Tube damage - what happened?

[mayan42]

An opinion/full up manifesto from a Newby Hack:

It's time to cut your losses. Find a wall that needs decoration and apply #1 to it. On a steel bike frame a full up tube replacement by a pro is only worth it if you are extremely emotionally attached to the frame or it has serious historical value. Frame #1 does/should not have anything close to either.

I completely disagree, if its not good enough to ride, then its certainly not good enough to look at. And anyone that says they have no emotional attachment to the first frame they ever built must have a heart made of stone!

I do agree that its probably not "worth it" from a financial point of view, but I could have bought a "better" (aligned, built, painted etc etc) frame for a lot less than I've invested in this frame. The first frame is a journey more than a final destination, and my journey may be a little bit longer than some, but it will be more interesting!!

I will definitely ride this bike..............

[savine]

Just take your time heating it up, it's simple enough in theory to do though I'm no expert and have up till now only replaced a couple of top tubes and they had been silver brazed. Have a pop at it and don't forget it's all a learning process.

[Will Neide]

I completely disagree, if its not good enough to ride, then its certainly not good enough to look at. And anyone that says they have no emotional attachment to the first frame they ever built must have a heart made of stone!

I do agree that its probably not "worth it" from a financial point of view, but I could have bought a "better" (aligned, built, painted etc etc) frame for a lot less than I've invested in this frame. The first frame is a journey more than a final destination, and my journey may be a little bit longer than some, but it will be more interesting!!

I will definitely ride this bike..............

Keep plugging away and keep having fun. Build a bunch more frames and then you'll probably forget about frame #1.

[DevinL'Ecu]

Disclaimer- I build in carbon, not lugged steel.

Your frame is already compromised- use it to learn, try all ^ those techniques with the mindset that if it kills your lug you can cut out another tube and try a different technique. With luck, you can make (and learn how to fix) 5 bikes worth of problems with this single frame! You're sitting on a goldmine!

ESPECIALLY because YOU built this one- you know everything about it, so you're not just shooting in the dark on some random frame. That's huge, and it sounds like you're more invested in making better frames down the line. Good luck, and definitely shoot some pictures. We love pictures.