on 1/19/11 11:56 AM, williwoods at willh...@yahoo.com wrote: > Just curious if anyone agrees with various statements/opinions about > the clear powdered Rivendell frames I have received on some other > forums.
"Rule One About Rivendells: Don't Talk About Rivendells on Other Forums..." ;^) Sorry... could _not_ resist that. > > Personally im not too worried about it and I love the visual effect of > the pattern (see link of pics I provided above), much prefer the > texture over it being totally clean. I find it pretty interesting looking. That is a dynamite looking bicycle. > I havent had my frame long enough to know if the rust effect is > growing over time or if its the same as it was when it left RBW HQ. > Any other raw frame experiences? It's possible that people are confusing the idea of clear-coating frames with clear powder coating. A few years back, there was a short-lived trend to clear coat frames to show off the industrial nature of the TIG welds - the discoloration and metal scorching being a kind of tribal tattoo of toughness. This did not work well, as clear coating - the layer that you put over traditional "wet" paint finishes - is semi-porous. That means that enough air can get through to encourage the oxidation process. I saw frames go from no rust to completely rusted in a few months. It was not slow. Clear powdercoat is different. It has much less permeability. I'd be surprised if those rust areas changed much over years. As others mentioned, if you see a steel frame being put together, it's amazing how much surface rust is visible. If it were mine, I'd take some photos and measurements and put it in a file somewhere for reference. If I were worried, I might take it to a framebuilder to have that person evaluate it directly. Someone who is observing it directly and has familiarity with steel tubes and their processes is who I'd trust. Then I'd go ride the heck out of the bicycle. Because it's steel, even _IF_ that rust was going to cause failure, it's steel, and it would fail slowly and predictably. - Jim -- Jim Edgar cyclofi...@earthlink.net Cyclofiend Bicycle Photo Galleries - http://www.cyclofiend.com Current Classics - Cross Bikes Singlespeed - Working Bikes Gallery updates now appear here - http://cyclofiend.blogspot.com "I had to ride slow because I was taking my guerrilla route, the one I follow when I assume that everyone in a car is out to get me." -- Neal Stephenson, "Zodiac" -- 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-bunch@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.
