Repairing damaged carbon frames

Peddle Up!
Peddle Up! Posts: 2,040
edited March 2011 in Road beginners
Oh no! Not another meandering thread on carbon bikes. :lol:

More seriously, in the Sunday Times cycling section today a reader asked how to repair a chip on a carbon frame. The advice was to fill with epoxy, sand then repaint. I realise that "chip" is a relative term but depending on the location and size I would have thought an inspection by the LBS was warranted.
Purveyor of "up" :)

Comments

  • furrag
    furrag Posts: 481
    I've read of carbon rear stays being repaired, and JibberJim on here I think snapped his top tube and was all successfully repaired.

    Carbonology sell kits which you can do a DIY job on if you're skilled enough. There's http://www.carboncyclerepairs.co.uk/ and a lot of forums I've seen have posters who swear by HQ fibre products which is in Norwich.

    Would staff in a local bike shop really be able to determine whether a repair was successful? I'm sure many would shy away from the responsibility of giving it the all-clear too. That said, I have a mega mistrust of all LBS' - if I went in and asked them to check out my DIY carbon wrap, I'd worry that they'd be more interested in replacing my cable outers, inners, chain etc. ;)
  • colsoop
    colsoop Posts: 217
    Very subjective. if the "chip" is in the epoxy itself and hasn't damaged the carbon material then you could just fill it with more resin as its just cosmetic.

    If its in a high stress area then i would be looking at getting it inspected although i don't know of many bike shops who have the expertise or equipment to test the integrity of a carbon frame.

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