Paul, I don't know....as I zoom in on your picture showing the rear of the seat tube it starts to look suspicious. The tube is definitely rippled below the lug with two visible cracks in the paint and possibly some distortion along the length of the tube (?). Doug's thought that the bike may have been ridden with a seat post inserted to a shallow depth would seem to fit.
I'd probably mount a seat post inserted just to the bottom of the lug and then inspect the cracks closely while manually levering it fore and aft, looking and feeling for any sign that they might be opening up under the pressure. Regardless, using a long seat post sounds like a good idea. Steve On Sunday, March 23, 2025 at 4:42:28 AM UTC-4 [email protected] wrote: > Hey Doug! > > Thanks for your answer. I'm definitely fine riding the bike like this. > Indeed with a seat post in the tube the area is reinforced and for sure > there won't be any surprise accident because of the crack. > > I want to make sure to even identify it as a crack in the steel instead of > just the paint because I don't want rust to start eating in further. What > did you mean by buckled? And by that 'nothing else happens' do you mean, > safety wise or in terms of the crack developing? > > To me it looks like there was a hit on the nose of the saddle once, and > the back of the seat lug received the pressure. > > Paul > > On Sunday, March 23, 2025 at 3:53:26 AM UTC+1 Doug Van Cleve wrote: > >> Hey Paul. >> >> From the pics, it looks a bit buckled to me but I’d be surprised if the >> steel is actually cracked. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a thing >> before… The only scenario I can think of, or something like that could >> happen is if the seat post was only inserted into the lug, down about to >> where it looks tweaked? Weird. >> >> I agree that renting a seat post that extends well below that area should >> be perfectly “safe” and should ensure nothing else happens. I guess the >> question is, are you OK with it? >> >> Doug >> Chandler, AZ >> >> >> On Sat, Mar 22, 2025 at 6:39 PM Paul Schlumberger <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >>> Hi everyone, >>> I just received my Sam Hillborne frame bought second-hand and noticed a >>> crack just under the back of the seat post lug. >>> >>> Though I hate to admit it, it looks like a crack in the steel. There are >>> two thin dark lines visible from the outside, and a sort of 'dent' inside >>> on the opposite. I am attaching pictures. >>> >>> Can anyone from the group second my guess? Did any of you have a similar >>> case on one of your Riv frames? >>> >>> And what would you do in my situation? The person I bought it from >>> hadn't noticed it and was riding the bike fine despite the crack. Should I >>> just put a long seat post (which reinforces the area anyway, unlike a >>> cracked head tube or bb shell) and ride the bike like this? >>> >>> I can't yet imagine bringing it for repair at a frame builder because >>> buying the frame in the first place was quite a stretch in budget for me. >>> >>> I'd love to hear your thoughts and advice! >>> Cheers, >>> Paul >>> >> -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/6008d037-845f-4ac1-a322-153d03d4695bn%40googlegroups.com.
