Can you trust repaired carbon bike frames?

[Keith A]

Ran across what looks like an interesting article and thought I'd share it here...
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/can-you-trust-repaired-carbon-bike-frames-175025

[Charles M]

The simple answer is Yes...

The Predator guys had a team with some solid pro's and they were all riding repaired carbon frames.

I've seen the guys that are good at this do it first hand and would have zero issues with a quality repair from guys who know where to draw the line.

[1centaur]

Another way to look at it: there are multiple places recommended on this forum for repairing carbon frames, so all those businesses are taking money to do it. Have we ever heard of a repaired carbon frame that broke again? We would have.

[Louis]

Apparently they decided to repair this one by using a few extra stickers:

https://keyassets.timeincuk.net/inspirewp/live/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/Palma-2015_Theo-Bos-Bike.jpg

[Keith A]

The one thing I've wondered about is if the feel of the ride would change? The repair will most likely add material, so it seems possible that it might ride a little different. I guess this would also depend on where the repair is made on the frame.

[Louis]

Unless it's a huge repair, I doubt one would notice.

[CheshireCat]

Unless it's a huge repair, I doubt one would notice.

people, when properly blinded, can't even tell the difference in feel between cervelos aero bikes and non aero bikes

and yet when not riding blinded, they epouse the benefits of the more traditional frame in terms of ride quality.

the finding of the blinded study actually showed that riders thought the "stiffer" aero bike was the more comfortable of the two.


so no. You can't notice. I can't notice, either.
:fight:

[witcombusa]

Can you trust repaired carbon bike frames?


I don't trust new carbon bike frames :bike:

[Cicli]

I think that a repaired plastic frame will be fine. That said, I am not even remotely impressed by most of them. Off the shelf carbon is boring as hell. Custom? Well at that point there are better materials to go with.

The above reply is only my opinion. It dosent really mean much.

[benb]

It's like having a Porsche with a salvage title.. if you're not racing for money a huge part of owning the Carbon is being able to show off that you spent a lot of money.. that prestige aspect is kind of negated if it's repaired... :rolleyes:

[nicrump]

automotive and aerospace do repairs all the time. structural and non-structural. that said most of what i've seen in cycling is not up to the same standards practiced by the aero/auto guys.

does it work? apparently it does. however tossing a couple ply's of 3k woven stuff, all wet out with resin, over an engineered stack of specific MOD, in specific ply angles does not restore the damaged part. think mechanical characteristics.

i don't advertise repairs but I've done some for locals (sorry i do not have the capacity to receive shipped repairs so please don't ask).

I follow the process of skiving out the damaged area to expose surface on each ply through the stack so that i can A, determine the orientation through the stack and B, replicate the orientation with each new ply attached to each exposed ply. i do these repairs with prepreg uni material which I have on hand in various FAW(fiber aerial weight) and modulus. though who the freak knows what is actually in another makers frame.

so let me ask, how much would you pay for a service like that which included a pre and post repair NDT(non destructive testing) sonogram report that shows the decoupled damage area prior to and post repair(hopefully fully coupled)??

granted this guy is repairing a composite with a core but you get the idea. love those chili peppers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk4F-6X9Zf8

[benb]

so let me ask, how much would you pay for a service like that which included a pre and post repair NDT(non destructive testing) sonogram report that shows the decoupled damage area prior to and post repair(hopefully fully coupled)??

I bet you'd have to send the frame to China for the repair and testing to do that at a pricepoint that cyclists would be OK paying for.

[kgreene10]

Nick repaired the chainstay on one of my frames years ago. I can't tell the difference in the ride (though the little bit of Crumpton makes it better in my mind). Structurally, it's been perfect through subsequent seasons of training and racing.

[nicrump]

Nick repaired the chainstay on one of my frames years ago. I can't tell the difference in the ride (though the little bit of Crumpton makes it better in my mind). Structurally, it's been perfect through subsequent seasons of training and racing.

and was done with such neatness not a single bit of time was spent post repair having to sand or cleanup a mess.

[CAAD]

Dunno i have seen pictures of a local frame repair guy put back together a completely separated top tube on a road frame. The end result looked good i give him that but stuff like that belongs in the trash bin.

[Keith A]

Nick -- Thanks for your input on this issue...I really appreciate you chiming in.

[eippo1]

Kind of funny with the two people that they ask at the end of the article re: carbon fixability. The carbon specialist at Cervelo says yes, and the marketing person at Condor says no. Well duh, of course the marketing person wants to get the rider on a replacement vs. a fixed frame -- they get paid more and get an older product replaced by a newer product.

I'd certainly hope that I can trust a repaired carbon bike. I'm riding one right now. So far it's had a bunch of road miles, bunnyhops, and a little bit of trail riding because why not. Seems fine to me so far and I can't tell a bit of difference besides the FD actually shifting again since it's no longer pressing against a cracked tube.

[nicrump]

look what ruckus just posted http://www.ruckuscomp.com/process good job!

[Keith A]

Nice one Nick -- thanks for posting this.

[beeatnik]

Ruckus repaired a cracked drive side chain stay. The bike had been my favorite all time bika but three months in the rear wheel was t-boned by a small KIA at 25mph.

My objective experience:
Ruckus is super responsive (they pick up the phone and respond to emails)
Ruckus communicated clearly (I was pretty sketched)
Ruckus offered the best price on the West Coast
Predator couldn't (didn't have the capacity?) paint match matte paint
Others who could paint match and include graphics would charge 2x as much
Turnaround was expeditiously quick and on schedule.
The repair was undetectable

My subjective experience:
The bike felt as solid as new and I had zero hesitation riding hard.
The bike lost a little bit of "buzz." I used to think it rode like a Ti bike and after the repair "felt" muted.

Overall, way worth the money.

[Johnnyg]

Ran across what looks like an interesting article and thought I'd share it here...
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/can-you-trust-repaired-carbon-bike-frames-175025
YES depending who does it. Calffe did a wonderful job on my seat stay on my Storck over a year ago and the repair look very good and is holding up to lots of hard riding.

[Keith A]

beeatnik -- I like your carbon repair review style :)