Raleigh Technium Team - 753 With Lug Cracking
Jerry T. Kearns
excellent condition. The bike is built with bonded (not brazed) Reynolds
753 tubing. The lug connecting the top and seat tubes is cracking. I
called Raleigh and was told they would send me a replacement frame under
warranty. My concern is that Raleigh does not make 753 tubing frames and
would likely send me an aluminum frame.
Should I take the bike to a frame builder to repair the frame, or accept a
replacement frame from Raleigh? Does Raleigh make any decent frames now? I
had heard they have become a strictly low end bike company in recent years.
Tim McNamara
<reilly...@uswest.net> wrote:
I had a Raleigh Super Course that I bought in 1984; in about 1994 the
frame developed a crack where the left seat stay was brazed to the seat
lug. I was told by the Raleigh dealer that I would receive an
equivalent steel frame. Instead, Raleigh USA replaced what was a
really rather nice frame with a Technium piece of crap. It was the
most horribly designed frame I have ever seen from a reputable
manufacturer: an aluminum main triangle glued to a steel rear triangle
(with chainstays about 50 cm in length); shifter bosses that were
actually a bolt-through arrangement through the down tube (via a hole
about 1/2" in diameter on both sides of the tube) that came unscrewed
in the middle of a ride, eliminating any ability to shift the bike; a
brake cable stop on the top tube that was so close to the headset that
the cable housing had to be kinked and the rear brake was unuseable.
And those are only the *good* features of the frame. It handled like a
not particularly cooperative truck. As a result of this experience, I
will never consider buying a Raleigh product again.
Moral of the story: look long and hard to find someone who can repair
your frame, or verify *exactly* what frame you will receive as a
replacement from Raleigh and *insist* that you get a comparable, steel
frame. Raleigh had reportedly largely abandoned the "screwed and
glued" method of frame construction (which is after all what hold
airplanes and Colnago C40's together- it is a very viable construction
method) and they *do* make some top-drawer frames still.
Alex Rodriguez
says...
>
>I have a Raleigh Technium Team -753 all Dura Ace road bike, in generally
>excellent condition. The bike is built with bonded (not brazed) Reynolds
>753 tubing. The lug connecting the top and seat tubes is cracking. I
>called Raleigh and was told they would send me a replacement frame under
>warranty. My concern is that Raleigh does not make 753 tubing frames and
>would likely send me an aluminum frame.
>
>Should I take the bike to a frame builder to repair the frame, or accept a
>replacement frame from Raleigh? Does Raleigh make any decent frames now? I
>had heard they have become a strictly low end bike company in recent years.
I would get a firm answer from raleigh as to which frame from their current
line up they would send as a replacement. Then decide which way to go.
--
---------------
Alex __O
_-\<,_
(_)/ (_)
Sheldon Brown
>
> I have a Raleigh Technium Team -753 all Dura Ace road bike, in generally
> excellent condition. The bike is built with bonded (not brazed) Reynolds
> 753 tubing. The lug connecting the top and seat tubes is cracking. I
> called Raleigh and was told they would send me a replacement frame under
> warranty. My concern is that Raleigh does not make 753 tubing frames and
> would likely send me an aluminum frame.
Raleigh has a very good record of standing behind their frame warranty.
> Should I take the bike to a frame builder to repair the frame, or accept a
> replacement frame from Raleigh? Does Raleigh make any decent frames now? I
> had heard they have become a strictly low end bike company in recent years.
Current Raleigh frames are fine...very Cannondalesque. In any case,
you've got no other option, because no framebuilder can fix this. The
special lug is not available from any source, and it can't be
brazed/welded without wrecking the glue joint to the top/seat tubes.
Sheldon "They Don't Do 'Technium' Any More" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
+--------------------------------------------------------+
| My father: |
| http://www.sheldonbrown.com/george_matson_brown.html |
+--------------------------------------------------------+
Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772, 617-244-1040 FAX 617-244-1041
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/harris
Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
Pierre
isn't, but I'm wondering why would anyone bond steel tubes? What possible
advantage could there have been to using such a method?
Pierre
Alex Rodriguez <ad...@columbia.edu> wrote in message
news:7kiojk$6lp$2...@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu...
> In article <lLza3.67411$uo1.1...@news.uswest.net>,
reilly...@uswest.net
> says...
> >
> >I have a Raleigh Technium Team -753 all Dura Ace road bike, in generally
> >excellent condition. The bike is built with bonded (not brazed) Reynolds
> >753 tubing. The lug connecting the top and seat tubes is cracking. I
> >called Raleigh and was told they would send me a replacement frame under
> >warranty. My concern is that Raleigh does not make 753 tubing frames and
> >would likely send me an aluminum frame.
> >
> >Should I take the bike to a frame builder to repair the frame, or accept
a
> >replacement frame from Raleigh? Does Raleigh make any decent frames now?
I
> >had heard they have become a strictly low end bike company in recent
years.
>
Sheldon Brown
>
> I have a Raleigh Technium Team -753 all Dura Ace road bike, in generally
> excellent condition. The bike is built with bonded (not brazed) Reynolds
> 753 tubing. The lug connecting the top and seat tubes is cracking. I
> called Raleigh and was told they would send me a replacement frame under
> warranty. My concern is that Raleigh does not make 753 tubing frames and
> would likely send me an aluminum frame.
>
> Should I take the bike to a frame builder to repair the frame, or accept a
> replacement frame from Raleigh? Does Raleigh make any decent frames now? I
> had heard they have become a strictly low end bike company in recent years.
Current Raleigh frames are fine...very Cannondalesque. In any case,
Jerry T. Kearns
Pierre wrote in message ...
>Just curious, but you say it is a bonded steel frame? I'm not saying it
>isn't, but I'm wondering why would anyone bond steel tubes? What possible
>advantage could there have been to using such a method?
Reynolds 753 tubes are relatively thin walled, and thus fairly light.
However, to have thin walled tubes with sufficient strength, the tubes are
heat treated. Reynolds would only sell 753 tubes to frame builders upon
demonstration that they are qualified to braze such tubes without
overheating. If the tubes are overheated during brazing, they are annealed,
thus destroying their mechanical properties and resulting in frames that
will break, thus giving Reynolds a bad name. The point is that it takes a
skilled frame builder to braze a Reynolds 753 frame. To avoid having to use
skilled frame builders, Raleigh used aluminum lugs in combination with epoxy
to bond the 753 tubes together, thus avoiding any potential to overheat the
tubes during frame construction.
Jerry
>
>Pierre
>
>Alex Rodriguez <ad...@columbia.edu> wrote in message
>news:7kiojk$6lp$2...@newsmaster.cc.columbia.edu...
>> In article <lLza3.67411$uo1.1...@news.uswest.net>,
>reilly...@uswest.net
>> says...
>> >
>> >I have a Raleigh Technium Team -753 all Dura Ace road bike, in generally
>> >excellent condition. The bike is built with bonded (not brazed)
Reynolds
>> >753 tubing. The lug connecting the top and seat tubes is cracking. I
>> >called Raleigh and was told they would send me a replacement frame under
>> >warranty. My concern is that Raleigh does not make 753 tubing frames
and
>> >would likely send me an aluminum frame.
>> >
>> >Should I take the bike to a frame builder to repair the frame, or accept
>a
>> >replacement frame from Raleigh? Does Raleigh make any decent frames
now?
>I
>> >had heard they have become a strictly low end bike company in recent
>years.
>>
Pierre
Pierre
Jerry T. Kearns <reilly...@uswest.net> wrote in message
news:abtb3.105$LW2....@news.uswest.net...
Glenn
Sheldon Brown <Capt...@sheldonbrown.com> wrote in message
news:376D170E...@sheldonbrown.com...
> Sheldon "They Don't Do 'Technium' Any More" Brown
Uh-oh...
Sheldon and other friends, this latest discussion regarding Raleigh's
Technium frames has presented my son (Aaron) and I with a real dilemna
(well, however you spell it).
Aaron is a rapidly growing 13-year-old, currently too wise for criteriums.
He was riding an old Trek 330 road bike for several months, but out-grew it
this Spring. (His Mom rides it now and is very happy he out-grew it so
fast...) We were essentially given, by a kind Senior rider from the
Tarwheels cycling club, TWO bikes a size larger for him to continue on.
Both have six-speed freewheels, indexed with downtube shifters.
One is a Raleigh Technium with aluminum main tubes apparantly "screwed &
glued" to a steel rear triangle. It has a decal saying it is a "Pre", which
I am guessing is the model name. I have not been able to find out anything
more about this model, but the frame seems fine to Aaron. He describes it
as both stiff and bouncy (not at all like a truck). He is riding it
comfortably on 45 mile rides averaging 15+ mph and can deal with 16-17 mph
on our afternoon 11 mile hilly loop.
The other is even more of a mystery to us. It is a Performance Bike, a
"Vitesse", made in Taiwan, of "Tange Infinity tapered, Double Butted CroMo"
tubing. To my eye it appears to be a much better put-together frame, with
cleaner drop-out brazing and a much more sensible design as far as strength
goes. It may be a hair heavier, but its hard to feel much difference. It
has a rather nice looking fork with the top all one smooth curved piece
instead of having a cast crown. Like all steel Performance bikes I've seen,
it has a crappy paint job with some corrosion popping up from underneath
here and there. I've never heard of the "Vitesse" and don't know where else
to ask about it. The stickers say it was designed in the USA by Performance
Bikes. I doubt they'd remember anything about it.
Maybe people here can remember one or the other of these bikes so we'll know
more about what Aaron is riding. We are thinking we'll need to sell one so
he can continue to ride the other until he out-grows it, and the Raleigh
Technium Pre is about 1/2" larger both in the top tube and the seat tube
than the Tange Vitesse.
Glenn
(sorry, no valid return address anymore)
Sheldon Brown
> Sheldon and other friends, this latest discussion regarding Raleigh's
> Technium frames has presented my son (Aaron) and I with a real dilemna
> (well, however you spell it).
>
> Aaron is a rapidly growing 13-year-old, currently too wise for criteriums.
> He was riding an old Trek 330 road bike for several months, but out-grew it
> this Spring. (His Mom rides it now and is very happy he out-grew it so
> fast...) We were essentially given, by a kind Senior rider from the
> Tarwheels cycling club, TWO bikes a size larger for him to continue on.
> Both have six-speed freewheels, indexed with downtube shifters.
>
> One is a Raleigh Technium with aluminum main tubes apparantly "screwed &
> glued" to a steel rear triangle. It has a decal saying it is a "Pre", which
> I am guessing is the model name. I have not been able to find out anything
> more about this model, but the frame seems fine to Aaron. He describes it
> as both stiff and bouncy (not at all like a truck).
For riders in the weight range of even heavier-than-average 13 year
olds, frame stiffness is a non-issue...they're all stiff for light riders.
> He is riding it
> comfortably on 45 mile rides averaging 15+ mph and can deal with 16-17 mph
> on our afternoon 11 mile hilly loop.
>
> The other is even more of a mystery to us. It is a Performance Bike, a
> "Vitesse", made in Taiwan, of "Tange Infinity tapered, Double Butted CroMo"
> tubing. To my eye it appears to be a much better put-together frame, with
> cleaner drop-out brazing and a much more sensible design as far as strength
> goes. It may be a hair heavier, but its hard to feel much difference. It
> has a rather nice looking fork with the top all one smooth curved piece
> instead of having a cast crown.
That's called a "unicrown."
> Like all steel Performance bikes I've seen,
> it has a crappy paint job with some corrosion popping up from underneath
> here and there. I've never heard of the "Vitesse" and don't know where else
> to ask about it. The stickers say it was designed in the USA by Performance
> Bikes. I doubt they'd remember anything about it.
>
> Maybe people here can remember one or the other of these bikes so we'll know
> more about what Aaron is riding. We are thinking we'll need to sell one so
> he can continue to ride the other until he out-grows it, and the Raleigh
> Technium Pre is about 1/2" larger both in the top tube and the seat tube
> than the Tange Vitesse.
The Techniums are light, and many people like them very much...evidently
your son is one of them. Since it's lighter, he likes it, and it has
more "growing room" I wouldn't place much weight on the fact that the
house brand bike may be a bit prettier.
Then again, you probably wouldn't be able to sell it for much,
either...how 'bout making it into a fixed-gear for him?
See:
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed.html
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/fixed-conversion.html
Sheldon "Broken Record (Anybody Remember Records?)" Brown
Newtonville, Massachusetts
+------------------------------------------------------+
| If a man does not keep pace with his companions, |
| perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. |
| Let him step to the music which he hears, |
| however measured or far away. -- Thoreau |
+------------------------------------------------------+