ok, i know some of it is my weight, i know some of it is the fact that track frames aren’t designed to be jumped off gutters and ridden down stairs, but why the the HELL have i just broken anouther frame?
does anyone know if running a front brake stresses the frame in ways not really envisaged by track frame designers?
i’ve now broken 3 frames in 6 months, 2 of them at the head tube.
i’ve been thinking that corkscrew stoppies might be a major reason, but when i break frames it’s usually at the bottom bracket.
anyway, any thoughts.
i’m just pissed cause i loved that old purple frame and now it’s all cracked round the headtube. same as the green frame.
oh well.
There’s your answer right there. Get a real bike.
examples being?
don’t like the geo of the steamroller (or the cost), and have trouble justifying $1200 for a soma.
what frame would you suggest?
looking for fairly tight, nice sharp handling, horizontal drop outs. a track frame in other words…
Get one built to your requirements. Tough and with tight geometry. Might cost alot. But if you never break a frame again, it’ll save you heaps in the long run.
Des
there is an author, guy named terry pratchett, who has an interesting view on moments like this.
one of his characters is the leader of the city watch. sam vimes. his thoughts go like this-
“the reason the rich were so rich was because they managed to spend less money. take boots for example. he earned $38 a month plus allowances. a really good pair of boots cost $50. but an affordable pair of boots, the sort that were ok for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out,cost about $10. those were the kind vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morporh on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.
but the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. a man who could afford $50 had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in 10 years time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent $100 on boots in the same time [b]and would still have wet feet![/b]
this was the captain samuel vimes ‘boots’ theory of socio-economic unfairness.”
and i can’t afford $1K plus on a good frame…
that’s fucking gold.
The Kona Paddywagon is a tig welded Dedaicci steel frame, comes with formula wheels, and is $999au complete RRP. Arriving mid december. Worth considering.
I also don’t believe that traditional framebuilders use significantly different tubesets or designs in building track vs road frames, aside from the obvious geometry differences. If anything, track bike tubing is likely to be a higher gauge for stiffness, as the double-century ride quality isn’t relevant.
- Joel
Don’t think any road or track frame is intended for this, whatever your weight…
MikeyD
Based on the terry pratchett rule you should go and hold up a 7/11 and buy yourself a straight guage Titanium frame. Not sure who does a straight guage TI track frame though??
If you put steel or aluminium forks on it you can treat them as sacrificial/discardable, they should fail well before the frame (unless the welds are bad).
Completely useless advice, plus I’d probably be the first in line with the bolt cutters to steal it if you did buy it, in theory it would solve your problem.
It sounds like you riding style and frame preferences are incompatible. Perhaps you should fix a SS specific MTB with a headtube gusset and make a frankenbike for work.
And I believe Vimes is now happily married to Lady Sybil Ramkin, the richest lady in Ankh. So all he ‘really’ has to do now is ask and he should receive! Simple, find yourself an ultra rich sugar mumma and you’ll be set 
Yes I am a Pratchett nerd! :oops:
nope, remember that in feet of clay she signed all her property and accounts over to him?
so all he has to do now is go buy his own. but i actually get what he’s talking about when he says that it’s the principle of not wanting to one of those people who can afford to buy what he wants.
i don’t want to be the sort of person who can buy a $12K cerelo TT bike, and still not ride it well.
oh well.
yeah, i’m a pratchett nerd too.
HAHAHA nerd fest! I stand corrected, and amen to that
How about a fixed mountain bike conversion, built up with a frame intended for suspension but with a shorter, rigid fork in it’s place (giving a steeper head angle, therefore quicker steering). Narrow as possible 26 inch slick tyres. Done. Not sure what frame to chose - any suggestions?
some bloke was over from the uk for cmwc, forget his name, riding a dmr (trailstar, i think), fixed, with 700c wheels and rigid (carbon) forks. very nice setup. forgo the pace forks and you’ve got yourself a tough, affordable ride, since dmrs are tough as f*ck and dirt cheap 2nd hand.
or, ask matt at kookie to build you a TIG’d and gussetted track frame. killer.
barspin, trackstand, sub 60" gear … sub 60 second standing 330m … same guy maybe?!
Maybe a singlespeed jump frame with a shorter fork? (dmr, kona, thousands of others)…
Anyone who has seen speedy steve the courier in melbourne will know this. Old dj frame, eno hub, 700c wheels, disc brake on the front. Rockin.
barspin, trackstand, sub 60" gear … sub 60 second standing 330m … same guy maybe?!
[/quote]Yup, that’s the one.