# Advice needed



## pagstx (Oct 11, 2005)

Last August I was involved in a pretty bad accident on my Cristallo. I went down at fairly high speed and struck a post bunging up my shoulder pretty good along with other assorted injuries. Now 6 months later I am mentally and physically ready to get back on the bike. Will start with the trainer first and then progress back to the road hopefully.

Here's my issue: the bike. I know the fork was cracked but there was no other obvious frame damage and my shop has checked it out. They feel that the frame was undamaged and is still rideable. I loved the frame and it fit me very well and though four years old, it still looked great after many thousands of miles. Still it's a carbon frame involved in a high speed accident and I'm not sure I should trust it. Complicating matters is the cost of a new fork. The Colnago fork would be ? $700 or so and Envy around $500. Not sure if I should also consider Alpha Q or Easton which might be less $$. 

Further complicating matters is I am not sure how I will respond to riding again. There was lots of pain involved here and if I have lost my love of riding, I probably don't want to invest lots of dollars in a new frame.

My plan as of now is to get a lower end fork that works and see how it goes. Alternatively I thought about getting a used steel or ti frame for <$1000 or maybe a new Salsa or Gunnar and if I get the bug back after 6 months, invest in a new frame. What do you think? Trust the Cristallo and my bike shop or scrap the frame since it's carbon and was crashed? I realize this is the internet and all that, just looking for opinions is all.

Pags


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## Dinosaur (Jan 29, 2004)

Hard for me to say if I would replace that Cristallo frame or not. I crashed hard in 2005 and fractured my right hip. Went though surgery, recovery, the whole nine yards. I was apprehensive about getting back on my bike. Actually, my wife and a friend sort of talked me into it as they knew if I did not ride again I would be very unhappy. Getting back on the bike was not that hard. The hardest part was having a sore rear for about three weeks and getting back into form. Unfortunately, crashing comes with riding. Sooner or later we all go down. This was my second 'bad' crash. 

I always go by gut feelings with stuff. If you feel leery about riding the Cristallo then it will be in the back of you mind during your whole ride. Tough call.

You might consider posting this over in the General forum as well. Lot's of riders have been down the same road.


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## SJX426 (Oct 6, 2008)

I can only speak for myself and this is not a recommendation. If the fork is cracked, not broken, and the crack is not seperated, then the fork likely absorbed a majority of the energy. It is also an indicator of the magnitude of the impact. The LBS may or may not be qualified in judging the damage to the frame. How much time was spent examining for cracks and where? I would take all that into account when judging the risk before making the decision of what to do.


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## joeyb1000 (Feb 15, 2011)

I T-boned a guy at 30mph on my C50 pista. The impact was enough to break the fork in two and bend the front track axle. I stuck a new fork in it and have been riding it ever since. Don't underestimate the durability of carbon frames (luckily Colnago doesn't use paper thin tubing).

Buy a fork on Ebay and ride.


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## merckxman (Jan 23, 2002)

If you were in Europe I would suggest sending it here:
http://italiancyclingjournal.blogspot.com/2010/12/carbon-frame-repairs.html

Does anyone in the US have any like services available???


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## pagstx (Oct 11, 2005)

Thanks for all the thoughts. I probably will just troll ebay for a fork unless the LBS has a reasonably priced alternative. They actually suggested ebay and said they would be happy to install it if I found one. The problem with trolling ebay is I always end up staring at the 2-3 yo c50's or last year's cx-1 and trying to justify a couple more thousand dollars in my mind. 

To top it all off the NAHBS is in town this weekend and I've already cleared my Friday afternoon schedule to attend.

I suck at resisting temptation.


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## fabsroman (Jul 14, 2006)

If it were me, I would be sending the frame to Calfee to have it looked over. It would suck to have the next big crash be the result of a frame breaking, especially if it is at high speed and under hard breaking during a descent. This is one reason I do not race on carbon frames. Both my Cristallo and C50 are for training only and the Artes and Bianchi FG Lite are for racing. I figured I would eventually wreck while racing, so it would be better to race on aluminum. While out training, I rarely, and I mean rarely, see the pavement. KNOCK ON WOOD.

They actually recommend that carbon frames be x-rayed or MRI'ed after a hard impact to make sure that the structure is alright. Look over Calfee's website and maybe contact them to see if they can review the structural integrity of the frame for you. If it were me, I wouldn't mind paying a couple hundred dollars for the piece of mind.

http://www.calfeedesign.com/repair/


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## Genshammer (Mar 24, 2011)

*Another repair option*

Hi Merckxman,

We also offer carbon frame repair, and are Ellsworth's authorized carbon frame repair facility. Check out our repair gallery at www.carbonframerepair.com. We're in North County San Diego (Oceanside).

Sincerely,


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