All about bicycles, electric-assisted bikes, technology and safety in the press

The most common safety risks that we come across in our daily work around bicycle safety, technology and operating instructions are also published by us in articles in the leading German special-interest magazines TOUR (Europe's road bike magazine no. 1), BIKE (Europe's mountain bike magazine no. 1), MYBIKE and EMTB in order to make this information, which is important for the industry, available to a wider public.

For many years now, the Eurobike Show Daily, trade fair magazine of the annual Eurobike Show, has also given us the opportunity to publish our view of major developments in the cycle industry in full-page articles.

We also speak regularly in independent expert presentations about all areas of bicycle technology and the bicycle market. In addition, we are quoted by further special-interest magazines of the industry and the trade as well as increasingly by radio and television in their media reports, which shows us that we are spot on with our advice. The section "News" informs you about the latest news from our specialist areas. The reports and publications of this section are listed chronologically or according to areas of interest.

TOUR 03/2010
Reading time 0:50 minutes

Carbon - replacement or repair

It works - after all!

Cracks, defects or notches in carbon irritate cyclists: Is there a way to use components or the frame any further? And, is it possible to have damaged carbon parts repaired at a reasonable price? TOUR offers answers

You already take your precious carbon racer with you in your appartment to save it from the risks of a bicylce storage room and here you are! A thoughtless turning, a gentle push with the elbow, the bicycle tilts over and hits with the top tube at the sofa table. You immediately state a small hole in the coating of the top tube with a cracking pattern around it. And ask yourself whether the frame is lost for good. As a matter of fact there is no pat answer to this question. Neither is there an answer to the question, whether frame, fork, handlebars or other components made of carbon can be used any further after a crash on the road or whether they have to be replaced.

Cyclists who have bought their cycle from a manufacturer granting crash replacement for such cases, have at least the possibility of buying a new frame at a reduced price. But even this kind of warranty expires sometime and if you happen to experience such an accident after that you will have to pay the regular price. And at this point the question comes again to the fore whether the repair of a carbon frame is possible – and if it is, at what price?

Short & crisp

Following a crash or an impact carbon frames are not necessarily fit for scrap. There are test methods for frames allowing an assessment of the condition. Even a repair is possible in many cases. There are specialist companies offering the repair of a damaged carbon frame to the condition as new.

Author: Dirk Zedler

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