leob1

Just a bit off topic, but related, I met Graig Calfee at the Philly Bike Expo. He seemed to be a truly nice guy, and he loved what he does. He had no problem talking with anybody that came up to his booth. I walked up to him and started chatting, my wife was a bit behind and off to my side. She noticed his name tag, and started to, loudly, whisper in my ear "THAT'S THE GUY, THAT'S THE GUY!". I looked at Calfee and said "YOUR THE GUY!" He took it well, my wife was slightly embarrassed as Calfee and I stood there laughing like fools.
If I ever win the lottery I'd buy one of his frames.

Biker395 

^ +1 ... that's the plan. Plus, there is the drool factor of a new frame.

qcpmsame 

Hope the fix works out, Vic, please keep us up to date when you get it out for some miles. Start looking for aluminum cans along the road to sell so you can save up enough for a Calfee Dragonfly, shouldn't take you more than say 20-30 years of canning to get enough.

Bill

BluesDawg

Time to move on.

Biker395 

Yea, I know. I'm lookin'.

Anyways, here is a pix of the repair.

Zinger

Don't know much about carbon fiber but:
I was curiously looking over the Lemond Triomphes the other day and noticed they used a bolt on derailleur hanger. What is the downside in a setup like that and if there is none, why wouldn't everybody use that method on CF ?

Biker395 

Good question. I've heard stories that the decision involved weight and shifting precision. If that's the case, it was a baaad tradeoff. The difference in weight had to be miniscule, and I really doubt there was any noticeable change in shifting precision. I think in 2009 they began including bolt on derailleur hangers on all of their bikes.

Now that I've got the bike back, I want to make sure that the rear derailleur is installed using a breakaway bolt. Not that I think it will make a huge difference. With the kind of fall I took, I frankly don't think it would have saved bending the derailleur hanger, but what the heck?

The problem is that since everyone is using replaceable hangers now, it's hard to find breakaway bolts! CBO has some really cheap titanium "breakaway" bolts, but what sense does it make to use a Ti breakaway bold on an Al hanger?

There's an outfit in the UK that sells them, but over the pond is a long way to go for a $5 bolt weighing 50 grams. Anybody else know where an Al breakaway bolt can be found?

Zinger

Maybe your local bottom feed jobbing machine shop.....If you've got the steel one to use for an example.

Biker395 

An update of sorts:

The frame repair is so far, so good. The shop that pulled out the old hanger and installed a new one said something to the effect of "believe me, that's not going anywhere" as if they wrapped it with a lot of extra carbon for good measure. It looks and feel secure so far.

Guess what pinged me today? And old search. It looks like there is a hanger that fits precisely where the old one was, and is secured with a couple of screws:

https://soshanger.com/epages/box11137...on=ViewProduct


It also looks like it's Scott approved.

Well ... I suppose if I bend it again ...

FBinNY 

Before deciding (though I'd probably opt for a new frame) you need to naswer one question. Not for me, but for yourself.

WHY do you keep bending hangers? The first time is easy - the crash, but what about the other times. Hangers don't magically bend by themselves and there's not enough stress in normal RD use to bend one, so what is going on?. Is it rough handling, mutiple drops or crashes or what?

Unless you can answer that to your own satisfaction, and solve the basic problem, a new hanger or new frame may not do anything for you.

By the same token, why are you wanting to replace the hanger if it's still not broken right now?

Biker395 

Well, lessee. The only hanger I've bent was the one on the CR-1, and that was in a blowout-induced 25 MPH crash on my right side.

It was bent back to position, and that lasted 2-3 years. Bent back again, and lasted 1-2 years , and bent back again and lasted a few months. IMHO, the hanger isn't as robust as most ... it's not a solid piece of aluminum ... it's milled out, probably to make it lighter.

Is it rough handling? I doubt it. All my other bikes have aluminum replaceable hangers, are treated the same or more roughly, and none of them have bent. I think it's because it's because it's not as robust as most and aluminum cannot be bent repeatedly without losing strength.

I don't want to replace it at this point ... it's fine. But there is a part of me that wants to spend the 30E for that puppy just in case.