Crack on Reynolds 953 chain stay

[savine]

We built a frame last year for a customer out of Reynolds 953 which has now after only 500km had a crack appear on the top of chain stay. After being in contact with Reynolds they said it could be a material failure due to the manufacturing procces when ovalising the tube and have at some point changed the way this tube is now ovalised. Has anyone else on here had or knows of this problem occurring and how did Reynolds sort you out...ie; money for worktime or new tubesets.

[ulrich vogel]

Hi,

yes I had that problem too. Reynolds delivered a chainstay with a crack - I sent all chainstays back. Also the tip was about 17 mm and didn´t work with the dropouts I wanted to use.

Ulrich

[savine]

Cheers Ulrich, maybe they´re just off loading the crap tubes to us in Germany....LOL.

[GSmith]

They have replaced or offered credit for defective materials, but that doesn't come close to the total cost of replacing the product, never mind the loss of confidence with the customer. The problem (supposedly fixed) was a process switch that incorporated more cold working between annealing stages, potentially leading to micro-cracks. Appears to be fixed, but the damage was done when the defective materials flowed into the production universe (you don't find them until they crack in an already built bike...).

[Dave Anderson]

All tubing MFG's at one time or another have had product issues and the remedy, to my knowledge, has always been replacement of the defective product only. It is what it is. For me, the problem was also readily apparent during the build process as the bad stays cracked during mitering, or when squeezed in a vise. There was a very audible "crack" when they....cracked. The resulting crack was small and difficult to see without magnification, but it was there. Fortunately, for me, I noticed that the first one I used, out of the batch, had cracked, so none of the tubes made it into bikes. Reynolds stood behind them, and all of the replacement tubes, and all others received since, have been fine......I think Reynolds is a good company and 953 is a good product. I did not respond earlier because as a builder/finished product mfg, I think that the way to build customer confidence in any relatively new material, especially a good one like 953, is to stand behind the finished product and quietly work with the supplier for remedy should a problem develop. Placing related criticisms in a public forum hurts us all.....

Dave

[savine]

I think Reynolds have been very fair with what they´ve offered us and this happening ain´t put me off using their tubes, never had a problem before even as a kid always riding Reynolds tubed frames.

[GSmith]

Dave,

I'm not sure I understand your commentary. No one has more invested in Reynolds 953 than IF... not even close, so help me understand your perspective a bit more.

Gary

All tubing MFG's at one time or another have had product issues and the remedy, to my knowledge, has always been replacement of the defective product only. It is what it is. For me, the problem was also readily apparent during the build process as the bad stays cracked during mitering, or when squeezed in a vise. There was a very audible "crack" when they....cracked. The resulting crack was small and difficult to see without magnification, but it was there. Fortunately, for me, I noticed that the first one I used, out of the batch, had cracked, so none of the tubes made it into bikes. Reynolds stood behind them, and all of the replacement tubes, and all others received since, have been fine......I think Reynolds is a good company and 953 is a good product. I did not respond earlier because as a builder/finished product mfg, I think that the way to build customer confidence in any relatively new material, especially a good one like 953, is to stand behind the finished product and quietly work with the supplier for remedy should a problem develop. Placing related criticisms in a public forum hurts us all.....

Dave

[Dave Anderson]

Dave,

I'm not sure I understand your commentary. No one has more invested in Reynolds 953 than IF... not even close, so help me understand your perspective a bit more.

Gary

My post didn't have anything to do with IF. IF makes great bikes.

My only point, besides addressing the question about how Reynolds sorted me out, is that I think Reynolds is a good company and 953 is a good product, and I would hate to have anything that we might inadvertently say here affect how people feel about either.

Dave

[bellman]

My post didn't have anything to do with IF. IF makes great bikes.

My only point, besides addressing the question about how Reynolds sorted me out, is that I think Reynolds is a good company and 953 is a good product, and I would hate to have anything that we might inadvertently say here affect how people feel about either.

Dave

Thats exactly what I got out of it the first time around. Thanks Dave

[Freddy]

Guys, I have several first hand reports of cracks in seat tubes in the UK, from people I supply with brazing goods, these seem to be less these days?
Each case the tube was replaced by them, but that still leaves the labor at the builders cost.

Most of the cracks reported were not near any joints either?
This is all I can add, kinda makes for an uncomfortable situation.
But anyway it is not just Germany ?

Freddy

[Thylacine Cycles]

I really like Columbus XCR.

:o)