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Water in the frame?


Zula

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So as you all know JHB has been rather wet of late. So yesterday on our ride through the cradle @ about the half way point the heavens opened and left us a pleasant 30k's or so of terrential rain. Fun!

 

I lifted the bike of the wall rack tonight and heard the sound of water in the frame.

 

So....

 

Is this bad?

 

I thought of removing the seatpost but I dont have a torque wrench and Im too scared to tighten the seatclamp without one.

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Just take it out, mate. And when you're re-tightening it, don't crank it over with all your might. You can judge how tight it should be when you loosen it. Water in the frame could be a problem...

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So as you all know JHB has been rather wet of late. So yesterday on our ride through the cradle @ about the half way point the heavens opened and left us a pleasant 30k's or so of terrential rain. Fun!

 

I lifted the bike of the wall rack tonight and heard the sound of water in the frame.

 

So....

 

Is this bad?

 

I thought of removing the seatpost but I dont have a torque wrench and Im too scared to tighten the seatclamp without one.

 

I drilled small holes in the under side of the BB cups of all my Tandems and half bike. Most are NOT under guarantee any more and I do not care a damn about guarantees of those that are.

 

It may affect your guarantee though...... make your own choice

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I drilled small holes in the under side of the BB cups of all my Tandems and half bike. Most are NOT under guarantee any more and I do not care a damn about guarantees of those that are.

 

It may affect your guarantee though...... make your own choice

 

I respectfully decline

 

:huh:

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Just take it out, mate. And when you're re-tightening it, don't crank it over with all your might. You can judge how tight it should be when you loosen it. Water in the frame could be a problem...

With a carbon frame, tighten the bolt until you hear a crack, then loosen a little bit and you good to go.

Only kidding, if you feel you are tightning too hard, you probably are.

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I respectfully decline

 

:huh:

 

If you're worried about it, speak to Johan Bornman. All frames should have a 5mm drainage hole on the bottom of the bb. Ghost and the Momsen frames have them, to name a few....

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I drilled small holes in the under side of the BB cups of all my Tandems and half bike. Most are NOT under guarantee any more and I do not care a damn about guarantees of those that are.

 

It may affect your guarantee though...... make your own choice

I'm gonna do this as soon as the warrenty lapses on the frame. I don't know why the factory does not do this, it makes no structural weakness by having a 5mm or-so hole in a BB shell, even carbon is ok.

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Ive left it upside down for the past half hour or so and most seems to be out through the headset.

 

Not ideal by no means, but hey better out than in as I always say.

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Ive left it upside down for the past half hour or so and most seems to be out through the headset.

 

Not ideal by no means, but hey better out than in as I always say.

 

The water flushing the grease out of your headset bearings will really not do your bike any good.

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The water flushing the grease out of your headset bearings will really not do your bike any good.

 

Well im not going to drill a hole in it.

 

What do you suggest?

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Take the seatpost out, probably the most simple action you can perform on your bike, taking a seat post out or washing dirty water through your headset, hardly comparable.

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So as you all know JHB has been rather wet of late. So yesterday on our ride through the cradle @ about the half way point the heavens opened and left us a pleasant 30k's or so of terrential rain. Fun!

 

I lifted the bike of the wall rack tonight and heard the sound of water in the frame.

 

So....

 

Is this bad?

 

I thought of removing the seatpost but I dont have a torque wrench and Im too scared to tighten the seatclamp without one.

 

Zula

 

I take it that you have a carbon frame (based on the fear factor)

If you do not have holes in the down tube for bottle cage bolts that you can undo, then fear not and try this.

 

If you do not have a torgue wrench, this is the general rule of THUMB for tightening to the correct(ish) torque.

If your clamp bolt is 5 or 6mm allen, take an extended lever allen key, support it in the four fingers of your GOOD hand, with your thumb placed like this :thumbup: just below the end of the long leg. Place the short leg into the bolt and tighten using the pressure of your thumb only, until you can push no more. If you check with a torque later, the difference will be minimal.

 

Ali and steel welded frames should have small holes present at the rear dropouts (at least), for release during welding and powdercoating. Standing the bike front wheel up sometimes allows drainage, as there are holes inside tubes at all joints that will allow the water to get through to this point.

 

If you are going to be drastic and drill holes, perticularly in the BB shell, don't forget to ensure that you: 1 - remove the BB and its water seal tube before you do. 2- always ensure that same is installed when new BB cups are installed.

 

Hope that helps.

 

DRILL CARBON FRAME - eiiish! :unsure:

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using a torque wrench to tighten a seatpost bolt is like using a 747 to tow a glider. Total overkill.

 

Just remove it, and re-tighten when all the water has been released from the frame. It's not rocket science. Plus, you'll need to know how to do it if you need to adjust the height on the fly. Are you going to take your torque wrench with you on each ride?

 

I thought not.

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