Frame damage

Pumpkin Positive
Pumpkin Positive Posts: 392
edited March 2013 in Workshop
My wife was cleaning her Trek Madone 3.1WSD yesterday and noticed this...
trekchainstay_zps4fbf332b.jpg

It's on the underside of the chainstay (drive side) and measures about 15mm at it's longest point. It's probably about 1mm deep.

Am I right in saying that the most likely culprit is a small stone thrown up off the road? Any chance it could be a frame defect?

Would it be covered under warranty? The bike is less than a year old.

I presume it's repairable?

Is it safe to ride?

Comments

  • turnerjohn
    turnerjohn Posts: 1,069
    theres no way you can claim under warrenty...thats no defect. TBH if its more then 1mm I'd say its where the chain has wipped back and gouged the chainstay.
    Trek do a crash replacement for 20% off the cost of a new frame.
    Its a tricky area to try to fix; would be a mission to re-weld in a new chainstay and respray.
    Best take to your LBS pref a Trek dealer and get them have a look at it. Their probably say no dont ride it (covering themselves) so try a cycle repairer and get a quote...it wont be cheap though !
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    I'd agree that it looks like the chain has taken a slice off the outer surface. To my eye it appears that it's just taken off the paint / lacquer, and you'll probably be OK just making good the damage with a couple of coats of touch-up paint and some clearcoat.
  • Pumpkin Positive
    Pumpkin Positive Posts: 392
    Thanks both. Will let LBS have a look, as you suggest, as that's where she got it and see what they think too.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Wear'n'tear rather than a defect - probably caused by chain-slap. FWIW chainstays are pretty chunky and designed to accommodate this kind of damage in use without affecting the structural integrity of the frame. Repair-wise, simply use touch-up paint, more to seal the edges as an aluminium oxide layer will have formed to protect the bare metal.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • Pumpkin Positive
    Pumpkin Positive Posts: 392
    The guys in the LBS reckon it's probably OK but they have a guy who's a bit of carbon boffin and he'll be in on Thursday and will have a look then.
  • ricky1980
    ricky1980 Posts: 891
    carbon is black, there is no damages to the black carbon, so i think it is probably the lacquer and paint for chipped off. touch up yourself should be a doddle, tho it won't blend in very well.
    Road - Cannondale CAAD 8 - 7.8kg
    Road - Chinese Carbon Diablo - 6.4kg
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    The reason I thought it was chain damage was because I did something similar to my bike when it was still new and shiny. I was splitting the chain and hadn't taken the precaution of dropping it off the chainrings first. Lost one end of the chain and the spring tension of the rear mech whipped it round the chainstay taking several neat little chunks out of the paintwork.

    To their credit, Kinesis responded very quickly to my plea for help, and sent out a little sample of matching paint in a touch up bottle.
  • desweller
    desweller Posts: 5,175
    First thing I do on a new frame is slap helicopter tape all over the right chainstay.
    - - - - - - - - - -
    On Strava.{/url}
  • Pumpkin Positive
    Pumpkin Positive Posts: 392
    DesWeller wrote:
    First thing I do on a new frame is slap helicopter tape all over the right chainstay.
    Good thinking that man!

    Would it be enough to prevent that kind of damage though?
  • g00se
    g00se Posts: 2,221
    Pumpkin Positive wrote:
    DesWeller wrote:
    First thing I do on a new frame is slap helicopter tape all over the right chainstay.
    Good thinking that man!

    Would it be enough to prevent that kind of damage though?

    Helicopter tape is quite thick and rubbery - it'll soak up a lot of the impact and hold the lacquer down - stopping it from cracking.

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