So it looks like dickhead here has overtightened his seat collar and cracked his SC Nomad. 😭😭😭
Small cracks propagating from slot in seat tube.
Just in time for Ardrock, out of warranty and not to mention of course it's 26" so no chance of getting a replacement front triangle.
MEGABALLZ.
Anyone successfully had a frame repaired with similar damage?
How about you forget the last 1hr and put it all back together and look at it after the weekend?
Has it gone all the way through? Image doesn't look too bad. Certainly repairable and given its a black frame no need for crazy colour matching the repair.
couple of zip ties should sort it!
I think I'm going for the 'cover it with gaffertape and hope' route.
I think I’m going for the ‘cover it with gaffertape and hope’ route..
The crack or your crack?
oh and I did have a spare front end for one in a lovely neon yellow
Look up Rob Hayles - re_carb on Twitter. Does carbon frame repairs at very reasonable prices. Quality is outstanding.
Did my road bike and has done mates too.
http://www.carbonmods.co.uk/Products/carbon-fibre-repair-kit.aspx
Although they state that their fishing rod repair kit is better for bicycles.
I feel carbon fibre repair is something I should leave to a professional, given my apparent less than sympathetic mechanical talents...
Just don’t sit down.
Just don't snap it clean off mate, you'll be fairly gutted with yourself if it was repairable and the bike isn't insured.
I guess, depending on the seat tube design you could cut the seat tube down and cut a new slot in - some guys have been doing this with carbon Yetis so they can upsize.
I'd have to see it to be sure, but I might be tempted to drill a small hole at the bottom of the crack to stop it propagating.
Dude, go down a seat post size and glue a shim in.
+1 for Rob Hayles at https://twitter.com/re_carb?lang=en
As a short term fix, a double bolt type clamp worked for the same sort of crack on an old ti frame for me, though it'll only work if the seat tube is uniform rather than stepped below the clamp,
Something like this or this - it'll mean the crack is under compression so shouldn't spread further and, if you have a dropper post, which I'm assuming is the case, won't impact on function though it may look a bit basic. Obviously, if the top of the seat tube is stepped, that won't work though.
Holy shit dude! Nightmare! ☹️☹️☹️
The seat post is a 30.9 so would have to go down to a 27.2 I guess so it will limit options I imagine. Though I guess the shim would have to be quite long so it doesn't just stress a small area and doesnt lead to more movement in the seat tube.
I just have to get it though the weekend and then I'll get in touch with Rob Hayles.
Has your next door neighbour suggested a bit of caulk yet?
Id probably find all this funnier if I wasn't so gutted about vandalising my frame and the fact that a replacement bike is not in the budget until Sept 2020 at the earliest, though quite frankly I'll be paying off a wedding at that point so more like 2024...
Hopefully it won't die completely on Sunday and I can get a it repaired.
How did overtightening the collar crack the tube?
I dunno, I just kinda assumed that's what had happened given my history or mechanical ineptitude...
If it's just bost coz of being to rad on it* then fair enough and I'll stop being so annoyed at myself.
(*theres not been that much rad)
I can't see the photo but I thought much the same when I saw the thread yesterday: overtightening a seat clamp shouldn't crack the seat tube provided the post is a good fit.
From the description, it sounds like an undersized seatpost or an oversized seat tube. I'd get a caliper and check.
But like I say, can't see the photo, so I'm guessing a bit.
This isn't meant to patronise, but get a torque wrench and you'll be amazed at how light the tightening forces need to be on bikes. Around 6Nm for a. Seat tube collar, it seems hardly hand tight.
I'd try Santa Cruz tbh, I've found on many occasions if you speak nicely, be humble and don't be all shouty and STWy, companies often help out over and above their remit.
The photo is here: https://flic.kr/p/My8VMb I don't know why I can't get it's to post.
I usually use a torque wrench but I had put the post in too low and raised it on the trail and nipped it up by hand so I assumed I'd bost it.
The post feels pretty tight going in, there's not masses of play around the post.
Santa Cruz are at Ardrock over the weekend so I might go and see if they think it's ok to ride / cry at their stand and throw myself at their mercy. It's a year out of Warranty so I'm not holding out much hope. I know they don't have any 26"XL front triangles left in stock either.
What Bez said, also if they don't replace I'd drill the ends of the cracks, perhaps shim it or get a perfectly fitting seatpost, and keep riding.
Very short slot = design flaw IMO, especially if the seat tube inner is oversized.
companies often help out over and above their remit.
Sell it as perfect condition ask SC for a full refund? 😬
Santa Cruz might give you a discount.
My opinion though is that you shouldn't buy a frame you can't afford to replace the day after you bought it, for this reason, even though I can afford a carbon frame, I buy aluminium.
If you have a carbon Mk3 Nomad or Bronson, the latest aluminum models would still be an upgrade - if a little heavier but who cares about that! You'll probably get a good crash replacement discount on them as well.
My brothers aluminium Nomad MK4 is a really ace bit of kit.
It's worse than that it's a Mk2 Nomad so 26" so it's a new frame, fork and wheel job!
Even if I bought the cheapest frame I could I still wouldn't be able to replace it next day! Unfortunately I don't have that kind of disposable income.
Would love a new Bronson however there is definitely a wedding before I'll be owning one.
Even a 2k full build will be a huge upgrade, look for a deal on CRC on a Vitus. Seen one going for 1300!
26 to 27.5 was a huge pain in the balls.
If this had happened a month ago I'd have sold you my 2015 Reign 2 for a mates rate price. 🙁 Maybe look at second hand or ex demo!
There's loads of secondhand bargain Nomads and Bronsons out there however it's doesn't fit in to the budget, especially as I have to figure out how to save for a wedding first...
I popped in to the local SC dealer today and the new Bronson is even nicer in the Carbon than in the photos!
Also in other news I went to take my post out today and check how far the cracks had gone through and I thought I'd see how far I had actually managed to tighten the seat clamp and it was actually bearly over 7Nm so not actually much more than I usually use.
Just going to chalk it up to 'bikes break', and suck it up.
Oh man, that sucks. 😞
Looks pretty repairable though so good luck for the weekend and getting it fixed afterwards.👍
If you're worried about riding on it maybe a jubilee clip around the cracked area would provide some support until you can get it repaired?
I had a crack in the seat tube of a MK2 carbon Nomad. Luckily for me it was a warranty issue. Having said that I rode the cracked frame for quite a while with no issues and the crack never got any bigger.
Nomad (and rider) survived Ardrock! Crack didn't get any bigger even with all the rough descents and time in the saddle.
Santa Cruz, they were very nice, told me to fill in the online form and they would see what they could do.
Demo'd a Bronson from Stif which was a very pleasant ride (nearly £8k worth!), though I'm not sure where the money for that would come from for one of those currently, especially as Ms O_H_H demo'd a Juliana Furtado and really liked it so that might have to come first.