Recently replaced the bottom bracket on my carbon Giant TCR. However I might have made quite a catastrophic error. When I removed the old one not only did I remove the bottom bracket but also the 2 metal sleeves that should be bonded to the carbon. Worse still one of them is totally destroyed.

These 2 sleeves sit in the frame and are what the bottom bracket is pressed into. Sort of like an interface between the carbon and the bottom bracket.

This is not my pic but one I’ve found on the web to give you an idea:

Is my frame repairable? 😕

Yes

should be fixable (getting a new tube bonded in) but it will cost you.

Warranty?

No warranty. Bike bougfht 2nd hand (off here as it happens)

Warranty?

I think there is a general exclusion against battering **** out of a frame until bits of it fall out

How the hell did you manage that?

Went for the “ghetto” approach to removing a BB ie. hammer and screwdriver. The metal inner has a small lip on it which I was hitting thinking it was the BB itself. Eventually the BB came out along with the inner.

Could be an expensive lesson learnt.

A new sleeve can easily be bonded back in.

As above really, see if you can bond in a threaded one. My Advanced SL has no sleeve, just press fit into carbon.

Why, this is strange.
I just changed my BB on my Giant TCR!

How about trying the fit without? I don’t think mine had the sleeve.

Yeah tried that. The BB is just too loose in the frame.

Spoken to LBS who happens to a be Giant dealer who in turn spoke to Giant UK and this part is not stocked as a replaceable part. Only hope is finding an old broken frame and taking it out

Talk to some carbon repair people they’ll make up a tube to fit and bond it in.

Get the dimensions n get one turned up

Almost certainly repairable. Talk to the guys at Carbonology.

I think there is a general exclusion against battering **** out of a frame until bits of it fall out

It doesnt say in the OP that he hammered it out..but it does later on!

I had assumed it had fallen out due to corrosion between the sleeve and carbon frame.

Best get one machined and then bonded back in.

how thin is the sleeve itself?

Could you consider fitting something like a Praxis which tightens against the outer faces but also has a collet inside so it expands out against the BB shell. If the cup of the Praxis is loose in the shell then you might need to get a thin cylinder to sit between, but the benefit of the Praxis type is that where the two cups screw together they’re in alignment so overcome any misalignment caused by not having the proper sleeves or the faces being a bit out.

Just thinking, don’t actually know, but might make a lightbulb go on for you or someone else.

You should be able to find the inner and outer diameters. Once you have, your local engineers/machinist should be able to make you up what you need. Bond it back in and Robert is your mothers brother.

Expanding foam? 😀