Chainstay badly hit during a ride

[carbonazza]

Not sure how this happened.
But one of the chainstay(brake side) of my 256 was hit during a ride today 

I've read some car custom shops make repairs here in Belgium, but for about 250 EUR!
I guess this involve some paint work, which does not apply here, and it could cost less.

Or try a DIY repair kit such as: http://carbonmods.co.uk
They do not take any responsibility for bike frame repairs.
But they say that if you want to do it anyway. And at your own risk.
It is better to use, their fishing rod pole repair kit: http://carbonmods.co.uk/Products/fishing-rod-pole-repair-kit.aspx

Or may be simply go to an LBS?

Does anyone had to deal with this already?

[Carbon_Dude]

There have been some discussions of carbon frame repair both in the US an Europe on MTBR, I don't remember who does them but you would need to disassemble the bike and send the frame out.  A DIY repair might be good enough, as you might be able to just patch the frame up enough to keep it from failing completely.  I'm sure a DIY repair will not look pretty, but it is your cheapest option.

Doing a Google search, here is one in the UK:  http://www.carboncyclerepairs.co.uk/index.html

Here is one in Germany:  http://polytube-cycles.de/en/index.html

[Oolak]

Man, I feel your pain! Hurts just looking at those pics. At least that isn't a $1500 frame - It would hurt a lot worse!

[Cnasta]

http://www.carbonreparatie.nl/


Friend on mine had the same damage (different frame, Trek 26") and had it repaired for € 125,00. I think it was the same shop as of the link I just posted. Could be a different one: http://www.carbon-reparatie.nl/ or http://www.carbonherstel.nl/.

Normally they'll ask you to send a picture before they can give you a price. Just send a mail to 3 or 4 of them and you'll be fine. I recon you should be done for max €125,00-150,00

[carbonazza]

After some more research, there is a fair number of single-guy-shops that offer carbon repairs.
And I found shops that sell carbon fiber, resin, etc. in Belgium too.

As CD says, "just" a patch could be enough. As there is no other cracks on the tube except the direct hit.
I'll give this option a try!

I'm afraid I'll have to remove the dust that settled on my old Cannondale Rush, for the Wednesday ride... That will hurt

[Carbon_Dude]

Might be a good idea to wrap the chainstays with an old tube.

[Sitar_Ned]

I'm afraid I'll have to remove the dust that settled on my old Cannondale Rush, for the Wednesday ride... That will hurt

My first MTB was a rush! Loved that thing.

Sorry about your frame, but sounds like you'll be able to get it fixed for a reasonable price, at least.

[andyfloyd]

Im pretty impressed that it took that hard of a hit and didnt do more damage. The layup is pretty thick there pretty impressed with chiner frames.

[carbonazza]

Andy, I extracted a white sharp debris(not sure what it was), that perforated the frame at the bottom of the hit.

May be the rest of the hit is due to the initial shock.
Or because I didn't see it immediately and finished my bumpy ride.

I will try the DIY option first(because I like to try things, and it is cheaper).
There are plenty of videos explaining how to do it, and it seems definitely doable.
Tomorrow, a package from http://carbonmods.co.uk will arrive home.

And if I mess up things, I'll leave it to a "composite material expert", that will happily do it for... 190€

I did my Wednesday ride, back on a 26" FS (the Rush). What a sad ride it was :-/

[andyfloyd]

Andy, I extracted a white sharp debris(not sure what it was), that perforated the frame at the bottom of the hit.

May be the rest of the hit is due to the initial shock.
Or because I didn't see it immediately and finished my bumpy ride.

I will try the DIY option first(because I like to try things, and it is cheaper).
There are plenty of videos explaining how to do it, and it seems definitely doable.
Tomorrow, a package from http://carbonmods.co.uk will arrive home.

And if I mess up things, I'll leave it to a "composite material expert", that will happily do it for... 190€

I did my Wednesday ride, back on a 26" FS (the Rush). What a sad ride it was :-/

The good thing is it doesnt look like it went all the way through the chainstay. I bet if you repair it and then just flat black it itll be fine. Granted I dont know much about carbon layup but its just like working with fiberglass I would imagine. Lay down a layer, epoxy it, lay another, epoxy it.

[carbonazza]

Mission completed. The chainstay is fixed!

Here is the video that I followed on how to repair a "fishing pole":


The repair kit they sell has everything you need.
And it was quite easy to wrap 4 times the tube.

I tested the repair on a 30km ride today(rocks, roots and mud as usual).
Checking a couple of times during the ride. Everything looked normal.

After cleaning the bike, I inspected it carefully.
Nothing cracked, and hitting the zone with a coin make a nice sound everywhere.
So far so good!

[Carbon_Dude]

Nice job!  You will need to keep us updated on how well the repair is holding up long term.

[carbonazza]

Sure I'll report any issue.

But after doing it, I'm quite confident to repair any future cracks it they occur.
Cracks is a frequent excuse of the carbon frame haters.
Well... ignoring that carbon snaps all of a sudden instead of bending.

Epoxy and carbon cloth, are finally simple and soft tools compared to what you need to weld aluminium or titanium.
Others on youtube have repaired much more critical parts of their frame.

As you said, I'll probably put a chainstay protector on both sides now.
If you look again at the repair picture there is a serious scratch just on the left side.
I initially though it was a crack after the ride but no.

[SportingGoods]

Hi Carbonazza,
Are you still happy with the repair?
I have crashed my bike on Saturday, pretty hard in the rocks. The right seat stay has an impact in the middle. Still in one piece (and I  did 25k after the crash to finish the race) but I see 2 cracks. I will sand it to check if it's just the clear coat or if the structure is damaged.
I might buy a magic fishing pole repair kit if you still recommend it... or I explain to my wife that the frame is dead and I need to buy a CS-M04

[Jerryno]

In the video the guy is not wearing any protection when sanding the carbon. He is only wearing gloves when putting the epoxy on, which is a good idea.

Carbon dust is not good - it is the same kind of dust as asbestos or silica, so some dust mask, goggles or gloves are good to have.

One small exposure will not hurt, most of fine particulates are caught in the moist secretions of the nose mouth and trachea and pushed up via small motile hairs on each cell until we can cough them out. But generally it is not a good stuff to be exposed to.

I'll just leave it here for any dyi repairers.