HMJ

Greetings,

I just picked up a bike that I thought might be a decent recreational rider but a prior owner put a screw through the seat tube and a drilled hole in the seat post. There is some unsightly paint loss that I am not too concerned with but I am concerned about the structural safety of this hack job not having encountered this before. Also note the scratch/gouge - there is no visual or physical sign of it going through to the inside of the seat tube at present.

When I extracted the seat post I found the bottom half was cut lengthwise and folded inward so that is pretty much toast.

Please let me know what y'all think about the seat tube. The bike is not worth doing any sort of restorative work BTW. At worst I'll strip it for parts.

Many thanks in advance!

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It doesn't look like this was drilled...more like jamming the screw in.



Never mind the screw and hole...I guess this is one way to make a seat post fit (?)

bboy314

Looks pretty bad. If you’re gonna ride it (I assume with the proper seatpost and clamp) I’d at least keep a close eye on it for cracks, especially at the gouge down by the wishbone/seat tube junction.

Koyote

I hope the parts are worth the price paid, b/c I would never throw a leg over that frame.

Rolla

One man's trash is now another man's trash.

HMJ

Affirmative on both: it was a freebie I picked up in town. I didn't notice the screw and what lurked beneath until I put it on the stand at home. The bike is decent otherwise but since y'all have confirmed what I originally suspected it is no longer a bike - so I will be scrapping the frame after I strip it for useful parts.

Thanks all!

Andrew R Stewart 

I believe that frame is an Al one. Al really doesn't like being heavily scratched, notched or have burrs about holes. They act as stress focus points and Al's nature of rapid crack growth makes this frame rather questionable. I also wonder about the rest of the bike. This type of make do repair (I'll bet a beer that someone ran a too small a diameter seat post that wouldn't stay put, hence the screw) can be a clue to the cluelessness of previous owners. Andy

Bill Kapaun

Bless you for coming to your senses 30 posts sooner than some would!

CliffordK

Do you have a side view of that? It looks accordion crumpled to me, which could be the reason for the modified seatpost. Although perhaps I'm looking at a seatstay/monostay.

Also, what is the material? Andrew suggested aluminum, but it looks like steel to me.

soyabean

The OP is proof that the quote is correct.

HMJ

The accordion-looking area below the screw hole hack is the weld.

And you are correct: material is steel.

CliffordK

I bet you could clean it up and make it work.

Is it possible that the seatpost is oversized. Perhaps 27.2, when the tube is 27.0 or 26.8?

A little file work and paint and it would look reasonably good. A new seatpost binder bolt, and the correct seatpost.

Kingtim6

Yeah man. It looks really bad. There's no point in repairing it anymore. You'll spend more effort, time and money. Garbage. Better buy a new one.

SJX426 

Just for the challenge, I would take a file to the slot and clean it up. then find the right size post and put a binder bolt in the tabs and try it out. Can't lose anything but time which may be educational and may result in a ridable bike. This coming from a guy who can't let a crashed frame and fork go.

sloppy12

I just fixed a bridgestone with a pretty similar issue. I drilled a relive hole and brazed a small plate on. seems fine.