Hi all, I had a talk with a fellow like minded workmate the other night about this, over a beer of course. We tried to work out how an ALAN frame would go soft, as alloy like some other non ferrous metals, work hardens with age and use. Yes there is something to agree with on fatigue, but any car or diesel mechanic will tell you that copper washers get hard with age and need softened with heat to make sthem seal again, just like any coachbuilder will tell you about making an alloy bodied car. The panels need heated so he can make then soft again to work with.
I'm thinking maybe its the loctite getting soft thru fatigue causing the soft ALAN's, anyone out there thinking the same?...........wayne davidson in clear nighted Invers NZ.................
Jan Heine wrote:
> The life of a frame is determined more by good design and careful
> workmanship than by the material. There are plenty of stories of
> production bikes with lugs that had stress risers, and the frames
> cracked...
>
> I have broken two bikes in my life:
>
> - American-made custom, silver-brazed steel frame. The fork crown
> lasted 4000 km and 7 months. A poor design, even though the brazing
> was top-notch.
> - Alex Singer, brass-brazed steel frame. That frame lasted 35 years
> and at least 120,000 miles until a dropout cracked. Can't complain
> there... even though Ernest Csuka said that the later Huret vertical
> dropouts weren't as good as the earlier ones.
>
> I have an Alan cross bike that I bought well-used, and which I rode
> for many season both in cross and on the road. Still holding up...
>
> So generalizations about materials are of little use. The same applies
> to ride quality. The Alan rides wonderfully and climbs better than
> most bikes, yet a modern OS aluminum bike we tested rode nothing like
> that. I have ridden wonderful steel bikes and others that performed
> poorly.
>
> Given the choice between a modern production steel bike with thickwall
> OS tubing and the Alan, I know which I'd pick... Similarly, a
> "on-topic" hand-built sport-touring bike with Reynolds 531
> "Super-Tourist" tubing didn't work as well for me as a modern custom
> carbon bike we tested a while ago.
>
> What matters is what you do with the material, which tubing you use,
> and how you use it...
>
> Jan Heine
> Editor
> Bicycle Quarterly
> 2116 Western Ave.
> Seattle WA 98121
> http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com