I’ve managed to damage the chainstay on my RC303 frame due to chainsuck, see image here:

chainstay damage

Basically the chain has gouged out part of the chainstay (about a 15mm cross section of the stay), and has actually worn a small hole in the stay – this is about 1mm wide and 5-6mm long. Can this section be filled, or a patch welded over it?

I’m not worried about invalidating the warranty – I just want to ensure that the frame will still be ok to ride. My riding is solely XC stuff.

So, has anyone else had this happen to their RC303? How did you get it fixed?

Buying a new frame is unfortunately not an option at the moment.
Oh, and I have got in touch with Pace about this. They’ve got back to me saying that it’s a question for Adrian Carter, and he’s not in the office until next week. That’s fair enough, but whilst i was waiting I thought I’d call on the collective wisdom and experiences of stw’ers.

1: Its -ucked !
2: Why did you not just stop pedalling and avoid the massive amount of damage you have inflicted ?
3: You will get no where with AC, trust me.
4: New frame required.

Oh dear.

oh dear indeed.
In response to (2) – i’m guessing it’s not from a one-off chainsuck incident – obviously i stop pedalling once the chainsuck noise/grind happens.

gosh, that seems to be a problem of too little material in a troublesome spot. I had some major chain suck issues for the best part of 10 years on my Klein but it’s not gone through the tube!

mrmichaelwright – that’s an aluminium frame as well isn’t it?

yes

1: Its -ucked !

Maybe, maybe not. It’s impossible to say. Some frames with holes worn in them go on for years with no problems, others don’t…

4: New frame required.

Ditto.

You’re not really going to be able to fix it. Your options are:
– carry on riding it and keep a close eye to see if it leads to a crack and if so, then it’s probably on its way out
– try and use something like carbon fibre/fibreglass to patch it up and add strength/support to the area. Of course it does mean that you can’t see if the damage gets worse but if you do it properly, you could probably build up enough stregth with the composite so as to not actually matter. I’ve got a mate with an aluminium frame from the mid 90s which is still going strong with exactly this repair – looks ugly though if you did it neatly with carbon fibre, it could look ok.
– bin it and replace – costly and IMO not necessary

Some frames with holes worn in them go on for years with no problems, others don’t…

Driveside chainstays get a right battering just from the loads going through them. Cyclic compressive stress, and bending.

I would indent it heavily and get a patch welded on out of as thick sheet/plate as you can get.

True but like I said above, real world experience tends to suggest that they can still be fixed or actually go on fine even without being touched…

stumpy/clubber/brant – thanks.
brant – do you know anyone who’d do that type of repair? It’s indented already from the gouging – from the direction of the bottom bracket up to the hole. So indent the chainstay past the hole (towards the dropout) the same width as before the hole, and then weld a patch on?

oh – and glad to hear that it might not be irrepairably damaged. And i’m not fussed what the finished job looks like – it’s a fantastic frame to ride and I just want to carry on riding it!

get it welded up it will be all right!!!

Argos could probably put a patch on it for you. Mind you, any “good” metal bending shop should be able to sort it as well. Repair might be pricey mind (£60+) I’d guess…

FWIW, if it was mine, I’d be going down the carbon fibre route – easy enough to do if you’re reasonably diy minded, strong (assuming done properly) and doesn’t mean having to find a welder who’ll do alumninium and also has the skill to not make a mess/overheat it/potentially re-heat treat it (can’t recally whether the Pace alumninium would need re-heat treating though I do think it’s originally heat-treated so likely to).

clubber – yes, according to the pace website it’s ‘6066 Aluminium Alloy Heat treated to T6’ – so that makes the welding a patch on route more tricky?
Nickc – thanks. £60+ still sounds a lot better than £500 for a new one!

I would imagine that any good aluminium welding place will also be able to heat treat it for you but to me, £60 sounds quite cheap – I’d reckon £100+

“I would indent it heavily and get a patch welded on out of as thick sheet/plate as you can get. “

I’d just jet someone to flood weld the area then file it back in to shape.
The heat treating won’t be an issue.

On my 303 and my 305 i had a short length of clear plastic hose slit open and zip tied aroound this area as the alloy seems very soft. As well protecting the frame the hose fills the gap between the frame and chain ring stopping the chain from being sucked up against the frame.

But to be honest you need to sort that chain suck out.

lol my old Pace had a removable plate under that area to prevent chainsuck…….progress isn’t always good

Speshpaul – thanks, that’s a good tip. it does seem like the alloy’s pretty soft. Best getting cutting the garden hose down after i’ve sorted this!
The chain suck seems to come and go. I don’t know whether the pace frame is more susceptable to it than other frames? I’ve not had similar problems with previous bikes, or bikes that i’ve built up for other people. I thought i’d fixed it but then the grit/mud of calderdale at the weekend seemed to bring it back on again.
Myheadsashed – yes, i have vague memory of that plate, back when i used to want a pace frame but couldn’t afford one!

I must say, my Pace 305 has been the worst frame for chainsuck that I’ve ever had (I know frames don’t cause it). Mine is looking a little scratched as well but I’ve not gone through yet. I protect mine with a bit of stainless plate bent around the stay and held on with two stainless jubilee clips. Looks awful but does the job most of the time. However, it did suck so bad on Sunday in the peaks that it pulled the plate off!

Local aluminium fabricators should sort it no problem

Trimix is the person to talk to about this–local to you and I think knows a few good workshops in the area.

PS I have his email address if it’s not in profile.

Hey… new to this site so excuse the delayed reply.

For those still with similar issues;
I thought I would post as I run RC303 and love it. Had the chain suck and tried to sort it. The only thing left was the BB. I was running an Shimano LX crankset and LX BB, suffering heaps of chainsuck and the resulting damage. It was only small with each incidence, but repetitive and it was becoming really bloody annoying (especially while racing).

I switched to XT BB and XT crankset (after advice from Duncan at http://www.diymtb.com) and have no further issues. Not one more incident of chainsuck!

There was just something about geometry with LX that just didn’t suit. I’m guessing there are other cranksets that facilitate the suck of the chain!

I did exactly the same thing to my 303, gave the frame away. XT BB too.