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I had a hanger and despatched skewer mishap resulting in the wheel coming out of the dropout and firing into the rear triangle. Tyre has rubbed and chewed the chain stay near the BB.
About 2-3mm of material is gone out of about 7mm thickness (there'sa drain hole nearby to guesstimate the thickness). I've bodged it with araldite.
I'd be happy riding cross but I also use it for roadie where the potential consequences are nipping at the back of my mind. Yo or no? (I'm only 58kg)
Get it fixed properly?
I've been riding a cracked carbon frame for about 10 years, I haven't died. Simply keep an eye on it - it will likely crack long before it will break so yo'll likely get good warning. Also, the back of a bike failing just brings you to a stop rather than sending you over-the-bars.
Really? Carbon has a spectactular mode of failure.it will likely crack long before it will break so yo'll likely get good warning
Or a wobble then high-sided at 40mph.Also, the back of a bike failing just brings you to a stop rather than sending you over-the-bars.
About 2-3mm of material is gone out of about 7mm thickness
ie a third of the material gone .. Personally I'd get it repaired properly or scrap it.
To qualify my statement, I've worked with carbon composites since the 80's and comments about spectacular failure doesn't help - there are four pieces of bike frame holding the rear wheel in place, one goes and the wheel will simply rub. The likely failure will be a crack and the frame will certainly feel 'soft' rather than spectacularly explode. On second thoughts, taking it to a carbon repair specialist would be a good idea as Araldite is brittle and pretty rubbish for this type of repair without any reinforcement.
If one stay goes the wheel may just rub or it may then break the dropout end as the wheel twists, or cause a swerve-slide simply from the wheel shift that breaks the frame further and prevents you from riding it out, who knows. I'd just not take the risk and if someone's not sure, doesn't have your experience or eye for what's cosmetic and what's catastophic etc and so is asking for advice I'd err on the side of caution when it comes to riding on roads.
I've been away and had a think. Thanks for comments to clear up my mind. Resigning it to occasional, gentle Cross duties while I price a repair. And buying a new frame out even bike. I won't be able to stop the niggling doubt while on a 40mph descent
7mm sounds quite thick to me, are you sure it's not got something in-moulded that maybe just makes it seem thicker? Carbon Tubes are seldom more than a couple of mm thick in most frames.
Anyway araldite isn't the right tool for the job, if you're not feeling flush enough for a professional repair why not give doing a better DIY repair job a go, [url= http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/#!/starter-kits/carbon-fibre-rapid-repair-kit.html ]try something like this perhaps. [/url]
Yes, araldite is totally unsatisfactory but it was a better than nothing job since I had a sportive the next day.
That cheap repair stuff looks worth a go, thank you, even if I won't be using the frame on road ever again