Boardman damage and cheap (self)-repairs

iclestu

Ok - so I got my crash-damaged boardman CX back today and want to get it back on the road as cheaply as possible as a 'spare' or winter bike (come winter I will put the studded tyres on it and take out whichever bike depending on the weather?).

Soooo the list of questions goes....

If the (carbon) fork has a slight (and I DO mean slight) graze to it am I gonna live if I just ignore it? I know that the official advice says replace any damaged carbon however slight the damage is but has anyone got any actual experience of failure?

One of the shifters is definitely beyond bodging or repairing and the other looks to be nearly so bad so any CHEAP set of 10sp double shifters recommended? And I guess it doesn't matter if I replace the broken SRAM Rivals with shimano or anything like that? No compatibility issues?

Whats the best way to touch up the chipped paint on the alu frame and (steel?) topeak rack?

supersonic

Any pics of the fork damage?

iclestu

supersonic wrote:

Any pics of the fork damage?

supersonic

Looks like are some pretty deep gouges to that.

PM a member on here called compositepro, he specialises in this stuff.

iclestu

i thought they were just surface scratches. Pic looks worse cause its a super close-up. Got me a bit worried now tho. Will pm that guy.

Thanks supersonic.

nation

Carbon tends to be pretty thin and is not as tolerant of damage as other materials.

If the gouge has gone through a significant proportion of the material depth then it will be an area of particular weakness.

iclestu

its really not that deep...

How much will a fork set me back anyways? They all interchangeable? Easy enough to fit?

gtvlusso

If you have a knackered STI - I would make the bike a single speed. You just need a kit with the tensioner and some brake levers.

As for the fork, looks okay to me......I think you need to try it out and see what your confidence and the front end say to you.....

iclestu

gtvlusso wrote:

If you have a knackered STI - I would make the bike a single speed. You just need a kit with the tensioner and some brake levers.

ooooooo. Never thought of that.

Not sure im ready to go SS tho! Got some hills round here u know and im not the lightest. Struggle to get up the feckin things as it is.

Would be cheaper tho!

Oooooooo. Curveball!

gtvlusso

iclestu wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

If you have a knackered STI - I would make the bike a single speed. You just need a kit with the tensioner and some brake levers.

ooooooo. Never thought of that.

Not sure im ready to go SS tho! Got some hills round here u know and im not the lightest. Struggle to get up the feckin things as it is.

Would be cheaper tho!

Oooooooo. Curveball!

It will be light as you like.....You will be surprised at what you can get up on a single gear bike. People will think your double hard too - singlespeed crosser - bonkers!

Tensioner, sprocket and spacers is about £20, set of levers is about £15. Strip down the crank to a single chainring, Strip off the mechs and the cables, re-cable brakes to new levers - job done. About 2 hours work and you will have a nice, light, SS commuter.

iclestu

gtvlusso wrote:

iclestu wrote:

gtvlusso wrote:

If you have a knackered STI - I would make the bike a single speed. You just need a kit with the tensioner and some brake levers.

ooooooo. Never thought of that.

Not sure im ready to go SS tho! Got some hills round here u know and im not the lightest. Struggle to get up the feckin things as it is.

Would be cheaper tho!

Oooooooo. Curveball!

It will be light as you like.....You will be surprised at what you can get up on a single gear bike. People will think your double hard too - singlespeed crosser - bonkers!

Tensioner, sprocket and spacers is about £20, set of levers is about £15. Strip down the crank to a single chainring, Strip off the mechs and the cables, re-cable brakes to new levers - job done. About 2 hours work and you will have a nice, light, SS commuter.

stop it now.

Im actually startign to consider it

iclestu

wouldnt I need a new wheel/hub too?

else the freehub body is gonna look stupid with just one sproket on there - or what am i missing?

gtvlusso

iclestu wrote:

wouldnt I need a new wheel/hub too?

else the freehub body is gonna look stupid with just one sproket on there - or what am i missing?

Nope - just the spacer kit.

TBH, on MY SS MTB, the hub looks fine with only 1 sprocket and spacers. You would need a tensioner too as you have vertical dropouts.

Cleat Eastwood

just looks like a graze, why not get a piece of cloth and rub it over it, if the gouge is deep some fibres will catch, or rub your finger nail over the area to sense how deep it is. Looks ok to m ethough. I've had a carbon frame repaired and IIRC mending forks is a no no cos of the weight bearing and possibility of breakage, was on one of the carbon fixing sites.

pangolin

Enraged at the price of shifters, I fitted some bar end shifters to my kaffenback at the weekend, along with some drop brakes.

£50 for the shifters and £15 for the brakes. Was surprisingly easy to fit too.

iclestu

pangolin wrote:

Enraged at the price of shifters, I fitted some bar end shifters to my kaffenback at the weekend, along with some drop brakes.

£50 for the shifters and £15 for the brakes. Was surprisingly easy to fit too.

yeah - shocked me how much STI (or equivalent) lever cost.

Perhaps the ideal solution is to buy a second hand 'project' bike off ebay with 'not vertical'* dropouts and sti levers.

Then i could have the levers off it for the boardman as a winter commuter AND make the project bike a ss...

This n+1 thing is difficult to argue with.


* can someone please correct this abuse of bike terminology? Not vertical dropouts are _________ dropouts?**


**im gonna feel like a right lemon if they are just called horizontal drop outs!

pangolin

They are called horizontal drop outs.

gtvlusso

pangolin wrote:

They are called horizontal drop outs.

Good answer!

vertical dropout, horizontal dropout and track fork end.....generally.

I believe that there are some other dropout types for Rohlhoff and some other weird hubs.....