Worn out alu track ends...

The track ends on my winter beater are looking pretty worn out - it's an aluminium frame with no protection on the track ends. 20 years of use and they've lost more than few mms of metal.

Should I be worried about this - could I find the frame snapping off at the rear end? Is there anything I can do about this eg, add steel track end protectors (has anyone ever retro fitted those without going to a builder)?

I love the frame so don't want to retire it. My current solution to keeping good chain tension is to use some MKS tensioners, which also adds a few mms back i guess.

Any advice much appreciated!

thanks

M-X

maybe get some goldtecs, they use smooth alu cups, so they shouldn't take off any more material

Something other than the track ends will blow first on a 20 year old alu frame.

Ha true - it's definitely got a bit of character...at least the fork is steel

M-X.

I have a similar problem with my Pearson AN6 track frame. It's about 7 years old and only has stainless steel inserts on the outside of the dropouts to protect the aluminium from the knurled facing of track nuts. Problem with this, is that to get the track nuts to grip properly against the stainless steel surface the unprotected inside face of the dropouts gets mashed by the knurled surface of the hub locknut!

I'm going to track down some Stainless steel inserts. File back the inside of the dropouts until flat again and then simply drill and tap the dropouts to accept the steel inserts. Is all you need is a pistol drill, correct sized drill bit and a cheap carbon steel tap/holder and you can fit them easy.

yer doing well on 20 year old aluminium frame... have you checked it for cracks recently? :)

Ta!