Community > Thorn General

How much is a steel frame worth in scrap value?

(1/5) > >>

CycleTourer:
I am preparing to upgrade my Nomad Mk 2 frame to a Mk 3 frame. This is partly to run a belt drive, and partly because I consider the Mk 2's elliptical bottom bracket design to be fatally flawed. That BB design makes it even more unlikely I could sell the old Mk 2 frame in my country – buyers won't want to be dependent on a shop in the faraway UK for a new BB shell, with all the customs bother that that entails.

If I simply dispose of the Mk 2 frame, what would this be worth in scrap metal? Or would the amount be so ridiculously low that I shouldn’t even try to sell it for value, and should simply drop it off at an oversized-goods recycling center without expectation of monetary reward?

mickeg:
I think you will find that scrap value is nil.  But value as a frame and fork should still be something, even if it is specific only to a internally geared rear hub.  Someone that wanted to build up a bike with a single speed or fixed gear could use that frame.

Although I do not like the two set screw design of the bottom bracket, it is far from fatally flawed in my opinion.

PH:
It should be easy to find the scrap rates on whatever country you're in, though most merchants are not interested in quantities less than .25 ton.  In the UK current price for mild steel is £230 a ton, so about 40p for a frame.
The set screw type EBB has been around for over a hundred years, if there was a fatal flaw I think it'd be known by now, what's your problem with it?
Here's Sheldon Brown's description of the EBB types, they all have pros and cons, but none of them are prone to failure.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/synchain.html

If someone really was that bothered, having a set screw type cut and converted to a pinch bolt type would be a simple job for any frame builder or welding shop.  The idea that someone would scrap a frame because they don't like it I find absurd.

CycleTourer:
Thanks for the insight re: the value of the scrap frame.

Switching to a new frame due to drawbacks in the old frame isn’t unusual. Many Rohloff owners switch from a non-Rohloff-ready frame like the Surly LHT/Disc Trucker to a Rohloff-ready frame like the Nomad so that they can get rid of the awkward compatibility attachments (chain tensioner, torque arm). In that case, one can still build up another, derailleur-based bike with the old frame, but I just don’t see any place for a leftover Nomad Mk2 frame in my stable, nor do I think I could easily sell it in my local market.

But especially as one wanting to start running a belt drive, purchasing the Mk3 frame which has everything I want and is warrantied, feels like a better option than turning to a local shop to make multiple alterations to the Mk2 frame. I’d also like to run Thorn’s new bikepacking fork, which will not fit the Mk2 Nomad.

PH:

--- Quote from: CycleTourer on January 03, 2022, 04:56:32 pm ---Switching to a new frame due to drawbacks in the old frame isn’t unusual.
--- End quote ---
Not unusual at all, I've done so myself.
Scrapping a frame, because of some erroneous idea about one element is something else, not usual at all.  It's a quality frame, I'd be shocked if you couldn't find someone with a use for it.  When I moved on from my Raven, I sold the well used frame and some other bits for £200 and that was over ten years ago.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page