Is my alu frame beyond repair?

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Arjimlad

Tights of Cydonia
Location
South Glos
Hope you're able to get out & about on your new bike still. What did you end up with (the bike)?
 
OP
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beatlejuice

beatlejuice

Gently does it...
Location
Mid Hampshire
I brought Decathlon Network 700 with the 8 speed Shimano hub shortly afterward. However I am finding a bit of a struggle up hills, it was a good idea on paper but the reality of it didn't quite work. I tend to use my Triban these days. It's cheap, got a wide spread of gears and isn't too heavy.
 
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Globalti

Legendary Member
Aluminium is not usually like carbon fibre where there can be hidden damage only detectable by x-ray.

When WILL people stop trotting out this old chestnut that you can X-Ray a carbon frame to see damage?

Firstly, who do you think would allow you to use their valuable X-Ray machine to examine a poxy bike frame? X-Rays are used for examining things like bones hidden inside humans and cargo hidden inside seafreight containers.

Secondly, a carbon bike frame is made from a resin plastic reinforced by a mesh of carbon fibres, which give it massive structural strength but very low resistance to point impacts so a thin-walled "carbon" tube is easily punctured. If you stress a carbon frame enough to overcome its considerable strength it will snap catastrophically and there will be no doubt. If you manage to stress it in such a way that you break the resin without breaking the reinforcing carbon it will certainly crush and become flexible like a green stick. A point impact from, say, a pedal or bar end will overcome the strength of the plastic and punch through the wall as many have found. In the same way a reinforced concrete beam is massively strong in tension and will support a wall but whack it with a hammer and the concrete casing will fracture exposing the reinforcing rods and allowing the beam to sag. So if you succeed in breaking a carbon frame, simple examination will quickly reveal the break if the frame is still in one piece.
 

Rickshaw Phil

Overconfidentii Vulgaris
Moderator
When WILL people stop trotting out this old chestnut that you can X-Ray a carbon frame to see damage?

Firstly, who do you think would allow you to use their valuable X-Ray machine to examine a poxy bike frame? X-Rays are used for examining things like bones hidden inside humans and cargo hidden inside seafreight containers.

Secondly, a carbon bike frame is made from a resin plastic reinforced by a mesh of carbon fibres, which give it massive structural strength but very low resistance to point impacts so a thin-walled "carbon" tube is easily punctured. If you stress a carbon frame enough to overcome its considerable strength it will snap catastrophically and there will be no doubt. If you manage to stress it in such a way that you break the resin without breaking the reinforcing carbon it will certainly crush and become flexible like a green stick. A point impact from, say, a pedal or bar end will overcome the strength of the plastic and punch through the wall as many have found. In the same way a reinforced concrete beam is massively strong in tension and will support a wall but whack it with a hammer and the concrete casing will fracture exposing the reinforcing rods and allowing the beam to sag. So if you succeed in breaking a carbon frame, simple examination will quickly reveal the break if the frame is still in one piece.
Petulant response not required!

I was merely saying (sixteen months ago BTW) that damage on an aluminium frame is not usually hidden - it's there or it's not.
 

TheDoctor

Noble and true, with a heart of steel
Moderator
Location
The TerrorVortex
[Aerospace engineer hat]
X rays, MIA and other NDT can be done on carbon.
Whether you'd actually have access to the kit is another matter, but it can be done.
 
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