Jump to content
IGNORED

Carnage


Recommended Posts

Though there is no good way to destroy a frame, this was one of the worst.  After riding at Walnut Creek with my family on Wednesday, my son let his bike fall into a rock retaining wall while putting my wife’s bike on the rack. 

1424073769_JuneJuly2019056.thumb.JPG.d966788a64247d5049282ebddcf6bd5e.JPG

This bike has been solid contributor in the family.  I rode it for years and when I moved up into a new bike I felt lucky that he my son had grown enough that it fit him, and he has become a beast on it. 

254409087_JuneJuly2019057.thumb.JPG.d9684bdc473618fcc629f4e8cb2da685.JPG

 

He was convinced that he could just wrap it with duct tape and keep riding it but it looks like it will need a lot more than that.  Is it worth trying the local carbon repair folks on a ten year-old carbon bike?  He was really bummed and lacks funds to start over.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, hurronnicane said:

We pondered similar fixes.  My doctor friend would probably put a plaster cast on it. 

I would have thought they'd use the new composite waterproof cast type instead.

But seriously, At 10 years old for the frame, I'd wet sand it to get the chips out, then stop drill it, then get a piece of 0.062" aluminum, bend to match profile, then JB Weld it as you wrap the whole thing in duct tape until it cures.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Having some experience with this same situation.  My son wrecked his carbon bike, handle bar came over the top tube, scratched and crushed the carbon there.  First thoughts were, well I can get it fixed and let him ride it.  Second thoughts were, did I want to be the guy who put is kid on a repaired carbon frame, and then have it possibly fail while he was riding, causing more damage to the bike, and possibly him?  That was not a phone call I wanted to make to the ex-wife at the time. I ended up buying him another carbon bike.  Sold all the parts off of it, sold the damaged frame and new fork.  Didn't work out to being even, but seems like it only cost me a couple of hundred at the time.

 

So you have to ask yourself, is a repaired frame worth it, if something happens and your son gets really hurt...…….

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You've got some good suggestions here.  But I do think one of the local carbon repair guys could fix it well and without much concern.  I've got ZERO personal experience with this, but at a glance, I can't imagine it being more than $100-200 dollars (this if from someone who owned a frame business).  The TT on a bike is not a highly stress location so if you do a home-repair, it may be one of the best places to try.  Optionally, you could look for a chi-carbon frame that would received many of these parts too?  

Later,
CJB

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 minutes ago, CBaron said:

You've got some good suggestions here.  But I do think one of the local carbon repair guys could fix it well and without much concern.  I've got ZERO personal experience with this, but at a glance, I can't imagine it being more than $100-200 dollars (this if from someone who owned a frame business).  The TT on a bike is not a highly stress location so if you do a home-repair, it may be one of the best places to try.  Optionally, you could look for a chi-carbon frame that would received many of these parts too?  

Later,
CJB

I'd rather ride a JB welded frame than a Chinese carbon frame.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

mountain biker logic- my kid broke an expensive plastic frame by letting it fall over in slow motion. Response- buy another expensive plastic frame.

No apologies for this perspective: bicycles should not be made from glue and fabric. Make bikes metal again. Now get off my lawn.

Edited by mack_turtle
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, AntonioGG said:

I would have thought they'd use the new composite waterproof cast type instead.

But seriously, At 10 years old for the frame, I'd wet sand it to get the chips out, then stop drill it, then get a piece of 0.062" aluminum, bend to match profile, then JB Weld it as you wrap the whole thing in duct tape until it cures.

Are you kidding? That's the worst thing Ive ever heard. As a welder who has to go back and fix things.....JB Weld is crap playdoh. Better off with 2 part plastic epoxy. And that thin of alum is like alum foil. Dont try this OP!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

0.062" as thin as aluminum foil?  How thick do you think aluminum bike frames are?  The bad JB Welds are from not mixing equal parts, same problem with any epoxy (which JB weld is).  Yeah, a regular epoxy will work just as well.  Remember the old aluminum lugged carbon frames? Aerospace and motorsports bonded aluminum frames to aluminum and composites.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, tomreece said:

Did I read correctly that the bike just fell over into a rock and caused this? Yikes.

I am afraid of carbon because so many rocks kick themselves up and hit my frame as I ride. This post makes me even more skeptical. Am I overreacting?

IMHO - You are not overreacting.  Most of my bikes are metal. But I have, and ride, a plastic bike also. I have cracked / broken both metal and plastic frames.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, tomreece said:

Did I read correctly that the bike just fell over into a rock and caused this? Yikes.

I am afraid of carbon because so many rocks kick themselves up and hit my frame as I ride. This post makes me even more skeptical. Am I overreacting?

If I lived anywhere else in this country I would be all over carbon, but I’ll stick to metal here in the land of the jumping rock, even though the Santa Cruz frame warranty and lifetime bearing replacement is tempting!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/28/2019 at 11:53 AM, tomreece said:

Did I read correctly that the bike just fell over into a rock and caused this? Yikes.

I am afraid of carbon because so many rocks kick themselves up and hit my frame as I ride. This post makes me even more skeptical. Am I overreacting?

I've said it before on here, but I bought my Scott Scale used with a pretty big gouge in the carbon on the down tube above the BB. Then I proceeded to ride the crap out of it all around Austin (BCGB, City Park, Brushy, etc.) kicking up rocks, performing spectacular endos, and doing things that a XC race frame was never intended to do. That crack never changed, grew, or made noises. After 8 years of riding it, it finally got a crack in the seat stay that has now limited it to WC rides with my boys. I know people have different experiences with carbon frames, and there are certainly cases where a direct hit can result in the damage seen in the OP's post. But in my experience, carbon is extremely tough and resilient. My next bike will be carbon and I won't be nervous about it anymore than I would be if it was made of Aluminum.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/28/2019 at 11:53 AM, tomreece said:

Did I read correctly that the bike just fell over into a rock and caused this? Yikes.

I am afraid of carbon because so many rocks kick themselves up and hit my frame as I ride. This post makes me even more skeptical. Am I overreacting?

It did just fall over but it hit a rock retaining wall at a perfect height to strike the frame.  It made a really sickening sound.  I was thirty feet away and knew immediately that it was badly damaged.  I think my son is going to take it to C6 to get it repaired.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Teamsloan said:

Then I proceeded to ride the crap out of it

I like this approach. Is it possible that the original posters damage looks way worse than it actually is? What's the harm in just riding it as is? Is it a safety concern or something?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

With the amount of clear coat peeling away, you can tell there was significant deformation in the shape of the tube. Hurronnicane's bike needs to be repaired no doubt.

The risk in riding damaged carbon is that carbon doesn't bend in the way that metal does, instead it just snaps. So, the concern is that with carbon it holds together until it doesn't and then it lets go dramatically. My rear triangle on my Scale will probably be fine to ride until I hit a significant enough bump and then with no warning it will probably collapse wedging the rear wheel in to my seat tube resulting in a hopefully comedic loss of control. With the original gouge in my down tube, I was riding pretty benign Dallas trails for months making sure the damage wasn't showing any signs of flexing (peeling clear coat, growing cracks) before deciding it was structurally sound and riding it like an enduro bike.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...