957 Seat Tube Crack

[mcnisiv]

I finally got around to having my 957 looked at by a local frame builder and here is what he said.  To repair the frame would cost anywhere from $350-$400 (OUCH!!).  He and his assistant were very nice and spent quite a bit of time looking at the issue and this is what they recommended instead.  Get a 25.4 to 27.2 shim and insert it into the seat tube and then get a new 25.4 seat post and that should provide enough structural stability given that 1) my girlfriend weighs 115 lbs, 2) the seatpost will be ALL the way down till it hits the tab stop at the bottom of the seat tube.  

I'd love to get his fixed but not for that kind of money so I'm thinking of trying his solution.  The strange thing is that the bike has been ridden maybe 10 times at most and probably closer to like 5 times.  It's been in storage for years so I'm not sure how the crack even happened in the first place.  The frame builder thought it clearly looked like a defect in the frame.

Anyways, what do you all think?  I've included a picture of the crack below.

Thanks,
Nisi

[shovelon]

The water bottle block is the problem. It will eventually break on the other side too and then it will be a major problem.

The correct seatpost size is 27.2, and you should indeed trim it as to rest on the weld stop at the bottom of the mast. I think shims are going to allow even more movement and hasten breaking off the entire section.

Both my 957s cracked there. Once the blocks are off, no problem.

Terry