Salsa Ala Carte – worth repairing?

[zepreeme]

I’ve been after a Salsa Ala Carte for a while but haven’t been able to find a frame for sale.
A friend of mine owns this one (1991?), but it has a nasty crack in the seat tube near the bottom bracket – probably caused by rust.

What do you think? Is it worth trying to have it repaired?

I’m not sure if it would be possible to fix just that area, or if the whole seat tube would need to be replaced. Since it’s lugged at the top, that might make things more complicated.


If it is repairable, who would you recommend for the job? It would also need some careful touch-up or repainting in the repaired area.

Thanks,
Martin

 

[miles2014]

Is there a hole through, from the bottom bracket?
Seems to be Made by Rust. If you want to Ride it often, you should unpaint and See reality...
If Not: get 1cm around the crack carefully unpainted, then weld...

Worth? Not a Penny.

 

[zepreeme]

Is there a hole through, from the bottom bracket?
Seems to be Made by Rust. If you want to Ride it often, you should unpaint and See reality...
If Not: get 1cm around the crack carefully unpainted, then weld...

Worth? Not a Penny.

Thanks for your reply. There’s no visible rust or any hole inside the bottom bracket area actually.

Stripping the whole frame would probably be counterproductive, I think paint is one of the standout features on these frames.

Has anyone here had experience with a similar repair before?

 

[mubi]

Thanks for your reply. There’s no visible rust or any hole inside the bottom bracket area actually.

Stripping the frame would probably be counterproductive, I think paint is one of the standout features on these frames.

Has anyone here had experience with a similar repair before?

repairing this without damaging the paint?
i think the procedure you want to hear/read from us hasn't been invented yet.

 

[zepreeme]

I’ve updated my reply I meant stripping the entire frame.

For repairing a section, I do understand that some paint removal would be necessary — and maybe even a tube replacement.

I haven’t dealt with an issue like this before, which is why I’m asking for advice.

 

[Edelziege]

Hi Martin,

most likely it can be done with just replacing a few inches of the lower end of the seattube.
The good thing with this frame is that the paint in the area will be gone, but this paint scheme is good to repair locally.

Best Regards,
Georg

 

[goofyfooter]

I’ve been after a Salsa Ala Carte for a while but haven’t been able to find a frame for sale.
A friend of mine owns this one (1991?), but it has a nasty crack in the seat tube near the bottom bracket – probably caused by rust.

What do you think? Is it worth trying to have it repaired?

Anhang anzeigen 2266498

I’m not sure if it would be possible to fix just that area, or if the whole seat tube would need to be replaced. Since it’s lugged at the top, that might make things more complicated.

Martin

Hi Martin,

you need a reliable diagnosis 1st. Someone needs to remove the rust, and some paint to see the actual crack in the seattube, where it goes and stretches, not the paint split, which is irrelevant, really.

What I can tell you by looking at the BB Shell thread is straightaway: The material crack, if it is one, was not caused by inside corrosion. Then, the shell's inside surfaces and thread would be highly corroded, too.

I agree with the idea to save the upper lug and try a minimal repair, but to know if this is sufficient as a structural fix you need to have this assessed by a frame builder. However, due to the high temps involved, you will loose a lot of paint around the BB Shell's area - even with the minimal repair option.

I think the frame is worth the effort and I hope you find the right craftsman. Good Luck!
regards, Martin

 

[zepreeme]

Thanks for the replies. Since the bottom bracket shell appears to be in good shape, I’ll reach out to a few frame builders to explore repair options.

Cheers,
Martin