# scratched my carbon fork - what to do?



## digby (Jul 23, 2004)

I cant believe I did this. Scratched my bike today for the 1st time, and I managed to scratch it pretty good. Slowly rolled toward a curb at an angle, 3-5 mph and thought i'd just ride right over it, ended up doing something weird, getting almost stuck in the pedals, and scratching the fork against one of those curbs with little pebbles molded into it when I fell and the bike went sideways. I have excellent bike handling skills, i'm an expert level trials rider, so this just makes me feel really dumb. 

Anyways, the scratch in the carbon is pretty good, I suspect it may just have penetrated the clearcoat on the fork(it is a 2004 tcr1 composite). How should I take care of this? Get it inspected at the bike shop and possibly have to shell out $300 or so for a new fork? Or clean it out real good with alcohol and put some superglue on it?


----------



## filtersweep (Feb 4, 2004)

I know there are those more alarmist, but my attitude is if I can't see broken fibers, I don't worry, I have about 7000 miles on a scratched chainstay... yours is a mere flesh wound, from the sounds of it.


----------



## digby (Jul 23, 2004)

flesh wound or not, I'd like to know if I should do something about it. Obviously ignoring it and just riding are one route, but I would hate to find out on a 45mph downhill when my fork disintegrates. A crack in the headtube, chainstay, seatstay, seattube, whatever I can deal with and kinda control, but cracking a fork on a descent really scares me.


----------



## Notgoodbutslow (Jan 10, 2005)

Best to be somewhat worried about that scratch. The key thing to look for is broken carbon fiber strands. Carbon components are much greater than the sum of their parts, and even minor damage can lead to catastrophic failure. If there are no broken fibers, touch up the scratch with some clear nail polish. If you're in doubt, run it by a trusted LBS for advice.


----------



## temoore (Mar 9, 2004)

Structural concerns aside, many say clear nailpolish it a good way to touch up gouges in CF.


----------



## drevelo66 (Jan 22, 2005)

Ditto. Just don't glop it on!


----------

