While steel is quite weldable, welds are strong in the tension direction. They not strong in the transverse direction in general, and being harder and more brittle than the base metal, they are more prone to cracking under the repetitive bending that the saddle frame flex delivers than the base metal alone is. Having said that, there are specialty welding alloys with increased ductility, but more expertise is required to use them than you are likely to find in a typical "buzz box" garage weld operation.
I'd recommend asking Brooks if you can send the saddle back and have THEM put your leather top on a new frame. Best, Bruce --- On Thu, 12/2/10, scott <clankbonesh...@gmail.com> wrote: From: scott <clankbonesh...@gmail.com> Subject: [RBW] Broken Rail on a Brooks To: "RBW Owners Bunch" <rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com> Date: Thursday, December 2, 2010, 2:47 PM Hey Gang, My bike has felt extra bouncy lately. Filled up the tires today and they were low. Still bouncy. Looked at my brooks saddle rails and one of them is broken. Looks like it has been that way for a little while, too. So, good news is that the other rail is strong, bad news is its broken. This saddle has 10,000 plus miles easy. Lots of touring time. So, I don't want to replace it because the top is so perfectly broken in, and there is a ton of nose bolt left. I know I can get a replacement frame from Wallingford ($31), or I can have my roommate weld it for me and see how that holds up. The saddle is not under warranty (about 5 years old or so). So my question is if any of yall have welded a busted rail or replaced a frame? Tips? Hints? Make me feel better cuz I'm a bit bummed (pun?) about this. Thanks Scott in Chicago -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bu...@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
