Boardman Team Carbon - Cracked BB?

kfinlay

Hi folks,

Just wondering if anyone can help or advise? My mate's Boardman Team Carbon frame is showing signs of a crack around the BB. Could be just the paint cracking from where the BB shell mates with the carbon (I'm assuming it has an aluminium BB shell integrated into the frame) or could it be more serious? It goes all around the BB but only on the non-drive side - no issue on the drive side.
It doesn't get any worse or seem to show signs of flex although I still need to get him to put it on the turbo trainer and put it under load while I check it more closely.
He lives in Edinburgh just in case he needs to consider getting it x-rayed or checked more closely. Any recommendations for someone in east/central Scotland if this sort of thing is required?

Monty Dog

That definitely looks like a movement crack - is there any creaking from the BB? Bike frames are massively over-built in this area to minimise flex and everything should stay put.

03brucea

Just wondering if there's an update to your mates team carbon.

I've just noticed a similar issue on mine (drive side in my case though), took it down to the local mechanic who put a load of force through it and couldn't see any movement, still pretty worrying.

Halfords are having nothing to do with it as its out of warranty and can't seem to get in contact with anyone from boardman.

freddiegrubb

Mr. o/p, please keep us posted on the issue for future ref.

kfinlay

pretty much the same a s03brucea, Halfords are useless, he's unable to get anyone from Boardman to reply and his LBS has checked it out and found no movement so he is just keeping an eye on it to see if it gets any worse.

smoggysteve

How old is the bike? Can he not get a replacement. If its not had any mods done to it I would consider demanding a replacement if the bike is not fit for purpose. Carbon is a difficult thing to judge on how its going to stand up to the stress put on it. A slight bit of damage in the wrong place on a carbon frame can be terminal if not dealt with early enough.

Monty Dog

If there's no detectable movement and it's not creaking, why would the frame not be fit for purpose if it's only a cosmetic flaw?

smoggysteve

Are you sure it's just cosmetic? How can you tell? Cracks in CF could be hiding anything. All it is is a bit of plastic wrapped in fibres. The whole monocoque design means that it supports the weight across the whole structure. If there is a crack or deformation of any kind it could have bigger consequences with the frame as a whole. Especially in a part that comes under torsional stress in the bracket.

kfinlay

Steve the bike is 3 yrs old and has had a replacement chainset/BB as the original was wearing the chainset axle unevenly on one side but he ran it like that for about 2.5 yrs. He doesn't really look after his bikes and has just had to change the headset as he didn't maintain that either. He's happy to continue using it as it is so I've left him to it.

Appreciate the concern but Monty did start his sentence with 'If' remember

Take it easy guys, if anything else develops then I'll update the thread and if anyone has any similar issues it would be good for them to add to it

humanspeed

Kev,

I came across this discussion as I was looking for answers to what happened to my frame.
I have the exact same issue as displayed in your first picture. My Boardman Team Carbon frame is showing signs of a crack at that exact same place. My local Halfords store said its only cosmetic (I don’t believe it i) - The bike was bought 11th Sept 2009 and has been hardly used. Today, anybody I show my bike, will say, it is 3 months old (immaculate and so close to perfect – no winter or wet riding – only summer dry riding – I don’t race, its just for commuting and sportive rides here and there. There are bikes way older than 4 years with BB areas truly put.

Anybody knows whether its worth repairing ? How cheap ? Maybe I should look.

Secteur

It's always frustrating when people dont bother to update a thread like this.

However, Ihave heard that if you tweeted this @ boardman bikes / Chris Boardman himself, you'd get a pretty quick and probably comprehensive response, even out of warranty.

chopchopchop

Hello, I had an issue with my Boardman (not related to yours). I emailed Alan@boardmanbikes.com and tweeted boardmanbikes and got a reply from their sales director who was great, he sent me out a wheel as a goodwill gesture.

This is him http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/jamie-mitchell/82/64/58a.

This was before they sold it to Halfords a few months back but was this year. I cant find his email address but I think it was just Jamie@boardmanbikes.com. failing that, tweet Chris B as I hear he is pretty good at replying.

humanspeed

Secteur, Chopchopchop

Thank you so much for the reply - I shall tweet Chris and see what he says.

Max

humanspeed

its been a week and I haven’t heard from Chris or Alan/Jamie@boardmanbikes
I went to the store it was purchased from with my receipt and the store manager said frames are guaranteed 2 years only. I have asked him to guess how old the bike is. He said "3 months" – That is exactly what I said in my post post, the fact that the bike was exceptionally so well looked after for its age that you would not thought it was bought back in Sep 2009. I had 3 bikes and was mainly doing off road using the MTB.

Bike usage:
Bought Sep 11th 2009, six rides later, it end up in the garage 4 winter
Out April 2010, parked end Sep
Out April 2011, parked end Sep
Out April 2012, parked end Sep (the fault was there but bcoz I haven’t experienced it in the past, I didn’t thought about keeping a close eye on it.

Within 2 and half summer of around 500 miles each, the Bottom Bracket is gone “the metal imbedded into the carbon frame has oxidized - Now when I get out of the saddle on flat roads, I can hear creaking.