Serious carbon repair

[krhea]

Done locally by the guys at Ruckus. At first glance it kinda scares me to have such serious "surgery" done on the head tube of a bike but reading through how it was done I was pretty impressed.

http://www.ruckuscomp.com/news/2015/10/16/cut-here

KRhea

[velotrack]

Hey, that's pretty cool. I think I'd feel comfortable riding that. The new paint, fork... wow. Lots of work into it.

[Muffin Man]

That's awesome. I wish I could do that with my ti bike. 1 in is a hassle.

[Pegoready]

Very cool. I love the repurposing of old stuff and seeing that people exist who care to do it right.

[pdmtong]

impressive but there is no way I would put that much money into carbon bike that old.

no way.

[velotrack]

impressive but there is no way I would put that much money into carbon bike that old.

no way.

I wouldn't either. Though maybe it's because of an emotional attachment/sentimental reason of some sort. Maybe they just love the bike.

[oldpotatoe]

Done locally by the guys at Ruckus. At first glance it kinda scares me to have such serious "surgery" done on the head tube of a bike but reading through how it was done I was pretty impressed.

http://www.ruckuscomp.com/news/2015/10/16/cut-here

KRhea

Brand new in 2002 or so-$1800..wonder what this cost with paint?

Really nice job tho.

[soulspinner]

Wow, came out nice. Wonder how much the larger headtube and new fork will affect the ride.

[gavingould]

those guys do very impressive work.

[happycampyer]

Very cool, and I think it looks even better with the Enve fork (and probably rides better with the Enve fork than the original), but as others have said it seems incongruous to spend $1,000+ (cost of repairs, paint plus fork) to repair a $250 frameset. The craftsmanship is truly impressive, no question about that.

[eddief]

as a way to show us their capabilities. Seems they are capable.

[AngryScientist]

bad ass.

i bet the frame rides even better now with that enve fork.

if this person had a frame they like with geometry that just works, i can see spending big bucks to fix a frame rather than big bux to replace it. reduce-reuse-recycle and all.

i agree with eddie too, this blog post will go a long way to drum up business once potential customers see what these guys can do.

i'm impressed.

[krhea]

bad ass.

i bet the frame rides even better now with that enve fork.

if this person had a frame they like with geometry that just works, i can see spending big bucks to fix a frame rather than big bux to replace it. reduce-reuse-recycle and all.

i agree with eddie too, this blog post will go a long way to drum up business once potential customers see what these guys can do.

i'm impressed.

This.

[likebikes]

I'm really glad for threads like this that finally help dispell the "carbon isn't repairable" or "carbon is disposable" myths that seem to pervade this forum.

[pdmtong]

bad ass.

i bet the frame rides even better now with that enve fork.

if this person had a frame they like with geometry that just works, i can see spending big bucks to fix a frame rather than big bux to replace it. reduce-reuse-recycle and all.

i agree with eddie too, this blog post will go a long way to drum up business once potential customers see what these guys can do.

i'm impressed.

This.

I gotta disagree.

2002 is ancient history (flintstones) regarding carbon - the layup, the ride feel, the weight as compared to a modern (tesla) carbon bike

maybe the geometry works, but surely there are dozens of modern carbon bikes whose geo could also work.

people spend money on the craziest things so I wont go there. but the idea of resuscitating an ancient carbon bike to make it ridable again to me is throwing good money after bad. the owner should have taken the crack as the impetus to move on, not spend $1,000+ on a bike that now has zero resale. the only exception might be some deeper attachment ot the bike - his first bike, his dad's etc. those kinds of spending are not rational...emotional.

My s-works cx had two hairline cracks, on e in the DT and one on the DSCS. calfee fixed both for $500. paint and decal match would have added another $400 (which I declined). thats a band aid job compared to this...so unless ruckus is half calfee, that is easily $1500+


.

[BobbyJones]

I know its just glue, fabric, heat and pressure (its not rocket science, right?) but somehow that scares me.

[peanutgallery]

next week, they'll have replace the rear triangle on that particular frame

[ultraman6970]

pdmtong I do agree with your comments but no clue how much was the fix, probably less than we could think.

People gets attached to things, and probably the owner was just attached to it and probably had the money to get it fixed too.

Many times is cheaper and faster just go for fixes like that, than try to fix the original crack.

Now, well.. there are some old carbon frames that are just unbelievable. Looks are some of them, so now in his shoes... well I do get what you say but we are not talking about a trek carbon frame (same era) that you can find pretty much all over the place either and probably cheaper than get it fixed.

The guy had the dough to do it too, would love to know how much was the fix minus the fork and paint job.

[Keith A]

Impressive work indeed! It's nice to know that this level of repair is available.

[RonW87]

Reminds of an old SNL Weekend Update bit. Seth Meyers reports on a woman who spend $10,000 dollars on a total hip replacement for her cat. This was more expensive than the alternative procedure: a total cat replacement.

[nicrump]

Done locally by the guys at Ruckus. At first glance it kinda scares me to have such serious "surgery" done on the head tube of a bike but reading through how it was done I was pretty impressed.

http://www.ruckuscomp.com/news/2015/10/16/cut-here

KRhea

HOLY FREAKING FECES BATMAN... look at all that epoxy syntactic(foam), the flesh colored stuff. hmm...

http://www.ruckuscomp.com/assets/images/news/2015/10/CUT%20HERE/CUT_HERE_2.jpg

[SpokeValley]

as a way to show us their capabilities. Seems they are capable.

Ditto this.

What a great capabilities piece. If I needed any sort of CF repair, I'd look at these guys. They should be proud of their work.

[Keith A]

HOLY FREAKING FECES BATMAN... look at all that epoxy syntactic(foam), the flesh colored stuff. hmm...
For the uninformed, what does this mean?

[Bruce K]

I am a big fan of the Ruckus guys and their work

I am also glad to have only needs them once

BK

[buldogge]

Nick...was this Look built tube-to-tube and then smoothed with the epoxy foam "fillets"? The CF version of the Cinelli Lazer?! :p

-Mark in St. Louis

HOLY FREAKING FECES BATMAN... look at all that epoxy syntactic(foam), the flesh colored stuff. hmm...

http://www.ruckuscomp.com/assets/images/news/2015/10/CUT%20HERE/CUT_HERE_2.jpg

[pbarry]

I'm amazed what can be done with CF. Any metal repair like this would require cutting out the old HT with careful hacksaw and file work to match the miters, or using a machine tool to do the same. To be able to make a straight cut and fill the voids, just, wow.

[gasman]

I am truly amazed. I didn't think that was even possible.

[downtube]

As much as I love my old carbon C40 and would hate for anything to ever happen to it, I would be hard pressed to spend $1500 - $2000 to save it. I would make it wall art and it would become a part of the family in a different way. It will never leave me, just have a new role.

All that said, those guys are amazing and I bet the bike will ride better than ever. Most of us have an understanding of how a steel bike goes together, but someone who can fix carbon fiber is like a wizard to many of us.
chuck

[pbarry]

I gotta disagree.

2002 is ancient history (flintstones) regarding carbon - the layup, the ride feel, the weight as compared to a modern (tesla) carbon bike

maybe the geometry works, but surely there are dozens of modern carbon bikes whose geo could also work.

people spend money on the craziest things so I wont go there. but the idea of resuscitating an ancient carbon bike to make it ridable again to me is throwing good money after bad. the owner should have taken the crack as the impetus to move on, not spend $1,000+ on a bike that now has zero resale. the only exception might be some deeper attachment ot the bike - his first bike, his dad's etc. those kinds of spending are not rational...emotional.

My s-works cx had two hairline cracks, on e in the DT and one on the DSCS. calfee fixed both for $500. paint and decal match would have added another $400 (which I declined). thats a band aid job compared to this...so unless ruckus is half calfee, that is easily $1500+


.

As much as I love my old carbon C40 and would hate for anything to ever happen to it, I would be hard pressed to spend $1500 - $2000 to save it. I would make it wall art and it would become a part of the family in a different way. It will never leave me, just have a new role.

All that said, those guys are amazing and I bet the bike will ride better than ever. Most of us have an understanding of how a steel bike goes together, but someone who can fix carbon fiber is like a wizard to many of us.
chuck

Iirc, Ruckus charges substantially less than Calfee. Do the online quote or call if you have need.

[pdmtong]

for those who love this work...yes, it is craft. yes it is amazing. but, would you, YOU, really ride this as your only bike for the next two years?

to each his own, but me, ME, you could not pay me to $100k to ride it.

I''m not saying ruckus is $ hit. I am just saying I would not chase this particular repair incarnation.

[Bruce K]

FWIW I am still riding my repaired Super-X CX bike with a Ruckus repaired seat stay 2 years after the repair.

I will probably be selling it soon just because I need to thin the herd but I have every confidence in what these guys do.

If it wasn't structurally feasible they would pass on the repair.

BK

[nicrump]

For the uninformed, what does this mean?

difficulty getting the laminate to be neatly and evenly compressed against the mold with their bladder, overcome by this epoxy based expanding foam. it fills the voids that otherwise wouldn't in that process.

this is an area that most bladder molders have overcome since that era.

Nick...was this Look built tube-to-tube and then smoothed with the epoxy foam "fillets"? The CF version of the Cinelli Lazer?! :p

-Mark in St. Louis

i think clearly a molded front triangle. you can see the bladder wrinkle impressions inside that cutaway.

for the record i'm not saying the is bad or unacceptable, just that's the most i've seen in a frame and can only assume there must have been a lot of that in use 15 years ago.

[Keith A]

Nick -- Thanks for your informative reply.