Rivendell and Planing - proof?

[Mackenzy Albright]

I recently acquired this orange Clementine. We all know early generations paint are negotiable. However, I find the crack patterns quite interesting. Obviously, given the cracking location and direction leads me to believe that this puppy planes! Move over kasai tubing. 

*note. hint of satire here. but also am curious about the flex quality of step through frames. I've found them to feel as spritely as anything. 

[Mackenzy Albright]

opposing side. 

[Mike Godwin]

Dramatic for sure!

Mike SLO CA

On Thursday, August 25, 2022 at 3:15:37 PM UTC-7 Mackenzy Albright wrote:

[iamkeith]

That's what you get for catching big air too many times!  Perhaps the real flaw of step-through designs is that the generous standover height (read: low-consequence crotch clearance) encouages aggressive rididing or attempting of tricks.  In seriousness, it's oo bad you don't/can't  know the real history because anything else we offer would be speculation.  Still... knowing myself, that WAS something I intuitively worried about when i opted for the high-bar (clem) version.  I didn't/don't have the same concern with the gus/susie hillibikes.

[Brian Turner]

Wow. That is interesting. Maybe a bit concerning?? So, did you grind the paint off in those sections just to see the extent of it, or are you planning to try to repair the paint job?

[Mackenzy Albright]

I actually know the original owner of the frame. It's been set up in a few iterations. Notably with a nitto campee rack, large basket, and child carrier. I'm assuming it has hauled a fair amount of weight in it's day. I am rebuilding the frame as a light trail / fire road mountain bike. The cracks were noticed while the initial negotiations of the purchase of the frame. We sanded them down to make sure there was no issues with the tubing itself. I am confident there is no structural issues with the frame. (not that I can do ultrasounds, but assume cracking would appear on the outside as opposed to internally) 

The paint itself is way too thick and chipping out quite bad in a lot of spots. It kind of has a consistency of M&M's. I am guessing any amount of flex of vibration would have and will cracked the paint. I have a Marino MTB with a similar issue with its powder-coating. It just gets small cracks anywhere there is any flex. 

I really love the clementine orange despite it's lacklustre quality, so may do the "fingernail polish" method of just spot covering up the chips. Lean in to the "beausauge" 

The only broken mixte i've seen sofar is the overloaded susie. I'd wager this frame will continue to last and not too concerned about issues with breaking even with light mountain biking. If it does break at any point, I'd be happy to do a full report of the conditions that lead to it! and probably get a frame builder to fix it and add in a top tube for the heck of it. 

[Wesley]

As far as I know, that shift lever is unique - what is the story there?

-W

[Scott Luly]

Unless an 800lb gorilla was previous owner, that's concerning, for sure. If it's a result of tube bending, I would think evidence may exist elsewhere; as tube bending likely would also occur at junction of DT/BB shell, DT, and/or junction of DT/HT.

I'm curious as to source of paint being ground off, too. Some relation to cracks?!

Do tell:)

Scott

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[Mackenzy Albright]

Initially the paint was Sanded before the sale was made to ensure there was no damage to the tubing. I have since additionally picked off a few more loose chunks and sanded a bit more to prevent moisture buildup and rust. I'll probably finger nail polish it at some point to protect. I honestly think the actual cause of the cracks in the paint is just from contaminants or poor quality. Maaaaybe not flex. :P

As for the shifter, I was working on installing my rear derailer chain and cassette...with the reverse rapid rise the derailer was in the way for chain sizing and I didn't have a tandem cable. I had an old Simplex/huret thumb shifter that happened to fit on the downtube support. And with a little drillout was able to use a problem solvers noodle pulley that lined up the cabling perfectly to the bottom bracket. I gave it a short ride and decided to keep it for now as it's actually fairly accessible and easy to use. More out of the way for mountain biking which is what this bike is being built for. See how it holds up! I guess that spot is the same diameter as a bar. Sooooo could maybe do that with another higher quality hinged thumby.