[Closed] Carbon mtb repairs any good?

Only you can decide if its worth repairing but if its done properly it could well be stronger than before.

Thanks Rockhopper sounds promising

The only repairs I've really heard of are for crash damage, and these can be very effective (if not always pretty). I would say that if a frame cracks due to a design flaw/too much stress in a particular area it is probably not fixable. You are probably better off sending it back to the manufacturer for a replacement.

I've had my carbon frame repaired twice now (Different issues). The Carbon Repair guy advised me that carbon is 'infinitely repairable' and that my repairs will result in the frame being stronger than before

Can I ask hoops was your repair due to crash or design? My frame is out of warranty and I doubt Evil will swap my broken uprising for an insurgent 🤔

First was crash damage to an out of warranty frame - but turned out that the frame design was super marginal in the affected area (cross bar between seat tube and brace had walls less than a mill thick!). The tube in this area is now much thicker and stronger as a result.

Second was just the aluminium BB sleeve coming unbonded from the frame. Removed, cleaned and stuck back in with epoxy.

Im just about to embark on my first repair job myself. Like hoops said.. its just cloth and resin. If you can get good at repairing it yourself it will always be a good idea to repair. People have bought into the hype that its only for the likes of McLaren and Boeing engineers to be working with.

I paid about 16 quid for the carbon and resin from a local fibreglass place.

Stay tuned.

Put my on one back together using a fishng rod repair kit. Still going strong after a year. 🙂

Full disclosure:
Cross bike not mtb.
Easy repair on the top tube..

I used Carbon Bike Repair.
Expensive £250 - but an absolutely perfect job done in a really tricky area.

As someone who works for one of the aforementioned companies, I can confirm that composites are infinitely repairable with the right knowledge and ideally access to both sides of the damaged area. Most carbon frames are bonded assemblies that are then post laminated to strengthen the bonded joint so you would just be doing something similar.
I would not recommend a DIY job unless you are happy to wack on a load of extra material to compensate for cheap materials and poor workmanship. You need ideally to use the correct modulus fibres, the correct epoxy resin system, work out the correct orientation for each ply and apply a good vacuum to the laminate to consolidate the laminate and most importantly the joint to the original frame. Always happy to support with more details if I can see some good photos of the cracked frame.

I would say that if a frame cracks due to a design flaw/too much stress in a particular area it is probably not fixable.

My cross frame cracked at a point where the original design appeared to be a weak point. Rob Hayles - yes that Rob Hayles - at Recarb repaired it and strengthened the area in the process, so that's not necessarily true. I guess it would depend on the exact design, but i wouldn't assume that some design flaws aren't fixable.

That would have been some resin and fibres plus expertise. By contrast a design fault on a titanium frame resulted in a trip across the Atlantic and the headtube and downtube being replaced. The carbon repair was about as local as it gets.

Thanks Wally I'd definitely pay £250 for a repair to my Uprising hopefully mister AST I won't be contacting you (meant in the nicest possible way) but good to know for future reference
Thanks all for replying

I can highly recommend the services of Phil at Target Composites for carbon frame repairs;-
http://www.targetcomposites.co.uk/

Frames come out of him far stronger than the manufacturers and he can even identify design flaws before they actually break!