I broke my Ruby's seat stay! (repair advice please)

[Tokie]

PS Oakleaf, thanks to you too! And cost -wise, so far Calfee is talking about $300 - could be more , and that's without paint or shipping. At least I live in California, so the shipping should be less. Tokie

[aicabsolut]

Calfee has all of their painting done by Joe's. But it's painting (and paint prep, and clearcoat stuf) ONLY. Joe's is located in the same business/industrial complex as Calfee. Calfee does all of the structural repairs to the carbon weave. I believe Joe's is a company that does a fair amount of painting for manufacturers. They paint Calfee's own brand of bikes, IIRC.

[aicabsolut]

PS Oakleaf, thanks to you too! And cost -wise, so far Calfee is talking about $300 - could be more , and that's without paint or shipping. At least I live in California, so the shipping should be less. Tokie

For a bad (level 3?) fracture to my downtube plus painting (including re-stenciling factory decals) and shipping from the east coast, Calfee said I'd be looking at about $500 total. The bulk of the cost comes from the degree of damage to the tube, and not really the size of tube. It's slight cracks versus complete cracks versus a severed tube that makes the difference in the type of patching they have to do.

I really wouldn't skimp on the repairs, because bad carbon repair can be catastrophic.

I would look into Specialized's crash replacement, though, because this could be a good time to get a nice upgrade for cheap, especially if all your components are still good.

[Tokie]

Well, I've decided to go with Calfee for the repairs. If DH ever wants to do a cheaper repair on his bike, he can. I want a solid frame I can trust! I called a Specialized shop in town - the manager was less than enthusiastic about working on an exchange with specialized, particularly since I didn't buy my bike there. I'll call the shop tomorrow where my former bike store owner friend now works, she said they could help me - I guess I need them to see the damage before they can do anything. My bike is at my mechanics getting stripped now. I would love to get a discount upgrade, especially the way bike prices are set to rise in 09! Tokie

[aicabsolut]

That's lame. When I was shopping around for a crash replacement frame, I went through 3 shops on the east coast who were all willing to try to locate me a frame. They work through different warranty reps, and they were trying to find some new old stock out in a shop somewhere, and so they were going through their different regional reps too. Any Specialized dealer ought to help you out with warranty issues (and although it's not a "warranty" exchange but a "crash replacement", they still deal with Specialized's warranty department). That's because Specialized won't let you do it yourself. I mean, what if you bought the bike in a different state? Hopefully your friend will be able to help you check out those options.

[Aggie_Ama]

That is lame. My husband had a frame crack and the bike shop he had bought it from was no longer a dealer for that brand. Another bike shop gladly helped us. I hope I never have issues with my Cannondale, the shop I got it from closed in April 2007 but there are three Cannondale dealers left in town.

[ehirsch83]

I know multiple people who have sent frames to Calfee and they have all come back looking great!(my boyfriend is one, so I saw the frame every day after it came back, it looked great). You won't be dissapointed with the work Calfee does a great job!

[Tokie]

Latest update - local dealer made a few more calls, and this is the deal. There are Ruby frames available in my size (48) and model (Comp/Pro frame) and there is a crash replacement deal - 15% discount, or about $1000 for the frame. the catch? (besides it not being a very great discount) Specialized will only cut you this deal if you surrender your damaged frame. - so the dream of fixing the broken one to rebuild as a TT bike concept is no longer sounding viable. Darn. Calfee is sounding better. This was the second crash on my Ruby - the first last year (same scenario, person in front of me went down fast and I cashed into /onto them) In the first crash, my carbon bars and rear derraileur hanger needed replacement, with just tiny cosmetic damage to the frame. But is it bad to ride a carbon bike that has been crashed twice?( BTW, I replaced my bars with the Dolce aluminum bars with the "Zertz" inserts, and I like them just as much as the carbon ones.) Well, back to the phones to see what I can find out! Tokie