, some were all aluminum, they even made one with the three main tubes of carbon fitting into Al lugs/brackets. Some had vertical drop ends some had slotted classic drop ends. Some has the rear brake going on the right coming out the right with reverse calipers front and back, some went in the right coming out the left, ... etc. There hasn't been a single report found of a failing Radac. Even the most neglected and corroded ones seem to be functioning still today. In Japan there is tremendous interest on this frame, elsewhere it is unknown.
Bridgestone had said that so much money and time was invested in that frame that if it transferred to the price of the bike nobody would buy it. It was just the pride of getting it right for them.
Bridgestone had said that so much money and time was invested in that frame that if it transferred to the price of the bike nobody would buy it. It was just the pride of getting it right for them.
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