Hi all,

I purchased a lovely bike 2nd hand, and it has developed (or was sold with) a crack on one of the seat stay welds. I have no chance of a warranty, and ebay cant help. I spoke in person to my very reliable local bike shop who offered some hope. Basically I don't want to scrap the frame, I like fixing things and quite frankly I cant afford a new frame. 
They suggested that
1. the crack isnt too bad, and many people would ride on it no problems..I'm not one of those people. This is paraphrasing a long conversation, with a frame builder.
2. Frame builder suggested that a carbon support/'lug' could be created using Carbon Fibre Tow and epoxy of some sort.
He used the examples of many bamboo bikes being created using similar materials.
The pic below gives some idea of what the crack looks like - but it hasnt reproduced that well here. lower section of left weld area.



I think what Im trying to achieve is not a full repair like a weld might provide (probably unachievable in aluminium) but a bit of a safety net in terms of strength support, and if the tube was to shear, some sort of control of that - i.e. not stabbing into a thigh or similar!

Does anybody here have any experience of a similar repair, i.e. a fairly complex shape, aluminium.
If so - what materials might be best, in terms of weight of Tow and epoxy type, and or -is it even worth a go?