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

[Tokie]

Hi everyone! I got crashed out of my last race of the season - the good news is that I'm ok- but my poor Ruby has a broken seat stay. It is a crack that goes a bit over 1/2 the circumference of the tubing. My question - has anyone used "RRVelo" or "Calfee" for their carbon frame repair? RRVelo is at least 100$ less, probably $200 less, because they don't charge extra for painting. I don't care about the paint at all, I just want a good safe repair. Thanks for any input you can offer! Tokie

[Aggie_Ama]

I have heard Calfee mentioned, never the other one. I might be skeptical of why one is so much cheaper but I don't trust much.

[OakLeaf]

Doesn't Specialized have a crash replacement program? Have you looked into that?

[aicabsolut]

I'm going to send a bike to Calfee eventually. I cracked the downtube. I wound up having to just buy a new bike, because Specialized wouldn't get me a replacement by the time I needed it (they were out of stock, and they also couldn't really quote me a price at the time). Calfee said that with shipping time across the country, I'd be looking at 4-5 weeks for the repair.

I'd email Calfee about seatstay repair. I don't know if they do those. They don't do fork repair, and maybe seatstays are kind of iffy too, I don't know. It may change the ride a bit, because Calfee patches are generally said to be stronger than the original tube. The seat stays give you some vertical compliance (whatever that buzzword really means), so fiddling with one may change the ride, at least in theory. Also, depending on they type of fracture, plus shipping, it could cost you a lot. Specialized may be able to get you a good enough deal through the crash replacement program (you can get just a frame or a whole bike), and then you'd have a NEW bike or frame to ride and not a repaired one. Also, you can tell Calfee not to match colors or paint or whatever. They will do whatever finishing you want them to. They send it off to a place next door to be painted, so you'd need to give them specific instructions. They are very good about responding to emails. Attach close pictures of the carnage when you do email them for a price quote and information.

Then get your local dealer to talk to Specialized's warranty people and see what you want to do. They sometimes give you an upgrade. For example, I wrecked my Roubaix Comp, and (had they had them in stock) I would've been offered an Expert/Pro level replacement frame. It would've cost about 2x what Calfee will cost me (including shipping). But then I wound up going for the big upgrade to get a bike in time, and splurged on the S-works frame. Eventually that frame will get a components upgrade when I rebuild the other after it gets repaired. Or it may just sit in a box and I'll get a TT bike, I dunno.

[Tokie]

Aicabsolut - thanks for great ideas. I didn't think of a crash replacement program. I just e-mailed my friend that sold me my Ruby,(sadly, she recently closed her bike shop, but now works for another Specialized dealer). DH has been searching his bike forums re Calfee/RR Velo info - some fellow said that Calfee farms out some of their repairs to Joe's Bicycle Painting, ( I would guess the cosmetic ones) and some other guy said that RR Velo does most of the repairs for Joe's bicycle painting. The businesses are all in the same vicinity, so it sounds plausible. I don't know if I am so skilled that I would notice the difference in my repaired seat stay vs the original side. It may help that I only weigh 104 lbs, so it's not like my frame takes lots of stress from my weight. Calfee said they could repair the seat stay. I would love to have a spare repaired frame to turn into a dedicated TT bike! I'm getting the frame stripped of all parts tomorrow, and hoping my mechanic doesn't find any more damages I haven't noticed! Thanks for your input! I'll post what happens with my frame! Tokie

[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