My Dawes of (im)Perfection.

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!

Muuuuuuuhhhhm!

"Me bike has got a hole in it!".

A question for the grown-ups, is it normal for a bike to rust like this on a chainstay? I noticed it the otherday when I was giving Aldous a post-winter rides fettle.

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...see the hole? Should I be concerned?

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Sadly, yes. It looks like the frame is corroding from the inside. It'll fail at some point fairly soon.

This.

Time to retired the frame, it cost more to repair than to replace it with a similar one.

Oh bum.

Same frame that's been eaten and spat out by a BMW......

Looks like tyre rub/mud rub may have pinholed the tube as well.
+1 with others, rust damage will be internal, matter of "when" not "if" the chainstay will fail.

Time for a new project bike, this one has served you well.

Oh bum (again).

Yep, the same bike. You've got a good memory Mr 853, it survived being bitten by the badman car, I reckon I've done another 1500-2000 miles on it since then.

I did a monster London Loop + Thames Tickler on it Thursday day, all 62.3miles of it...

Just read this entire thread from the beginning it's like an emotional rollercoaster! Genuinely heartbroken for you if you have to get a new frame!

Thats a f@cker!!

I'm not saying it's going to work in your case but I had a similar thing happen once and got it welded at a friend's, filed back the worst of the weld, sprayed some linseed oil inside the frame and on the rusty surface bits. Rode the bike another two years after that.

The main problem is that wether this is an isolated issue or not.

I think it's safe to assume that this bike doesn't have "isolated issues" :-)

I'd really like to see this get fixed. Why not take it in to a frame builder for some new chainstays? In this world of rampant consumerism, it would be nice to see something get fixed rather than get thrown away.

Ta for all the commiseration posts folks, I'm very touched (in a politically correct non-physical way I hope you understand).

While I'm pondering what to do I've decided to take a more 'motherly' approach to the repair...

It used to work for me whenever I made a hole in meself!

Needs a ziptie round the band-aid.

Them things fall off me at the slightest hint of moisture.

What size frame is the Dawes ? looks like a small one, 52cm ? you might get lucky if the size is common knowledge (nudge nudge, wink wink) guess a 57x57 is too big.

I'm happy to give you a new frameset I have lying around for free, it's a Kogswell Model G with a 1 1/8 to 1" threaded headset (fork IS original, that how it is), this mean you can run a 1 1/8 threadless set up, 120mm spacing, lots of braze on for all kind of shit, and basically a budget functional Surly Steamroller with an extended headtube.

Top tube is 55cm, and seat tube is 53cm.

http://yojimg.net/bike/kogswell/kogswell_docs/Model%20G/Model%20G.pdf

It's very upright, got all the mount, it ride nice, and a great replacement to the Dawes, also have long reach brakes.

It's this one;

It can be build up like this;

@FatManOnAFixie you'd better take him up on that offer quick before the hyenas catch scent of this. Very generous.

Woweeeee, I'm stunned by the offer, thanks Ed.

I'll nip down the shed and take some measurements from the wounded Dawes to see if the Black Beauty is in the same ball park size wise. I'm short in height and also have very short legs, so I'll measure FOMOAF too.

Back in a bit.

I'm short in height and also have very short legs.

This is why, the Kogswell will fit you better and the longer headtube mean you won't run out of stem, or if you wish to fit says a Cross-check fork, you can and run the steerer as high as you can.

Aaaah, I see, one of things I like about the Dawes is that (I feel) it fits me so well.

This is him...

and his vital statistics are...

Okay, following your measurement and from the picture of the bicycle itself, the Kogswell will fit you better.

It got 54cm seat tube (only 0.5cm bigger), and a 55cm top tube (1cm shorter), the headtube is extended so longer than your current one, meaning you can lower the stem, and lower the angle of your stem to extend it a bit to compensate for the shorter top tube.

Send me a PM and I'll arrange it for you to collect, it have been powdercoat and is a modern frames meaning there's very very little chance of having a similar issues to your current Dawes.

Nice one @edscoble !

#spiritoftheforum

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Not 'arf! Its a very generous offer and I'll make sure Ed gets some nice new shiny hooves and a Unicorn horn polish gift set.

Spirit of Aldous lives too, rah rah rah! I'll have to think of a new name for the bike now....hmmmm....