[Closed] Cracked your carbon frame? Don't chuck it — send it to this guy!

[b]I'm sure plenty of people on here have cracked their carbon frames and felt their stomach lurch as they realise that warranty isn't going to cover it. Well, I've just had my frame repaired and I was so impressed that I felt I should give the chap who fixed it for me some publicity.[/b]

First of all, here's my cracked frame:

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8359/8400861831_e4aa8d386b.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8359/8400861831_e4aa8d386b.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8400861831/ ]Cracked frame 1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8225/8401952348_e332d492d9.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8225/8401952348_e332d492d9.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8401952348/ ]Cracked frame 2[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8190/8400864683_8c96ea780e.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8190/8400864683_8c96ea780e.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8400864683/ ]Cracked frame 3[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

As you can tell, the seatstay is almost snapped in half. I think at some point my rear mech must have pinged round, hit the frame and left a crack that got bigger over time. At this point you could see sunlight through the crack! I didn't think repairing carbon frames was possible, but On One wouldn't accept a warranty, so I decided to ask around and give give it a shot.

One of my mates pointed me in the direction of Steve, an engineer working in Plymouth who had repaired his carbon fibre road bike frame. I called him up, and dropped the frame off with him later that week. He updated me by email with detailed descriptions of his process in repairing the frame, along with photos:

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8401957374_c73df65c36.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8401957374_c73df65c36.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8401957374/ ]Repairing the frame 1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8093/8401956516_bf4db7c863.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8093/8401956516_bf4db7c863.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8401956516/ ]Repairing the frame 2[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8468/8400868103_99368c2cd1.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8468/8400868103_99368c2cd1.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8400868103/ ]Repairing the frame 3[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8515/8401956068_1d723303f6.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8515/8401956068_1d723303f6.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8401956068/ ]Repairing the frame 4[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8336/8400866861_7f1126e71e.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8336/8400866861_7f1126e71e.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8400866861/ ]Repairing the frame 5[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

So, after all that, here is the finished frame! I can't believe how neat the job was. According to Steve, in a lot of cases carbon IS repairable and is then in fact stronger in the area that has been repaired!

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8196/8400865121_11d997e732.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8196/8400865121_11d997e732.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8400865121/ ]Finished frame 1[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8374/8400865535_58af20e2c2.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8374/8400865535_58af20e2c2.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8400865535/ ]Finished frame 2[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8056/8401954770_673466cd65.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8056/8401954770_673466cd65.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/75524565@N05/8401954770/ ]Finished frame 3[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/75524565@N05/ ]sbarley[/url], on Flickr

So if you're not sure what to do with that 'broken' carbon frame you have, go get it fixed. The prices are very very reasonable and the service is second to none.

[b]Email Steve at compositeframerepairs (at) hotmail (dot) co (dot) uk[/b]