When It Rains...

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K'Tesh

.....OpenRocket's ..... "Chuck Norris"
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This year hasn't been the easiest for me. Cut off from building by a lack of funds, and supplies. When I finally catch a break and get a better job, I still can't build for at least 2.5 months.

Can it get any worse? Need we ask?

It did... I've been hearing the most annoying creaking noise from my bike for awhile now. It seemed to be tied to the seat post. So, after greasing it, the noise stops for a day or two. I'd heard a loud crack (which sounded like a spoke breaking) and felt something, but inspections didn't turn up anything. I dismissed it as a rock that must have been kicked up by a car and hit the bike. The creaking has been getting worse, and when I took it into the shop, they did the same thing I did. Looked it over for cracks, and finding none, greased it again, and off I went. A couple of days ago, I went to a closer shop, and the same round inspection, and lubrication followed. Sound disappeared... Until I started home after work. Get home, inspect, nothing. Today, the sound was was really driving me nuts. I went to a 3rd bike shop, now thinking that the sound was originating from the seat itself. The mechanic cleans out the all grease (on the inside, the outside was clean), and reattaches the seat. Then he spots something. In forcing the seat back and forth, a clear crack has appeared where the top tube meets the seat post, meets the seat stays. If the crack were to completely join, the seatpost could be pulled out from the seat tube without tools. Of course, the TREK dealership is 5K away, and I have to be at work tomorrow.

The bike's a 2015 TREK 8.5. So, with a little luck, it will be covered under warranty (again)... If not, I'm looking at basically a month's pay to get a new bike that is similar in quality to this one.

Murphy was an optimist.
 
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When it rain it pours indeed. If not under warranty, is there a welder nearby that can weld-over the crack for a small fee?
 
I look with hope for your first post of something good/happy/fun happening for you over there.
 
I look with hope for your first post of something good/happy/fun happening for you over there.

It was fun when my mom came over.

There's a couple of parties coming up for Thanksgiving (one from work, another for foreign teachers).
 
I'll send you some Carbon Fiber if you need it. I hear that that works well as a wrap on bike frames and parts.
I have enough to spare, but will have to scrounge up some money to ship it.
For now I'm just going to say a prayer for you that you get what you need and are well.
You really need to come home!

Can you wind it with wire tensioned very tightly, then solder the wire in place and do a few layers of that?
I'm no bike mech, just an idea. I know from experience that hose clamps don't handle active joints well, but maybe one or two of them saturated with epoxy, or soldered or even brazed into position may hold?

I've used individual strands from fiberglass wall repair tape to wind around fractured wooden tool handles, then saturated them with CA followed by Epoxy and those mends are still going strong, even staying out in the weather and all.
 
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Rode through the rain to the bike shop today (5K), and showed them the crack. Now, I've got to wait to see if the bike shop has both a copy of the receipt (which they do) and a proof of purchase (I don't know about that) for a warranty replacement.

The guys at the shop were optimistic that I'd be able to get a new frame, rather than need to replace the whole bike. While I like the sound of all new parts, a new frame would work, and if it turns out that I need to buy a frame, it'll likely be cheaper than replacing the whole bike.
 
^ TR's got my zip tie solution beat all to heck. Good luck finding JB Weld in the land of rice paper!

Zip tie - Ha!

I was thinking more along the lines of Hose Clamp :)

That 8.5 - that's actually a seriously nice set of wheels.
Trek's headquarters are located in Waterloo Wisconsin where they actually manufacture about 1% of all the bikes they sell. This is actually a pretty hot-topic in Wisconsin.

So having a breakdown or defect while in China... that's not completely a bad thing. Gotta look on the bright side :cool:
 
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