Bicycle Chainstay repair


Author
Message
flint
flint
Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 3, Visits: 8
Hi all

attempting to repair my carbon bike frames chainstay (non-drive side). So far I have followed crack down through the chainstay and removed all delaminated carbon. There is now a nice 1" hole but the rest of carbon is solid. I have tried to cut in on either side of the hole using a fine rasp, so have a decent chamfer about 1 1/2" either side of the hole.

My plan was to just use multiple layers of Carbon Fibre 2/2 Twill 3k 195g, but having read a little more, I'm concerned this might not be enough to affect a decent repair, would I need to use some sort of UD fiber first?

Any advice gladly taken

Rod
Replies
Warren (Staff)
Warren (Staff)
Supreme Being (22K reputation)Supreme Being (22K reputation)Supreme Being (22K reputation)Supreme Being (22K reputation)Supreme Being (22K reputation)Supreme Being (22K reputation)Supreme Being (22K reputation)Supreme Being (22K reputation)Supreme Being (22K reputation)
Group: Administrators
Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 8.5K

The first thing I should say is that generally we don’t want toencourage people to make repairs to structural and safety critical part like abike frame without explaining that any work undertaken would be at your ownrisk, any advise given is given in good faith and no guarantees or assurancescan be made as to whether a repair is appropriate or safe to do. If in anydoubt, either replace the frame or take it to a professional.

 With that said, if you do wish to undertake arepair yourself then it’s often perfectly safe and easy to make a good repairand restore strength to the frame. If the damage has broken or split the carbonfibres themselves (i.e. it is structural damage) then you can add new layers ofcarbon fibre to the part to return the original strength and prevent furtherdamage.

 If you do make a repair like this then you shouldbe aware that you will always be able to see where the repair has been made.You can restore the strength in this way but not the original appearance. Tomake a structural repair to a bike frame I would recommend our Fishing Pole Repair Kit. Although it wasdeveloped to repair fishing poles, repairing a bike frame is done in exactlythe same way.

 The more fabric (and resin) that you add (i.e.the more times you wrap the fabric around) then the more strength you will addbut it the same time the repair will look bigger. The Fishing Pole Repair Kituses a very special, lightweight 90gsm cloth which allows very thin andlightweight repairs to be undertaken however if the damage is significant andyou intend to add 1mm+ or wall thickness by way of the repair then you shouldconsider additionally purchasing a small Carbon Fibre 2/2 Twill 3k 195g - Mini Roll 0.3sqm.This cloth is more than twice the weight of the cloth included in the FishingPole Repair Kit and would be ideal for larger repairs to heavier damagealthough if the repair is small you will be fine with just the 90gsm clothincluded in the Fishing Pole Repair Kit.

By using some UD you could in theory have a thinner repair if the original used UD as you'd be copying the original layup rather than building extra strength with a thicker woven cloth lay up.

Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant
flint
flint
Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)Junior Member (17 reputation)
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 3, Visits: 8
Hi Warren

thanks for the reply! I have already bought the mini roll of 2/2 195g twill previously along with resin, hardener and shrink tape, and I will be testing repair fully on a static turbo trainer before I venture out on road with it.

I will be using different cuts of the cloth ie 1" strip,then  2" strip, 3" strip etc to build up the repair so it bridges the damage properly and provides greater thickness at the centre where the hole is. Can I do this in two sessions or is it better to complete repair in one go?

Thanks
GO

Merge Selected

Merge into selected topic...



Merge into merge target...



Merge into a specific topic ID...





Similar Topics

Reading This Topic

Explore
Messages
Mentions
Search