Drilling head tube lug for internal wiring?

[William!]

I'm interested in running internal dynamo wiring, front to back, on my Atlantis. There's already a good size hole in the BB shell, so I'm thinking all I need to do is drill a hole in the downtube in the head tube lug. Wiring would go up fork (the outside, held with twine or something), into the new hole, down the downtube, out the BB shell and through a hole in the rear fender, all the way around the fender inside it to a fender-mounted light at the rear of the bike. That's the thinking, anyway.

Yes, I'm really thinking bout putting a hole in my beloved Atlantis. Anyone done this and care to advise? Or perhaps you have a better idea?

[lungimsam]

Call RBW. They would know if it is safe or not.
You also may be voiding your frame's "un-warranty". So talk to RBW.

Idea: ask if it is ok to drill and braze on a tail light hole mount in the seat tube. You could run a wire there and use the Compass Cycles tail light they make for just that purpose.

[William deRosset]

William!,

Drill through the lug, no bigger than you need to clear the wire + a piece of heat-shrink reinforcement, and deburr carefully.  It'll be fine, esp. if it is a heavy downtube (like that used on the Atlantis). Alex Singer has done this for over seventy years and it hasn't been an issue. Deburring is not optional here--you don't want a stress-riser due to a rough edge to your drill hole.

If you were dealing with a bike without lugs (welded or fillet brazed), then you would need to silver on/in a reinforcement, as the underside of the downtube at the head tube is pretty highly stressed in regular use.

I will bet a lightly-used Clement cycling cap to a dozen cans of smoked herring that Rivendell isn't interested in telling you it is okay. 

Grant is pretty well known for exceptionally conservative (read stiff to dead) frame tube choice, and he justifies building these fantastically-stout frames in part out of fear that he'll see a failure come back. The Atlantis is a very, very stout bike.

Best Regards,

Will

William M. deRosset

Fort Collins, CO

[Will]

You might want to go here:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/rbw-owners-bunch/wiring|sort:date/rbw-owners-bunch/5SHrMMET5_M/nYrL5VYSK38J

And read Anton's posts, look at his pictures. He's got this knocked.

Will

[Joe Broach]

See Jan Heine's posts in the pre-Google archives for instructions on drilling the frame:

http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=internet-bob.10712.0128.eml

http://search.bikelist.org/getmsg.asp?Filename=internet-bob.11002.0674.eml

I'd gotten up the nerve to do this, but local builder Tony Pereira talked me out of it. Now, it's possible that was because of the person asking the question...

If you drill it, report back!

Best,

joe broach

pdx or

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[dougP]

The Atlantis has 4 factory drilled holes on the DT for the water bottle bosses.  Surely the lugged HT area is pretty stout, and the wire doesn't have be very big.  I would assume any customer modifications like this void any warranty. 

As a point of reference and not to encourage you in any way, I performed all manner of ham fisted butchery to my Atlantis fork, included TIG welding, drilling, brazing & grinding things off to move them, and it survived just fine (the metal, not the paint).  Rivendells are not delicate.  YMMV. 

dougP

[Jan Heine]

Drilling a hole for a lighting wire should only void the warranty if that is what causes the problem. So if your frame fails, and the crack clearly started at the hole, you wouldn't want to make a warranty claim. But if your frame fails where the downtube enters the bottom bracket shell, no reputable company will claim that drilling a hole in the headlug somehow caused that failure... (And Rivendell is a reputable company.)

It's interesting when I show around people who've never been inside a frame shop. They are shocked at what they see – all the frame parts are discolored from soaking off the flux. After brazing the frames get aligned by yanking on them with brute force. To the untrained eye, it all looks very rough. Yet the frames are stronger than what you could make in an aseptically clean factory... So drilling a tiny hole in the headlug (away from any stressed areas, of course) isn't a big deal.

Speaking of not aseptically clean factories, during a recent visit to Panaracer, we got to meet quite a few of the engineers. It was very encouraging to see that many had rubber stains on their shirts, indicating that they actually made prototype tires and were involved in the making of things! Same thing at Nitto... If you only get to meet the guys in suits with clean hands, it always a bad sign!

Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
www.bikequarterly.com

Follow our blog at http://janheine.wordpress.com/