Winter and old steel

Chris Zacho 'The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

Yes, that's only common sense, but the double butting on the main tubes
should make it essentially invulnerable to collisions with icebergs.

Only if it's riveted.

On Thu, 8 Dec 2005 16:03:54 -0500, [email hidden] (Chris Zacho

The Wheelman') said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

IMO, you need to string Kevlar reinforcing cords through all of the
tubes, put about 250kgf of tension on them, and then fill the tubes
with epoxy foam to set them in place and put compressive loads on the
tubing. Don't use urethane foam; while it's cheaper, it will shear
off of the Kevlar. For best effect, foam the seatpost in place at the
same time. You'll also gain frame floatation in the process; by
keeping the water from filling the frame, the foam will help to keep
the bike afloat if you encounter an iceberg at speed and are thrown
over the bars. Beware of narwhals, though; they are reputed to be
drawn to the noise of the chain passing through the rear der.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
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Up until the middle 1950's the steel used in some tubing and shafting
exibited a tendency to break like glass when it was cold. This property
of steel was only discovered in the early 50's, and is referred to as
its "transition" from ductile to brittle behavior. The "transition
temperature" problem is why so many of these cars broke springs and
axles on nice cold frosty mornings. The possibility exists that a bike
made in the 50's or before could be made of this kind of steel. It would
break like glass if subjected to a good shock load.

It might happen, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

EJ in NJ

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

- -

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

Up until the middle 1950's the steel used in some tubing and shafting
exibited a tendency to break like glass when it was cold. This property
of steel was only discovered in the early 50's, and is referred to as
its "transition" from ductile to brittle behavior. The "transition
temperature" problem is why so many of these cars broke springs and
axles on nice cold frosty mornings. The possibility exists that a bike
made in the 50's or before could be made of this kind of steel. It would
break like glass if subjected to a good shock load.

It might happen, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

EJ in NJ

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

- -

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

Up until the middle 1950's the steel used in some tubing and shafting
exibited a tendency to break like glass when it was cold. This property
of steel was only discovered in the early 50's, and is referred to as
its "transition" from ductile to brittle behavior. The "transition
temperature" problem is why so many of these cars broke springs and
axles on nice cold frosty mornings. The possibility exists that a bike
made in the 50's or before could be made of this kind of steel. It would
break like glass if subjected to a good shock load.

It might happen, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

EJ in NJ

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

- -

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

Sorry about the tripple posting. My browser was acting up.

Ernie Willson said:

Up until the middle 1950's the steel used in some tubing and shafting
exibited a tendency to break like glass when it was cold. This property
of steel was only discovered in the early 50's, and is referred to as
its "transition" from ductile to brittle behavior. The "transition
temperature" problem is why so many of these cars broke springs and
axles on nice cold frosty mornings. The possibility exists that a bike
made in the 50's or before could be made of this kind of steel. It would
break like glass if subjected to a good shock load.

It might happen, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

EJ in NJ

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

- -

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"
"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

"Werehatrack" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Beware of narwhals, though; they are reputed to be
drawn to the noise of the chain passing through the rear der.

--
Typoes are a feature, not a bug.
Some gardening required to reply via email.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

So you'll want to trim the bike for silent running, as well.

Ken

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

I beleive that was an urban myth. The steel plate didn't break; it came
apart at the riveted joints.

Quoted message said:

Chris Zacho 'The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

Yes, that's only common sense, but the double butting on the main tubes
should make it essentially invulnerable to collisions with icebergs.

Besides, the waterproof compartments will mean it doesn't sink anyway.

Jasper

Zog The Undeniable said:

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

I beleive that was an urban myth. The steel plate didn't break; it came
apart at the riveted joints.

It didn't do either, it was gashed. Any sheet material will act like paper
if appropriate loads are applied.

Jasper

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

- -

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

apart from attention to rust, no extra care is required for winter
riding. unless your frame was very poorly brazed and the tube allowed
to recrystallize, the steel's brittle transition temperature will be
well below anything you're likely to ride in.

In article <4399d23a.0@entanet>,

Zog The Undeniable said:

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

I beleive that was an urban myth. The steel plate didn't break; it came
apart at the riveted joints.

Do you say that material did not fail?
that the material that passed unit testing at ambient
shipyard temperature was within specification at North
Atlantic Ocean temperatures?

I know that the theory was advanced, and specialists
examined cut faces of structural material retrieved from
RMS Titanic.

--
Michael Press

Quoted message said:

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.
Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

Ernie Willson said:

Up until the middle 1950's the steel used in some tubing

and shafting

Quoted message said:

exibited a tendency to break like glass when it was cold.

This property

Quoted message said:

of steel was only discovered in the early 50's, and is

referred to as

Quoted message said:

its "transition" from ductile to brittle behavior. The

"transition

Quoted message said:

temperature" problem is why so many of these cars broke

springs and

Quoted message said:

axles on nice cold frosty mornings. The possibility

exists that a bike

Quoted message said:

made in the 50's or before could be made of this kind of

steel. It would

Quoted message said:

break like glass if subjected to a good shock load.

It might happen, but I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

I regularly ride and frequently service bikes of the early
'50s and have never seen anything like that. Have you???

Reynolds 531 was the premium cycle steel then. It was
unchanged from the mid-30s through present. So what
happened in the fifties exactly???
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

jim beam said:

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

- -

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"
"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

apart from attention to rust, no extra care is required for winter
riding. unless your frame was very poorly brazed and the tube allowed
to recrystallize, the steel's brittle transition temperature will be
well below anything you're likely to ride in.

It is very doubtful that he will have any problem, however,steel was
made that had transition temperatures above zero degrees F. This is why
automobile springs and axles broke so regularly on cold days up until
the 1960's. I have had the pleasure of having two axles and four springs
break.

Ernie

Ernie Willson said:

jim beam said:

Chris Zacho The Wheelman said:

My Schwinn is made out of 1980's Columbus Tenax tubing, and the cold
days of winter are approaching.

Should I take extra care to avoid North Atlantic icebergs?

- -

Chris Zacho ~ "Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"
"May you have the winds at your back,
And a really low gear for the hills!"

Chris'Z Corner
http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

apart from attention to rust, no extra care is required for winter
riding. unless your frame was very poorly brazed and the tube allowed
to recrystallize, the steel's brittle transition temperature will be
well below anything you're likely to ride in.

It is very doubtful that he will have any problem, however,steel was
made that had transition temperatures above zero degrees F. This is why
automobile springs and axles broke so regularly on cold days up until
the 1960's. I have had the pleasure of having two axles and four springs
break.

Ernie

it's possible you had brittle transition be responsible, but much more
likely it was fatigue or in combination with fatigue. if you looked at
the fracture surface, cold transition fracture would look bright, shiny
and crystalline. fatigue would have a portion of the fracture surface
with characteristic "beach marks" on it.

detroit has shown very little interest in good materials processing or
production practice over the years - brittle transition was known well
before the 60's. total lack of interest or desire to progress is why
they still produce vehicles with leaf springs, solid axles, cast cranks,
etc. even today.