rydabent

Sorry to say you bought into the huge sales ploy that buying fragile CF frame bikes is the way to show you are a modern day "real" cyclist.

Your only hope is that the mfg will help some, but you are bound to lose money on your CF frame. Live and learn.

rm -rf

A new Infinito? And now you won't be able to ride it until it gets fixed. Sorry!

The tube is broken. Don't ride it. I think you probably landed on the tube in the crash.

But, carbon frames are easier to repair than steel or aluminum. No welding! Newer steel or aluminum road bike frames have larger diameter tubes with thinner metal. Those would probably have gotten a big dent, bad enough to need a replaced frame.

Calfee has done a lot of frame repairs. And now, there are other repair companies. See the google search.

Calfee examples

Slash5

It's been talked about on the mountain bike forums that low speed crashes seem to be harder on frames than normal crashes. The thought is that the rider remains with the bike and adds their momentum and weight to the frame's impact onto the ground.

CliffordK

I think this is the point where then needs of the pro riders and hardcore racers clash with the needs of the recreational cyclists.

Carbon Fiber frames can be made tough. There are quite a few carbon fiber MTB frames that don't disintegrate with the slightest impact.

However, there is a quest to make the road frames as light and as stiff as possible. Thus super-thin oversized tubing. And the result is damage where there should be no damage. It is ok for the Pros who get a free bike whenever they break one. Perhaps replace the bike after a crash whether or not it appears whole.

It isn't the same for the weekend warriors forking out big bucks for their dream machines. Would one really notice an extra pound of carbon fiber designed to add longevity to one's bike?

If the OP's account of the crash is indeed true, then I'd push for warranty replacement. Enough of these low impact damaged frames, and the manufacturers might start considering the toughness attribute for their frames.

travbikeman

Strange how I have watched Youtube video's of guys hammering the heck out of these carbon fiber frames (yes literally pounding with a hammer to show the point of how strong these frames are). Yet, something as simple as a fall like this breaks the frame?

StanSeven

Right. Or part of the bike landed on a curb and the rest of the road. The crack is significant and a fall bu itself wouldn't cause it

northernlights

On cars you see carbon fiber on the hoods and body panels, but I don't think its used for the frame material. Same with motorcycles. You have carbon fiber body panels but the frame is still made of steel or aluminum. I don't think CF is meant to be a load-bearing material, which might be the underlying problem when it is used for bicycle frames.



Epoxy resin? That's kind of like saying carbon fiber is 49% stronger than balsa wood, or cardboard. Impressive!

WizardOfBoz

Looking at the break, it's sufficient enough to be a stress concentrator. In use, all the flex in the frame will be concentrated at the "lesion" causing high stress. Failure is imminent for damage this bad. JB Weld will NOT fix this adequately. As others have pointed out, the frame can be splinted, but will be a few ounces heavier and not as aesthetically pleasing. But the splint distributes the stresses back over an area of the frame and would work.

I agree with others, check with Bianchi. Falling over shouldn't do this to your bike (did the tube hit something when you fell? Perhaps all your weight landed on the tube at that one point?).

I ride carbon, and love carbon, but it does not have the same tolerance for dings and gouges that steel does. Nor do some of the earlier large-tube "beer can" Al frames.

Upshot: Frame is unsafe and toast. Replace it. Report what happened to Bianchi (do it accurately*). Check to see if they'll do it under warranty, or at least will give you a deal on a replacement. If no help, perhaps tell them "The folks on Bike Forum suggested I contact you and have asked me to report how this is handled".

* Craftsman has a lifetime warranty on their tools, but it seems to be to be unfair to bring in to Sears a 1/2" square drive wrench, in which the 2 foot long handle is bent, notches from a cheater bar are visible, and the yoke where the square drive is mounted is exploded, handing it to the Sears hardware guy, and saying "Uhhh, I was putting together my Ikea coffee table and this thing broke, can I get a replacement?" In short, it would be a better world if folks took responsibility for stuff.

indyfabz

I think I recognize his name. Wondering if he re-set his post count to zero.

northernlights

I think the frame is probably defective in which case should be covered by warranty. A bike tipping over should be considered normal wear and tear, and the bike here is only a month old. Even if carbon fiber is much weaker than steel it shouldn't just disintegrate after a tip over. But then carbon fiber seems to be highly prone to defects so the chances of getting a bad one is high. You hear a lot about these CF frame bikes failing after just a minor impact, which is virtually unheard of with steel and aluminum frames.

up on two

That frame took a bigger hit than you may realize, probably from your body. It also may have spared you an injury by breaking rather than remaining rigid and hurting you.

Send the frame back to the MFG and let their forensic engineers reverse the method of failure to it's origin. The companies learn a lot from theses breaks and cracks. Yours is a break, please do not ride it.

fietsbob

The cutting edge was not created as a safe option , and you chose the cutting edge of Bike frame construction.

game_player_s

So from that I gather if his frame had just been a regular carbon fiber construction it would have otherwise, well...

ol geezer

[QUOTE=northernlights;18983932] ... I don't think CF is meant to be a load-bearing material, ...

Boeing and Airbus use CF in the wings (and more) of their passenger planes. I'd call that load-bearing!

northernlights

Carbon composite body panels, not the frame. Carbon fiber on consumer products like tennis rackets and bicycles are much lower grade than what you find on airplanes.

tankist

Thank you guys for some solid advice and thoughts. I won't ride this bike and will resurrect my old steel Veloce until the issue is sorted out. I guess I learned my lesson - research market better before buying new bikes and do not believe marketing hype about latest and greatest. I hope the price for this lesson won't be too expensive.

To answer some questions. No curb was involved - I fell close to the middle of a smooth asphalt road (Hiller Drive in Berkeley). I was zig-zagging to climb, heard approaching car, looked back, lost balance, fell on the left side. I have a bruise on the left side of my pelvis, after one day it slightly hurts only if I press hard on it. I can feel in my left hand that I hit it, but no marks anywhere. There are small scuffles on the left brifter and left side of rear wheel quick release. On the left side of my right knee I have a small scuffle. The frame crack is wide on the right side and not visible on the left, so it seems top tube landed on the left leg and got hit by the right and this caused it break. I am not that heavy - 87 kg (192 lbs for metrically challenged), maybe the frame was indeed defective from the start.

I never posted before - I didn't have any problems riding my old bikes and enjoyed reading discussions sometimes. Maybe I should have posted for advice before setting out to buy a new bike.

rydabent

[QUOTE=ol geezer;18984147]And-----------------the CF tails have broken off French airbus airplanes killing several hundred.

rydabent

Remember those frames are really just plastic. They are actually CF reinforced resin which is a plastic. While not in this case remember plastic get brittle with age too.

fietsbob

Aircraft undergoes regular and very detailed Inspection If it does not pass, it does not fly.

except, maybe, 1 more time to an Airplane Graveyard..

drlogik 

I was hot on a new Pinarello GAN until I started to research this new carbon fiber coming in the new bikes. Yes it sure is light and stiff but the utility stops right there as far as I'm concerned.

My best advice is to approach Bianchi with a pleasant attitude and ask if they can help you with this as you LOVE the bike and are VERY surprised that such a HIGH QUALITY bike could break like that. Don't get belligerent or on the defensive. Be matter of fact and pleasant no matter how the conversation goes. It may be your only hope. If you sell it right, you just might get a new frame. That tactic has worked probably 98% of time for me over the years. I have often gotten a free replacement a long time after the warranty expired because of the attitude. It works.

ol geezer

northernlights and rydabent ...

Your points are well taken! I was just trying to tweak northernlights for making such a broad statement that he didn't think CF was meant to be a load-bearing material. There are many kinds of CF with differing characteristics and qualities but to simply say CF isn't suitable for load-bearing uses simply isn't true.

CF is used in aircraft wings thus is load-bearing. Yes there are failures in CF. It's like saying titanium isn't suitable for bicycles when, in fact, it makes up some of the most critical components of an aircraft engine. Those have been known to fail and kill hundreds. Helicopter rotors can be made of composites, titanium, steel, or aluminum - same materials as bicycles - and they fail, too.

End of my tantrum! Just be more specific! Thousands and thousands of CF bicycles are sold every year and very few of them fail just because someone fell over with them.

dim

strip the parts .... buy a new frame such as a planet x, add the parts to the new frame and dump the broken frame .... **** happens

Mulberry20

Oh man.....this is sad.

Maelochs

Okay ... first off, cars: Lot of race cars use full CF monocoques. And they use CF because the cars can be lighter—for better performance, but also (adjunct, not a design criterion) lower impact in a crash. And some of those crashes are monumental.

And a lot of those frames are repaired over and over. I mentioned Simona di Silvestro’s “Pork Chop,” a 2003 Dallara IR3 she raced in the 2011 Indy 500 ... plus a lot of the Prototype Challenge Orecas have been wrecked and repaired after almost every race since 2009.

Bikes: Any bike frame built for minimal weight is going to be a little fragile. I have heard a lot of stories of people denting their superlight steel or aluminim frames by resting them on a railing while getting a latte or something ... with steel, no big deal, but with Al, i hear such a dent might focus vibration and cause a fault. can’t say for sure, don’t care that much.

CF is going to be more brittle in certain situations. In this crash, it is possible the rider jammed the head tube against the pavement and torqued the frame with his full body weight while falling. It is much less possible but still possible that this was a construction flaw.

Either way it is unfortunate, but also repairable.

I recall a friend from Colorado who broke his GT MTB frame. We (friend and I ) were visiting and he was cleaning and updating ancillary systems because all he had was parts ,.... his frame was being fixed. That’s an aluminum frame ... not CF. And he didn’t wreck or anything, he just rode hard.

Stuff happens.

if you want a CF frame, accept that it is a CF frame. it will be lighter than steel, and it might absorb vibrations well, but it is not steel. It will probably be lighter than aluminum and will definitely ride smoother even if it is really stiff, but it will probably break more easily in a lot of situations.

On the other hand, most bikes survive most crashes. I have seen crit racers’s bikes do huge flips over pileups, go high-and low-side really hard, slide, bounce, twist ... and if the rider is able, s/he usually gets right up and runs to Timing and Scoring to get his/her free lap and carries on. But sometimes ... your Bianchi explodes for no reason.

If you know what you are buying and accept the qualities ... buy what you like.

Mulberry20

Look for a used Serotta Colorado.