teamtrinity

Hello,

During a triathlon race this weekend, my 2007 Cervelo P2C was damaged. While on the run, a rack of bikes fell over. My bike was on the end and suffered the greatest force from the mishap. After the race, upon inspection, there was a hairline crack on the seattube.

Few questions...

How can you tell if the crack is just a paint crack or if it's frame?

So far, I have emailed RRVelo and Calfee regarding damage assessment and repair estimates. I have also emailed my local bike shop regarding damage assessement, an sort of frame replacement policy through them and/or Cervelo, and the cost of a new frame at retail cost. I've also explored ebay and craigslist...but no P2's in my size.

Home owners insurance might not be a good option...ridiculous deductible, and don't want our insurance premiums to go up.

Is there anything else I should be doing?

Thanks!!!

merlinextraligh

One, see if you can buff it out with a cloth and some elbow grease. (i.e. it could be just in the clear coat), Two, use your fingernail to get a feel for how deep it is. Three, take a coin and tap along the seat tube, above, below, and on the crack. If the sound doesn't change, its likely not into the fibers and likely isn't a problem.

If the sound changes to a dull thud at the crack, there's an issue.

Picutres would help a lot, both for people to try to help you online, and for Calfee.

And one piece of good news is that a seat tube failing usually is less likely to produce an accident than other places on the frame. I finished a century once with a seat tube broken in half.

brad06ag

Remember, Calfee isn't the only place to have Carbon repaired, just one of the more well known. A lot of Carbon frame makers will repair carbon and their turn around time is much quicker. When I did mine that way earlier this year. I sent it off on a wednesday afternoon and picked it up when I was in the area on Saturday.

teamtrinity

Just took my nail and a quarter and tapped around. The sound changed right around the crack. The best I can describe it is the sounds gets lower...like a lower note. Above and below the crack, high note. Right on and next to the crack, low note. Bad sign, right?

Doh. Hopefully I can find someone to repair it for a good price and with good turn around. *sigh*

merlinextraligh

That would be enough for me to want to get it inspected by someone who really knows what they're doing before riding it a again.

shouldberiding

How in the hell did a whole rack of bikes tip over?

lovestoride

it happened at my last triahtlon, i saw them fall over as i was leaving the race. it would really suck if my bike fell over i would be upset

mitty2328

I'm guessing someone didn't put their bike in properly before starting the run causing a domino affect.

lovestoride

yeah ive noticed too many people try to race through transition, but they do it poorly and end up hurting other peoples equipment. in my last race my shoes had been kicked around so i had to waste time tring to find my other shoe. really you dont need 13 second t1's you can risk the extra 3 second to make sure you didnt just knock peoples **** around.


/rant

mitty2328

Yeah i'm assuming stuff like that happens a lot in tris. The only time those 3 seconds matters is if a pro contract is on the line.

teamtrinity

I didn't witness it. According to witnesses and a race volunteer, a rope that was helping hold the rig together broke and it came crashing down. Witnesses say the 'rope' was nothing more than string, not rope. How did the string/rope break? Not sure if anyone knows that. Too much weight on the rope? Maybe someone knicked it? Maybe it had weakness/fray no one noticed? I don't know.

spry

Sounds to me that you just don't like the tone of things.

spry

This happened right after you pulled your bike to leave eh?

kev83202

I've had a carbon Giant frame that has had a "dent" in the seatstay for several years. I rode it really easy for a while never sprinting, eventualy I just kept riding it harder. It doesn't seem to get any bigger, but it's definatly cracked it goes about half way around the tube. I had never heard of anywhere that repairs the carbon.

I would love some more info on getting this repaired if anyone has more suggestions or personal experiances. I love the bike, but I was going to hold off upgrading some of the worn out parts becouse of the damage. If I could fix it for a reasonable cost that would be awsome.

ridethecliche

You probably:
1) Never looked, and if you did you didn't look hard enough for someone that repairs it.

2) Possibly have a chip in just the clear coat.

3) If you have a crack in the carbon, you have no regard for your safety or those you might ride with. It takes one little inopportune bump to cause the entire thing to give up life. When that happens, I wouldn't want to be you.

kev83202

1) I looked in 06 for a way to repair the damage. I met with a giant rep who spent a couple hours talking on the phone with the techs at giant. I have been racing bikes for 20 years and worked in a bike shop for 4 years. I've never heard of anyone willing to repair carbon untill I read this thread.

2) It's not a chip, you can push your thumb into it.

3) It's on the seat stay, if it breaks while riding i'm going to have to stand up the rest of the way home, I'm not going to die ease up on the drama. I have another cheap bike I ride when I'm in a group, I ride solo most of the time though.

4) My question was if anyone had experience with a repair company and a reference of some other places that do it. Thanks for trying though.

Guillotine007

benajah

Check your race waivers to see if there is an equipment disclaimer. You might be able to get the race organizers to pay for it.