Bought the street trek! But upon inspecting it a second time, I noticed the frame was re-welded where the headtube meets the downtube. I talked the seller down to $70, as I would use the parts even if I decide not to ride this frame.
Someone obviously cared about this bike at some point. It has a custom front rack and bag support, ritchey logic headset/new fork, custom-ish fender setup, campy brifters, welded-on cable stops to take modern shifters, and a custom taped-on trek logo lol.
At the same time, everything is a little sketchily done, custom welds arent great, and the frame was hand painted (can see the brush marks).
The bike honestly feels great, it fits me well, but I am a little sketched out by the downtube/headtube weld.
So the question is:
Should I ride this bike (after refurbishing it), or harvest the parts for other builds and not use the frame?
by jularch33
7 Comments
I mean that does not look like a real Trek sticker. But it is stamped on the seat stay so it’s legit
Not a good sign. Please take a photo of the intersection of the top tube and the head tube from the side in detail.
You’re fine bud. Rewelded can be better than original. Consider removing the paint to see the repair if it’s really bugging you.
Looking forward to the next update where paint stripper reveals what’s hiding under all that gloopy paint!
Btw those shifters are worth about what you paid on their own, so I think you got a good deal!
Looks like it was welded. With JB-Weld.
Might not be too terrible but I’d want to see what is underneath that fine-from-10-foot paint job to be sure. That’s not a place I’d want to have poorly repaired cracks.
I wouldn’t, but this sub is a unique place where people love front derailleurs and bar ends, so people will most likely say it’s good to go. Just be safe dude.
Thing is, it’s not “re-welded”, as the frame wasn’t welded originally. It’s lugged and brazed and someone (jb?-)welded over the lug and head tube. This can’t be a proper repair. I’m really down for sketchy shit but this I don’t like.
I’d be happy about a good deal to fill up your parts bin and keep looking for a new project frameset/bike