[Closed] how tough are carbon fibre bikes?

I won't do the usual 'its a sticker' thing 🙁

Have they given a reason - accident damage/rock strike or something?

Makes mental note never to buy a Cube bike..

1 month!?! And they won't warranty it? That's incredible.
Fight it!

[edit]Ah, it's a 650b..

Well I don't know the details of how it happened, but interesting to compare to Whyte's response on my 2009 e120 frame, which they replaced immediately

Cube's response is that its not a warranty issue.. need to buy a new arm. Not the kind of response I would have expected after buying a £4000 bike..

Seems a bit strange. Is this one of those 'someones not telling the whole truth' type things?

Edit: ENHANCE!

[img] [/img]

I'm no expert but that looks like impact damage to me.

was chatting to soomeone at a race he was on his 3rd set of chainstays for his intense tracer carbon

God, yes, and have you heard about the barbs going straight to your heart!? 😯

I think that you intended to type [i]'How tough are [b]cube[/b] bikes'[/i] as the thread title because no one would surely be silly enough to think that all carbon bikes are the same, would they?

Clubber (destroyer of many aluminium, steel and carbon frames...)

looks like impact damage rather than frame failure through poor manufacture, incorrect bonding etc.

When I've snapped a carbon frame (twice, two different manufactures) the only that looked like that was when I dropped it at low speed into some rocks in the peak.. not a big off, just unlucky.

The other, which was a frame failure due to manufacturing fault was a much tidier fail

On the upside, carbon is generally quite good at being repaired. Might be cheaper than a new arm.

Soooo glad i didn't buy one of these a month ago. Impact or not you should at least get one at cost!

Impact or not you should at least get one at cost!

and the OP hasn't said how much, just that he is expected to buy a new swing arm. Which with what looks like impact damage seems fair to me.

rock strike?

What's the weird little box cable tied to the chainstay?

rock strike?

That's what it looks like as there doesn't seem to be any scuffing to denote an off from what I can see. Shirley a mountain bike should be designed with rock strokes in mind, as the last time I checked mountains tend to be a bit rocky.

[i]What's the weird little box cable tied to the chainstay? [/i]

Garmin pedal/wheel speed sensor.

Garmin speed/cadence sensor

my firends aluminium jekyl has his heal imprent imbedded in it from a fall a innerleithen, the seatstay is a bit twisted and bent in but hes been riding it for a few months ever since

Originaly they wanted me to buy a complete frame but that has now changed......Replacement part is £270 for the lower arm only..

Cube said it's been hit by something which has cause it to fail.. The only protection on the bike is on the downtube.. the part that has broken has no form of protector to help deflect stones kicked up from the front wheels..

In all the time I have had the bike there have been no impacts that I would have taken any notice off.. We all hear stones bouncing off our downtubes and think nothing off it.. Obviously with carbon I am going to have to take more notice..

Should have bought a Santa Cruz.. their carbon seems to be pretty tough stuff... 5.00 onwards..

a mountain bike should be designed with rock strokes in mind

easy.. until you try to sell an 8-9lb carbon trail bike frame )

a thin metal or even additional carbon protector around the lower half of the arm would probably have saved it from breaking.

Guess they never thought of that when they designed it..

This bike isn't used for racing or crazy downhill events.. It's had a pretty easy life compared to what it supposed to be capable of...

double post

If you look through some of the enduro footage of the last few years there are quite a lot of chainstay, seatstay fractures on carbon framed bikes,admittedly bikes ridden hard by top racers, may be one offs not sure but even so frames knackered!!

If I had been riding it hard I would just put it down to experience and get on with it.. Thing is though.. It's been pretty relaxed trail riding that I have been doing.. Nothing harsh enough that I would think it should be damaged like it is..

the part that has broken has no form of protector to help deflect stones kicked up from the front wheels

What does the inside of the chainstay look like?

In all fairness, regardless of cause I'd hope for a goodwill gesture of some kind. Is the £270 cost price?

TBH... a neoprene chainstay protector, with a metal/plastic sheet held underneath would probably save that sort of damage in the future.

Might not look quite as pretty though.. 😉

Still not sold on carbon frames. Owned dozens of aluminium bikes, never broken one, owned 2 carbon bikes, cracked both. You generally chuck an extra £1k cash about a pound of weight savings, seems to be a rubbish trade off imo.

I fell 20 feet onto rocks down a ravine in Morocco on my carbon Tallboy. It wasn't even scratched. I, on the other hand, was ****ed.

Did you buy on a credit card?

Time to send in the heavies.

I, on the other hand, was ****ed.

Ah, but you're carbon based too 😛

I fell 20 feet onto rocks down a ravine in Morocco on my carbon Tallboy. It wasn't even scratched. I, on the other hand, was ****ed.

DirtyLyle, earlier.

Jamie - Member
I fell 20 feet onto rocks down a ravine in Morocco on my carbon Tallboy. It wasn't even scratched. I, on the other hand, was ****ed.
DirtyLyle, earlier.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir97936_CYo

Like the way the guy asks, "Did you film it?"

Never mind the slight issue of their mate falling down a cliff!!! 😯

Not sure I'd expect frame protection on a chainstay, certainly not from rock strikes off of the front wheel. That looks to me like a side-ish impact, so a rock flicked up from the front wheel and curved round the crank, pedals, and your feet (or bounced off of another rock perhaps) before hitting the bike mid chainstay with enough momentum to cause that kind of damage? You should buy a lotto ticket!
What does the inside of the chainstay look like?

In all fairness, regardless of cause I'd hope for a goodwill gesture of some kind. Is the £270 cost price?

The inside is still whole.. its only the other 3 sides that are split..

I was thinking I might use some of the insulation that plumbers use on pipes... the foam stuff..

I might just do the whole bike as I'm not 100% convinced that it was a fluke..

There was a ti frame on here a while back, a local rider dented and actually pierced a ti DT, from a bit of flint flicked up by his front wheel. A rigid 29er in the chilterns - hardly heavy use riding.

You can't protect a frame from every impact or crash outcome. Sometimes you're just really unlucky, like this one by the look of it. Seen same kind of written-off stay on an Al susser a few years ago - very low speed wobble onto some rocks. Dented a nice steel frame's seat stay hitting a sticky-out rock myself, no big crash needed. Sht happens..

I was thinking I might use some of the insulation that plumbers use on pipes... the foam stuff..

[img] [/img]

Oh glitchy bump....how much I've missed you!

Must admit, when that Cube came out and they talked about it weighing 26lbs or so I thought "Two to three pounds lighter than most Carbon Mojos/Nomads, but with bigger wheels..... must be fragile"

Do you use a bike rack to transport it?

Must admit, when that Cube came out and they talked about it weighing 26lbs or so I thought "Two to three pounds lighter than most Carbon Mojos/Nomads, but with bigger wheels..... must be fragile"

I am beginning to think that myself.. 🙁

The sad thing it.... its a fantastic bike.. I feels perfect on the trails and goes uphill like a train..

Not much use if it breaks like a toothpick

Do you use a bike rack to transport it?

yes .. been through that with the shop.. Its transported in the middle of a 3 bike Thule 9403.. towbar mounted bike rack..

The bit that is broken is mounted closest to the car..

That is in a really easy place to fix, either buy a kit and do it yourself, or I cant imagine it costing any more than £60 to get it professionally done.

That clip makes my fall look unmanly. I'll get back in my box.

Indeed, looks doable.

That is in a really easy place to fix, either buy a kit and do it yourself, or I cant imagine it costing any more than £60 to get it professionally done.

Wouldn't like to take the chance that the repair is weaker than it needs to be.. and it breaks at the most inconvenient moment..