A little over a week ago the left bracket that holds the shifting cable on my down tube popped off while I was shifting. Luckily for me it was for the front chain ring and not the rear- so I can still ride. I’ve talked to my LBS where I bought the bike and they’ve talked to the manufacturer. I have 3 options to repair it. By the way I have IMLP coming up- so speed is important.
Send it back to the company (in Italy) for repair. Then I’ll be without a bike for a few weeks I imagine.
Have the shop braze (sp?)- steel bike- it back on, so then I’ll need to get the bike re-painted. Quick, but how expensive and how long will it take to re-paint my bike. It’s already got some ships and scratches in the paint.
Have a local bike/frame builder drill a hole in the frame and rivet the nob back on. Probably the quickest and the frame manufacturer will pay for it. How well will this hold? Is it more of a temp fix to get me through IMLP? Will the integrity of the frame be affected?
Based on your need to get it back in time, drill a hole and rivet it on. Any good shop can do that or framebuilder. I wouldn’t send the frame to Italy to get fixed, there are plenty of frame builders here that can repair it and repaint it for you. Where are you located?
simply have somebody braze that thing back on with some brass, and shoot a little rattle-can primer over it for now. better old-schoolish shops can do it, or any welder in town. i would guess 15 bux or so.
send it out for a repaint later. most bike - specific repainter/powdercoaters will likewise do simple braze-on work for a nominal fee.
I’m having a local framebuilder rivet the piece back on. I just dropped the bike off this morning and will pick it up tomorrow. The LBS assured me it would not affect the frame integrity. It will be paid for by the frame manufacturer and I won’t have to worry about re-painting the bike. I’m located near Harrisburg, Pa and the frame builder is Joe Williams.