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Frame Rust-Through — Ritchey Annapurna

From http://groovycycleworks.blogspot.com/2011/07/bottle-opener-goes-to.html and http://www.topshelfbikes.com/?p=34 as of 2012/10.

Frame had 11 corrosion holes of various sizes, including seat tube (7), down tube (3), and chain stays (1). All were within 75 mm of the bottom bracket shell.

Problem discovered as moisture follwed by note of bubbled paint:

I noticed that the bike was ``crying''. Not a good sign. Closer inspection showed some paint bubbling around the bottom bracket. I poked the bubble with a pin, gently, and disturbingly, it easily penetrated the metal and some water came out.

It is unclear if the frame had vent holes. Non-vented frames can collect water and have rust-through problems.

A builder replaced the lower portion of the seat tube and drilled and closed the smaller holes in the other areas. The seat tube was spliced rather than replace the whole tube, to avoid re-brazing the seat cluster:

[T]his bike has a distinct and complex construction. While most mountain bikes from the period (c. 1986) were TIG welded, fillet brazed or lugged, the Annapurna utilized a classic bilaminate construction technique [where] lugs were formed from elegantly cut lug-like sleeves were brazed over the tubes. The maximal artistry on an Annapurna is around the seat cluster. And there was the problem — the damage was manifesting itself at the bottom of that tube, [...]