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rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike



 
 
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  #1  
Old December 19th 03, 10:57 AM
Ric
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Default rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike

I have a Mercedes bike and the top tube has cracked just near the weld to
the headstock. Despite the bike being just two years old and having done on
ly 2200km, Mercedes are undecided whether to repair this under guaranty.
They have not ruled out a warranty repair completely, but it is is currently
being deliberated at a higher level. In the meantime I am thinking it may be
easier just to get the frame rewelded. Is this a complete waste of time?
Might it be worth getting fillets welded in to support the new weld?

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  #2  
Old December 19th 03, 07:04 PM
Zog The Undeniable
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Default rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike

Ric wrote:
I have a Mercedes bike and the top tube has cracked just near the weld to
the headstock. Despite the bike being just two years old and having done on
ly 2200km, Mercedes are undecided whether to repair this under guaranty.
They have not ruled out a warranty repair completely, but it is is currently
being deliberated at a higher level. In the meantime I am thinking it may be
easier just to get the frame rewelded. Is this a complete waste of time?
Might it be worth getting fillets welded in to support the new weld?

As they said on r.b.t, yes it is a waste of time.

  #3  
Old December 19th 03, 07:49 PM
Ric
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Default rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike


"Zog The Undeniable" wrote in message
...
Ric wrote:
I have a Mercedes bike and the top tube has cracked just near the weld

to
the headstock. Despite the bike being just two years old and having done

on
ly 2200km, Mercedes are undecided whether to repair this under guaranty.
They have not ruled out a warranty repair completely, but it is is

currently
being deliberated at a higher level. In the meantime I am thinking it

may be
easier just to get the frame rewelded. Is this a complete waste of time?
Might it be worth getting fillets welded in to support the new weld?

As they said on r.b.t, yes it is a waste of time.

But how long will it last? Given that aluminium frames don't last forever
anyway, is rewelding not a viable option? I only do 2000km or so per year on
this particular bike, so if it lasts a year between rewelding it will be
worthwhile.

  #4  
Old December 19th 03, 08:12 PM
Tony Raven
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Default rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike

Ric wrote:

As they said on r.b.t, yes it is a waste of time.

But how long will it last? Given that aluminium frames don't last forever
anyway, is rewelding not a viable option? I only do 2000km or so per year on
this particular bike, so if it lasts a year between rewelding it will be
worthwhile.


Not worth the bother as he said. You need to know the type of alloy, give it
the proper heat treat cycle, source the same alloy if you want to add
strengthening plates etc etc

You could just weld and not heat treat it but I wouldn't ride such a frame -
you'd never know when it was going to fail on you

Accept it - if they won't replace it, scrap it and get a new frame. Sorry

Tony



  #5  
Old December 19th 03, 09:35 PM
Simon Brooke
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Default rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike

"Tony Raven" writes:

Ric wrote:

As they said on r.b.t, yes it is a waste of time.

But how long will it last? Given that aluminium frames don't last forever


Aluminium frames may not last forever, but Cannondales (for example)
are guranteed for the lifetime of the original purchasor, so someone
at Cannondale is pretty confident they're good for at least fifty
years; which is as near 'forever' as I'm interested in.

anyway, is rewelding not a viable option? I only do 2000km or so
per year on this particular bike, so if it lasts a year between
rewelding it will be worthwhile.


Not worth the bother as he said. You need to know the type of
alloy, give it the proper heat treat cycle, source the same alloy if
you want to add strengthening plates etc etc

You could just weld and not heat treat it but I wouldn't ride such a frame -
you'd never know when it was going to fail on you

Accept it - if they won't replace it, scrap it and get a new frame. Sorry


And, for heaven's sake, get one from a reputable manufacturer - not a
car-maker's advertising department.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Women are from Venus. Men are from Mars. Lusers are from Uranus.
  #6  
Old December 20th 03, 03:22 AM
Dave Kahn
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Default rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 20:35:02 GMT, Simon Brooke
wrote:

And, for heaven's sake, get one from a reputable manufacturer - not a
car-maker's advertising department.


Strange that they make a car that last for ever, but their bike frame
falls apart within 2 years.

--
Dave...
  #7  
Old December 20th 03, 09:13 AM
Ric
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Default rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike


"Dave Kahn" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 20:35:02 GMT, Simon Brooke
wrote:

And, for heaven's sake, get one from a reputable manufacturer - not a
car-maker's advertising department.


Strange that they make a car that last for ever, but their bike frame
falls apart within 2 years.

My Mercedes car is two years old to and is also a pile of junk. But that's
enough about cars...

Incidentally the Mercedes bike is built by a specialist bike manufacturer in
Germany. It is just labelled and marketed by Mercedes. The name of the
manufacturer is something like "Berton" (the Mercedes people did not know
exactly) but I can't find anything like that googling. Any hints? If I can
trace the manufacturer, I suspect they will be more reasonable than Mercedes
about replacing the frame. If not I'll just have to try welding the frame
up. The reason I want to keep the bike if poss is that it folds (albeit
rather clumsily) and is rather useful.

  #8  
Old December 20th 03, 10:26 AM
Tony Raven
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Default rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike

Ric wrote:

Incidentally the Mercedes bike is built by a specialist bike manufacturer in
Germany. It is just labelled and marketed by Mercedes. The name of the
manufacturer is something like "Berton" (the Mercedes people did not know
exactly) but I can't find anything like that googling. Any hints? If I can
trace the manufacturer, I suspect they will be more reasonable than Mercedes
about replacing the frame. If not I'll just have to try welding the frame
up. The reason I want to keep the bike if poss is that it folds (albeit
rather clumsily) and is rather useful.


I thought it was an AMP - http://www.amp-research.com/oem/foldingbike.htm

Did you buy the bike or did it come with the car. It would be worth checking
with eg Citizens Advice Bureau or Office of Fair Trading about your rights.
Mercedes cars come with a three year warranty so it may be that that covers
the bike if they were supplied together. You may also have some statutory
rights - e.g they were not fit for purpose - against them or the
Finance/credit card company if they were involved. Know your rights and
then tackle Mercedes. Do not rely on them to know or volunteer your rights.

As an aside, when I was buying a Merc earlier this year I got a quote from a
dealer and asked the local dealer if he would match it. He complained about
other dealers undercutting their prices, wanted to know who had given the
quote and said he was going to complain to Mercedes about the other dealer. I
politely asked if they were trying to operate retail price maintenance. He
went very quiet and I took my business elsewhere.

Tony









  #9  
Old December 20th 03, 11:09 AM
Just zis Guy, you know?
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Default rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike

On Sat, 20 Dec 2003 02:22:03 +0000, Dave Kahn
wrote:

[ Mercedes]

Strange that they make a car that last for ever, but their bike frame
falls apart within 2 years.


Not since the W124 they don't. The bean counters told them to stop
overengineering.

Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://chapmancentral.demon.co.uk
  #10  
Old December 20th 03, 02:05 PM
Simon Brooke
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Default rewelding aluminium frame - Mercedes bike

Dave Kahn writes:

On Fri, 19 Dec 2003 20:35:02 GMT, Simon Brooke
wrote:

And, for heaven's sake, get one from a reputable manufacturer - not a
car-maker's advertising department.


Strange that they make a car that last for ever, but their bike frame
falls apart within 2 years.


The thing is that the 'Mercedes' bike wasn't made by Mercedes. It was
made by an industrial design company called AMP Research, who had no
previous experiecne of designing or building bicycles. The most
important aspect of the design brief, according to AMP's
self-congratulatory write up, was that

'it symbolized the car marker's new, more youthful brand
image.'

Great way to build a bike.

--
(Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; Women are from Venus. Men are from Mars. Lusers are from Uranus.
 




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