N-1! My beautiful roadie had a minor mishap last night!

[human909]

Late night riding and looking backwards to talk to the lass behind you isn't the smartest of moves. Even if whatever you were trying to say was charming, it loses its affect when you smash head long into the curb at 30kph. As you can see the frame is toast. The front wheel is touching the down tube. Fortunately the body and pride is remained mostly intact, I went over the handlebars but landed on my feet.

For the time being I'll remain N-1. I have a few other bikes in the stable. At some stage I'll resurrect this bike with ultegra gear as I have an identical frame in the garage.

(The incident was totally self inflicted. Definitely eligible for the "Dumb Cyclists" thread. Though I'm not really that annoyed that I've lost the bike, as I'm simply very thankful that I didn't get hurt.)

[il padrone]

Early 90s aluminium !!

You're lucky that fork was still in one piece and serviceable...... before the prang Aluminium does not work well as a flex element.

[human909]

Early 90s aluminium !!

Yes. It is so early that the frame is epoxied and not welded. The forks aren't original, probably mid 90s.

You're lucky that fork was still in one piece and serviceable...... before the prang Aluminium does not work well as a flex element.

I felt the aluminium frame managed to flex very well!. Unfortunately it stayed flexed!

[Wakatuki]

Wow crumple zone.... I hope she had nice airbags,

Glad your ok and sorry for you loss

[ausmomo]

Even if whatever you were trying to say was charming, it loses its affect when you smash head long into the curb at 30kph

I went over the handlebars but landed on my feet.

Mate, I'm 105% heterosexual but that turned me on a little. For you, I'm 104%!
She's probably run out to buy a wedding dress today.

[il padrone]

ausmomo, that is a tad unsettling

[jules21]

Early 90s aluminium !!

Yes. It is so early that the frame is epoxied and not welded. The forks aren't original, probably mid 90s.

i was about to say IP was wrong, as i'm sure they didn't have welded aluminium frames back then..

[il padrone]

i was about to say IP was wrong, as i'm sure they didn't have welded aluminium frames back then..

Klein Bicycles - Gary Klein

In 1975, Gary Klein built a limited run of aluminium framed bikes. Prior to that, aluminium was thought to be insufficiently stiff as a frame material, but he pioneered the use of thicker tubes and novel welding methods.[1] He started Klein in around 1985[4] producing high performance, light-weight bikes.

[human909]

Yes. Its very early aluminium. In fact its high magnesium 5056 Aluminium. Its reasonably light though nothing amazing by today's standards but they are quite beautiful frames hence my choice. As I said I do have another frame in the garage that is ready for a modern groupset fit out.

This is how I want my 'new' one to look.


More pics here.

An old skool brochure

[zero]

Epoxied joints look to be vastly superior than the fatiguing brittle heat affected zones that result from welding aluminum tubes together.

The only problem with the epoxy is it losing its strength, but their process seems to have held up well.

[human909]

Wow crumple zone.... I hope she had nice airbags,

Glad your ok and sorry for you loss

Thanks for the sympathies. No injuries and it was a blast of a night so all good!

While the aforementioned lass had stopped her bike and was busy frantically asking if I was ok, I was kneeling over my bike frantically checking if it was ok! I did manage to limp the bike home though any use of the front brake caused the front wheel to touch the down tube and the bike to buck me off!

The top tube is actually has a tensile shear tear going through half of the tube!

Epoxied joints look to be vastly superior than the fatiguing brittle heat affected zones that result from welding aluminum tubes together.

The only problem with the epoxy is it losing its strength, but their process seems to have held up well.

Yes, I've had zero issues with the frame. The narrower tubing means its less stiff but stronger than modern fames of similar weight. Its always puzzled me why these epoxied frames existed and what changed that cause a shift to welded frames.

[Wakatuki]

It's a bloody good looking frame that.

I hope your new build looks like the picture.
As much as I love my foil real bikes make me go a bit wide eyed and almost say ahh, love the clean lines and skinny tubes. Hence keeping the Raleigh.
Can someone explain to Pam three bikes each is not enough! As the male I am allowed four

[zero]

Yes, I've had zero issues with the frame. The narrower tubing means its less stiff but stronger than modern fames of similar weight. Its always puzzled me why these epoxied frames existed and what changed that cause a shift to welded frames.

The brochure holds the key. Welded frames are not precise, their proper interference fit for bonding is. ie largely manual tiawanese fabrication factories were likely better suited to welded processes with less required precision (afaik SR mostly did production in Taiwan).

Real shame that frame got bent, I must say.

[il padrone]

real bikes make me go a bit wide eyed and almost say ahh, love the clean lines and skinny tubes.

That reminds me, must go downstairs and put the CW roadie back together. It's been way too long since we last rode

[il padrone]

Yes, I've had zero issues with the frame. The narrower tubing means its less stiff but stronger than modern fames of similar weight. Its always puzzled me why these epoxied frames existed and what changed that cause a shift to welded frames.

The brochure holds the key. Welded frames are not precise, their proper interference fit for bonding is. ie largely manual tiawanese fabrication factories were likely better suited to welded processes with less required precision (afaik SR mostly did production in Taiwan).

That brochure only talks about constructing bonded aluminium frames with two different techniques. I'm no expert here but I think a few bicycle manufacturers and frame-builders would take issue with the idea that "welded frames are not precise". Any framebuilder will use a precision frame-jig to set and align all angles and lengths.

[g-boaf]

Late night riding and looking backwards to talk to the lass behind you isn't the smartest of moves. Even if whatever you were trying to say was charming, it loses its affect when you smash head long into the curb at 30kph. As you can see the frame is toast. The front wheel is touching the down tube. Fortunately the body and pride is remained mostly intact, I went over the handlebars but landed on my feet.

For the time being I'll remain N-1. I have a few other bikes in the stable. At some stage I'll resurrect this bike with ultegra gear as I have an identical frame in the garage.

(The incident was totally self inflicted. Definitely eligible for the "Dumb Cyclists" thread. Though I'm not really that annoyed that I've lost the bike, as I'm simply very thankful that I didn't get hurt.)

Ouch! I'm surprised you came out of it without injuries. Sounds like one hell of a departure from the bike.

[human909]

Ouch! I'm surprised you came out of it without injuries. Sounds like one hell of a departure from the bike.

Years of practice as a kid coming off bikes has meant on the few occasions where I do now come off I normally land on my feet or roll tumble without injury. Still I am thanking my lucky stars on this one, it could have been alot worse. Completely careless riding.

(I did manage to break a metacarpal in my hand 2 months ago in a tumble that I had mountain biking. The broken bone actually occurred from impact through handlebars rather than when I struck the ground. Fortunately I healed up fine in 3 weeks.)

[mattwilkinson]

How much would one of those frames set you back?

You got insurance?

[human909]

How much would one of those frames set you back?

You got insurance?

No insurance. The bike was a bargain of $330 off Ebay 5 years ago Ultegra600 groupset with the amazing Mavic 501 hubs. The spare frame cost me $150 off ebay and is in excellent condition, better than the one I've been using. I believe the frames were very pricey when when new twenty years ago.

A search reveals few forum members with them including a whole thread on the bikes.
viewtopic.php?f=23&t=36143" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[jacob_T]

Sucks about the crash.
Are you saying you have two litage's?
That's wild!

Did it all hold together alright at the joins? I've always had this thought in the back of my mind that the glue might have perished.

Here's mine. Was semi inspired by that same build you posted.

[human909]

Sucks about the crash.
Are you saying you have two litage's?
That's wild!

Yeah I bought the second frame because it was cheap and in top condition. My intention has always been to get a nice build together when time and just as importantly money are available. But the existing one that I had did the job perfectly fine so I had no justification to spend the $$$. I honestly find 14 speed and down tube shifters work just fine. Though now that I'm without a good roadie I have already started checking out online prices for the build. It will be hard to find some matching forks as the spare frame I have doesn't have forks. My existing ones seem undamaged but the bike took a big blow so I think the smart move is new forks.

My commuter got a flat tire a few weeks ago and I've been too busy/lazy to repair it. So I've been commuting on my roadie.

Did it all hold together alright at the joins? I've always had this thought in the back of my mind that the glue might have perished.

No observable change. The joins predominately interference fit interface the glue really doesn't bear much load at all. But If you are worried I'll happily take your bike off you hands.

Here's mine. Was semi inspired by that same build you posted.

Beautiful.


A similar Vitus frame for $700 US unused!!

[jacob_T]

Yeah! I personally prefer the litage's over the vitus', but that may just be because I have one

Munga had a carbon vitus come apart on him at the bottom bracket, which is part of what got me semi worried.

But as far as I know the superior construction method talked about in the advertisement makes a difference (litage's being made with this, and vitus'/Alan's with the inferior method).

They're definitely very nice looking!

Mine always starts a few convos in the bunches.

[human909]

Mine always starts a few convos in the bunches.

I experienced the same on the occasions when I join the Sunday crowds . It was always good for a chat. The rest of the time she was just a beautiful bike to ride around to the pubs, restaurants and shops.

When I do get around to rebuilding my bike I'll make sure I post it here. But for the next few weeks and most likely months I'll be riding my faithful commuter or an old unexciting Giant roadie.

[munga]

if you're looking for a fork for your other sakae litage frame, have a very good look at early 90's cannondales. you often see them being discarded with broken frames, but the forks are rarely damaged. wonder why.

[Jean]

if you're looking for a fork for your other sakae litage frame, have a very good look at early 90's cannondales. you often see them being discarded with broken frames, but the forks are rarely damaged. wonder why.

Apart from the nature of Cannondale frames (as an ex-owner I'll so no more), the alu forks were so unrelentingly harsh that anyone who could swapped them out for carbon (well I did anyway). Mine sat in the garage for years and I probably threw it in the bin eventually - best place for it! Alu forks -