Advice on my Old Look 595

[hairylegs]

Hey all,

I'm 3 weeks out from IM Cali and my old roadbike which I've converted to a tri-setup with deep wheels and even a disc wheel is giving me fits. The old 10 speed Di2 gave out, so with some help upgraded to a used Ultegra 11 speed group. But now the RD hanger is out of whack and is having trouble accepting the new, beefier RD. Add to that the bonding of the seat stay and chain stay has started to delaminate. The wheel should hold it together, right?

Shall I...

1) attempt to epoxy them back together for a little piece of mind, and shim the RD hanger so I can install the new RD?
2) look for a used frame (rim brake) XL and Di2 capable in the 11th hour?
3) try and borrow a bike?
4) gulp...buy a used bike? most are likely disc so my wheels would not be compatible.

I've got about $1700 into this bike including the wheels, most of which can be repurposed, but not good news!

Thanks for any help. I've trained so hard for this race and was really looking forward to doing it on this bike...

[bart998]

Talk to DGOODWIN here on the forum.... he lives in SoCal and usually has a few L/XL frames or bikes he's trying to part with....

[br0qn]

i've no first hand experience but have heard great things about MMFG's carbon repair work. he's in LA

[Peter P.]

There must be a triathlete forum where you could put out a plea to borrow or rent a frame/bike. I'd start there.

Do you have a standard road bike? I'd just throw some clip-on bars on there and accept the situation you're in.

As the Uni-baller said, It's not about the bike.

[oldguy00]

Borrow a bike. Go bike shopping after your race. And good luck at IM! I just got back from Chattanooga.

[hairylegs]

Thanks all. Looks like a friend can lend me him so there’s that option now….

It’s hard when you’ve put time and money into a bike that you can’t ride!

[zzy]

Are the stays delaminating at the lugs? Curious to see a pic of the issue.

[hairylegs]

Here's a quick vid:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/t0v9s...fjzdlwgjq&dl=0

Thanks for all the help!

[verticaldoug]

Originally Posted by hairylegs

Thanks all. Looks like a friend can lend me him so there’s that option now….

It’s hard when you’ve put time and money into a bike that you can’t ride!

It's better to borrow or rent versus having a mechanical and DNF.

I'd think you can score a used TRI bike if you look. A lot of triathletes are one and done types.
I just had a guy on my block who went all in during the pandemic. A Cervelo P5x, Open Wi.DE and R5

His wife had enough and was selling his bikes.

check slowtwitch.com and your local bike dealer who has tri-bikes.

[mhespenheide]

Rim-brake tri frames are cheap on slowtwitch and on Facebook's "Online Swap Meet for Cycling and Triathlon" forum.

Check with MMFG to get his opinion on the possible delamination.

Don't ride your targeted race with a frame that could cause you to DNF.

[kiwisimon]

take your measurements on the 595 and also the geometry and tri (see what I did there?) to buy or borrow a bike/frame that is going to give you a similar fit. I'd be buying a rim frame and paying a shop to do the work and set everything up sweet. You want 100% confidence in your equipment.
IM, that's too much hard work training to risk anything shonky on the 5-6 hr bike leg (apologies if I'm painting you slow).

[weisan]

You wanna hear my take on this?

You will be fine with your current bike. Don't let this snowball into something bigger than it is.

Get the RD and shifting taken care of, and you are off to the races. Don't look back.

[jh_on_the_cape]

Originally Posted by weisan

You wanna hear my take on this?

You will be fine with your current bike. Don't let this snowball into something bigger than it is.

Get the RD and shifting taken care of, and you are off to the races. Don't look back.

This is what I was going to say.
If you have done all of your training on this bike, I would want to ride it in the event.
For the shifting, take your bike NOW to a good shop and pay whatever it takes to have the shifting sorted. Bring a 6 pack.
Get a few good rides in before the event. If it's still wonky you will have to borrow.
You don't want any doubts about your bike when you get out of the water.

After this event I would start shopping for a new bike. There are great deals out there as the bike industry spirals downwards. You are on borrowed time on the old bike. It sucks you put so much $ into it but you can keep it as a backup or just sell it. It's like getting the brakes done on your old car and then the transmission takes a dump.
I kept an old bike limping along for too long....