At 1/14/2010 11:14 AM -0500, marcus.e.helman@gm.com wrote:
>Dale Brown sent a link to a Raleigh Pro with oversized seat stay caps. I
>have always thought the oversized caps looked sloppy, like the builder
>could not be bothered to do the work necessary to get the caps flush with
>the stays. Is this just another esthetic approach to ending the seat
>stays? Is there more to it than that?
Definitely more to it. With a fairly thick seat stay there is a decent amount of contact area between the edges of the stays and the cap. You also should get a bit of a mini fillet on the inside but you can't inspect it to be sure. With thinwall stays there isn't much contact area so an oversized cap ensures an area for a tiny fillet on the outside. Technically superior, aesthetically not so much.
Flush is much easier for a solo builder. But a factory can have the oversized caps die cut and will have a fixture to accurately hold everything for brazing.
With flush caps you sometimes see failures, even with thick stays.
Mark Stonich;
BikeSmith Design & Fabrication
5349 Elliot Ave S. Minneapolis, Minnesota 55417 USA
Ph. (612) 824-2372 http://bikesmithdesign.com
http://mnhpva.org