Cracked Carbon...what do I do?

photocodo

So I was riding Thursday and had a pretty nasty wreck. Going about 32mph hit some gravel, ran off the road and hit a tree head on. Ended up with a grade 4 shoulder AC separation that is going to need surgery and a 3in puncture wound on the inside of my left knee. As unfortunate as my physical condition is, the only think I shed a tear about was my bike, and yes I actually cried when I saw my bike. The sight of broken carbon is enough to make any man shed at least a few tears. The damage to the bike is as follows: Broken (almost in half) fork that will have to be replaced and is beyond repair, bent wheel with at least the rim needing to be replaced, broken handlebars and broken shifters. At first glance the frame looked fine but when I really started looking at it I found three cracks in the clear coat on the down tube that were new. I was only able to see the three spots but will have a shop take a look to make sure there arent more. I did a sound test to see if the tone changed where the cracks were and two of them did not sound any different but one of them I could hear a change in tone which makes me think that it is more than superficial. I have researched some companies who offer carbon repair services (calfee, spyder composites, predator cycling) and it looks like repairs are fairly inexpensive ($100-$300) and stronger than the original layup. My question is should I send it off to have it repaired or try to do it myself. I have worked extensively with fiberglass shaping surfboards and doing work with custom motorcycle seats but never with carbon but I know the process is basically the same. my plan is to sand down all three spots to make sure there isnt anything under the clear coat that I cant see but there are no soft spots which leads me to believe that the crack under the clear coat (if there even is one) would be easily repaired with two layers of carbon. Im wondering if anyone has ever done a DIY carbon repair and what their outcome was. Predator composites sells a home repair kit for $100 that looks pretty solid. If anyone has any advice or suggestions I would greatly appreciate it. I have a few months before my shoulder will be healed up enough to ride so Im not in a big rush. Thanks for the help in advance and I will include some pictures below of the bike... grab some tissues;)

cody

964cup

It's not just the damage you can see, it's the damage you can't. That's a big hit - hope you recover well and soon - and I'd be strongly inclined to ditch the frame and get a new one.

bbrap

I'd think long and hard about getting it repaired. Looks quite nasty and I doubt any repairs will be pretty. If it were me I'd take the opportunity to get a complete new bike and consign this one to the dustbin. You can always sell off the remaining good bits to recoup some of the cost. Riding a repaired bike may hold you back as there will always be that little bit of doubt in the back of the mind. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Elfed

Trek have a decent crash replacement scheme

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/support/warranty/

100%

That looks and sounds nasty - get well soon!

On to the frame... I personally would echo the sentiments already expressed here and look to replace the frame. I'd never be able to trust it again having seen those cracks and whilst a modern carbon frame is significantly more robust than those of yesteryear, it's been stressed in a way that it's just not designed to be so it comes back to the damage you can't see...

It's definitely worth investigating if you can claim on insurance too. I was able to claim the cost of replacing the original frame minus excess when a very sharp flint punctured the downtube of my MTB whilst riding across a stream some years ago.

Cheers,
Steve

redvision

Sorry to hear about your accident. Get well soon.

I agree with the previous posts, there is no way i would try and get that frame repaired.
The impact was obviously severe and you just don't know what other damage is hidden under the surface.

I would use this as an opportunity to get a new frameset/bike.
If you have the bike insured (with accidental damage cover) i would get a claim in.