Comments on: Technical FAQ: Saving that damaged carbon frame

By: skippy

skippy — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:44:28 +0000

During the World Masters in St Johann in Austria an Aussie left a “Fuji 2008/9 Carbon SL 1 Frame with me.
Problem is that for some reason the “Ritchie Carbon Seat post” is epoxied into the frame !

How can i release the bonding without damaging either since i would prefer to raise the height rather than try to use it as a Road Race bike rather than as a Time trial bike.

Saw Andrew Hood at the Vuelta briefly but missed the chance for a chat as he was starting an interview. Rode all 3 Grand tours again this year although the Le Tour was the only entire route again.

Hope you check the blog and get back to me on email sjkippi@ausi.com

By: ruckuscomponents

ruckuscomponents — Tue, 04 May 2010 22:44:30 +0000

or if you are in the Portland area you can bring it straight to Ruckus Components without having to pay someone to tear down your bike.

By: ruckuscomponents

ruckuscomponents — Tue, 04 May 2010 18:44:30 +0000

or if you are in the Portland area you can bring it straight to Ruckus Components without having to pay someone to tear down your bike.

By: Jim_Gillan

Jim_Gillan — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:04:42 +0000

it all depends on the steel alloy, and today there are more formulations available than ever before. The air hardening stuff will go back to where it came from, the old-school work hardened steels as well as the new fangled 'maraging' (martensitic structure with post production aging) like 953 require care.

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:43:37 +0000

It sure is beatable, Ti frames have poor torsional stiffness relative to most carbon, and they are heavier, and far more expensive.
They are also notorious for cracking (see EFBe testing) and galvanic corrosion with other metals. They had a brief heydey in the steel/aluminum era, but even good modern aluminum frames will outperform Ti.

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:38:19 +0000

Read the article -they can actually make a frame stiffer if you want, or beef up the bottom bracket, because bottom brackets can never be beefy enough, apparently.

By: Ray

Ray — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 22:37:04 +0000

…and it will never be a as strong as the original frame. You cannot reheat modern steel alloys without affecting strength.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:46:35 +0000

I have a friend who's Lightspeed cracked at the seat tube / top tube junction. And it wasn't from a crash.

By: denisbrown2

denisbrown2 — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 06:36:24 +0000

G'day Ray, steel lugged frames are reasonably easy to repair, just sweat out the old tube and replace with a suitably mitered new one.

By: 2 wheels

2 wheels — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 23:39:36 +0000

RR Velo also does a lot of carbon frame repairs and repaints.
Edgar Chavez from RR Velo was one of the main men over at Calfee before leaving to start on his own, he manufactured and repaired carbon frames for many years at Calfee before starting on his own togehter with "'Fast Freddy" Markham who held the world record for human powered vehicle hour record in 2006 (not to be mistken with roadbike sprinter "Fast Freddy" Rodriguez). Freddy Markham also worked for Calfee and designed and test rode the Calfee Stilleto Recumbent before Freddy Markham and Craig Calfee had quite a fallout: http://www.serotta.com/forum/showthread.php?t=999
RR Velo is located only 15 miles from Calfee at Watsonville just south of Santa Cruz in California.
RR Velo is said to be substantially less expensive than Calfee for frame repairs.
http://www.roadrunnervelo.com
[quote="RR Velo"]RR Velo has mastered the art of carbon construction. For over 14 years our carbon craftsmen have been manufacturing and repairing carbon fiber bicycles for other brands.
...
we've repaired over 2,100 frames since 2003.[/quote]

By: KK

KK — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 18:50:36 +0000

My carbon frame had a major break in the chainstay and downtube. Calfee did a fantastic job repairing it at a very reasonable price. I'm tempted to say the frame is better than new. I didn't think it was repairable but they said no problem. They'd seen worse.

By: marko

marko — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:40:16 +0000

for those who dont realize it yet ,carbon makes a superior frame, people who enjoy efficiency can get it from carbon like no where else., and its not delicate not really , or it wouldnt be used by the aerospace ind. ,when you just have to have the strongest, it has to be carbon..period.,for longer rides or excursions i carry an epoxy repair kit, i can repair my carbon bike in less than an hour on the road,i can even repair a steel or aluminum frame using an epoxy / kevlar/carbon fiber repair kit. ,try carrying a welder with you !

By: marko

marko — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:27:53 +0000

i had to learn how to repair a carbon frame .after i got tired of looking at it hanging in the garage, two years later, i have now repaired and modified ( changed into across frame)10 carbon frames and more..mbgirod@gmail.com

By: marko

marko — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:22:59 +0000

the fix can be as strong as you want or need..depending on how many layers added..

By: pete

pete — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 15:11:59 +0000

no you are not the odd man out. carbon fiber has its merits but as for me i will take titanium anyday. my 97 litespeed classic has over 60k miles on it with all types of riding. it has been crashed a few times. it is impermiable to any type of weather or abuse and is comfortable as all get out. it only takes a few minutes with scotchbrite and it looks like new. unbeatable as frame material.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 04:28:37 +0000

How is the fix likely stronger than the original part?

By: Ray

Ray — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:30:25 +0000

Stories like these fly in the face of internet myths about carbon not being fixable, or the other great myth, that steel frames are easily fixable. With a carbon fix, the fix is likely stronger than the original part, with steel, the fix cannot be as strong.

By: DirtyWorks

DirtyWorks — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:55:16 +0000

I may be the odd rider out here who would much rather ride something that I can reasonably crash. I don't want a bike that needs another $200-$300 bucks in repairs when I crash a $4000 bike.

Am I the odd man out now?

By: Billy-goat Gruff

Billy-goat Gruff — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:33:43 +0000

Wow, pretty impressive. I'd show off the repair! Makes me more likely to worry less!

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 22:27:00 +0000

Any thoughts or information with relation to original manufacturers warranty?