Scrodzilla

They absolutely do. Those Cinelli welds are gross, especially on a $800+ frame from a top name brand with so much hype surrounding it.

I understand what you're saying but I'm fairly certain you wouldn't buy a frame that looked like it was welded by Stevie Wonder after a three-day coke binge.

TRaffic Jammer

Alu wise I was thinking on pulling the trigger on the SuperPista for when we get our Pan-Am velodrome. I :hearty heart heart: celeste

Scrodzilla

Welcome back, man!

mihlbach

This indicates you have no understanding what I'm saying.

Scrodzilla

You're saying that the structural quality of welds can't be judged by how they look and you're far above judging things by outward appearance. You also never look at your bikes and quill stems are stupid. Yes, I get it.

However - if some really tasty, highly-nutritional food was presented to me in a way that made it resemble dog **** in a rusty tin bucket, I may be a little turned off from digging in.

If I'm paying top dollar for a frame I want the welds to be both well done and good looking, which I suppose you see something wrong with. So be it.

bones_mcbones

If he's saying that, he's incorrect. Any sort of anomaly is going to be a stress concentration, which means cracking, and crack propagation.

https://www.lincolnelectric.com/en-ca...ld-detail.aspx

TRaffic Jammer

For the $$$ I want purdy too, hand welded by an 85 year old master welder who helped invent the technology.

Scrodzilla

Looks like you won't be buying a Bianchi then!

mihlbach

No need to get testy.
What im saying is that there doesn't appear to be a perceptible difference in quality of the pake and thunderdome welds. Obviously a horribly sloppy bird poop weld with gaps, holes, and poorly spaced beads and other flaws is suspect. Everything up for discussin here is far and away above that. I dunno, maybe you are just more interested in sellng certain frames.

Look, Im not shilling for pake or anything. I just think its much better priced for what is a very similar frameset.

Scrodzilla

How am I talking about selling anything here? Am I really not allowed to simply like something better and have an opinion because I own a bike shop?

Aside from that, I've said twice in this thread that the French 75 is a nice frame.

Exactly.

TRaffic Jammer

I figure all bets are off on cold welded ALU frames, steel ones however are an entirely different story. Also Scrod, yes, the robo built Bianchi frames..... *slight weepyness*

gregjones

Well crap. I've been thinking about going to the extremes of getting a job to finance a 721 with a 105TR fork. Is this a workable combo for a start on a sorta light "grocery getter", or do I need to look for full time (for a little time) employment to increase my frame/fork budget???

Gross welds don't bother me until they fail. After all, I am a happy Trek Hybrid rider.

seau grateau

I've been riding my 721 for commutes, errands, and recreation for over a year now with no problems. It's a fine frame. Just make sure you have a good mess bag or backpack, because there aren't many options for mounting a rack on it.

BigglyPuff

That's what I'm saying. I want a Vigorelli for the Columbus frame, but then I look at the price and welds, then I look at a Bareknuckle or Kagero. I feel like if you're going to pay over $600-700 for the frame, the welds should look like that.


I seen Scrod point out drawbacks on lots of frames and components he sells, for what it's worth. It doesn't take away from the benefits, it's just reality.

seau grateau

+ Scrod also sells the French 75

BigglyPuff

721 with a carbon fork is overkill for just a "grocery getter". You'd be getting those groceries in style. You talking like 5 mile rides and nothing more or what?

plowmanjoe

i have a vigorelli and the welds are much better than that posted picture.

it was posted in the great deals thread, 5 hundred something for 2012 frames. just not sure about the website.

bbattle

I think people tend to overthink these things. Decide what type of bike you want, check out the contenders in your price range, pick the one that fits you the best, and off you go.

Remember when you were a kid and just hopped on your bike and went riding? You didn't fret over the spoke count or the gear ratio or whether the head angle was 73 or 72.5 degrees. You just went riding and had a good time.

I sometimes wonder how some people get dressed in the morning or figure out what to eat for lunch. The myriad decisions must make their heads spin.

Nagrom_

If your tie doesn't match your shirt, it doesn't end up costing you hundreds of dollars.

seau grateau

For some people it does.

Nagrom_

You don't have to burn your hundred dollar tie play boy.

J_d_A

was thinking about building a thunderdome, but what about the Fuji track 2.0?

Kayce

You're all over the place dude. Figure out what kind of bike you want, then get back to us. Aluminum track frame is not specific enough. And now you have moved out from frame to complete bikes even.

J_d_A

I am not the OP. Just seeing if anyone has ridden the 2.0 or if its just not worth it

EpicSchwinn

Gotta agree with mihlbach on the welds point. If neither the thunderdome nor the french 75 have welds that look bad, you would need an x-ray and an engineer to tell you which one is structurally more sound. I've taken several years of welding classes (steel, but the principle still applies) and I've learned that you can make a very good looking weld that is structurally weak and you can make a less than perfect looking weld that is stronger than your pretty weld. I think Bones-mcbones' quote from lincoln electric backs that up. Visual inspection of a weld can disqualify it for cracks, pits, and warping but when neither bike shows obvious defects you can't really say which one is stronger by just looking at the surface.

As far as materials go, are the 75 and the thunderdome both made of the same grade of aluminum?