If you ride a carbon fiber bike you know that damage can happen. Carbon is surprisingly resilient or heartbreakingly fragile depending on the type and direction of impact. A dropped chain might result in a visual nuisance or a deep gouge threatening the structural integrity of your bike frame. Damage from flying gravel, a knock at a cafe or a more aggressive racing crash can all create various levels of damage that may leave you wondering whether your frame is destined for the landfill.
The good news is that a cracked frame isn’t the end of the road for your bike. Carbon fiber is highly repairable and our team of specialists can return your bike to its finely tuned, structurally sound, former glory. Our in-house carbon repair expert has undergone thorough specialist training through a Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) accredited composites program teaching the latest in aerospace composite repair techniques. Our full suite of diagnostic tools is used as needed to assess any potential damage that might not be obvious at first glance.
Carbon fiber REPAIR
Carbon fibre is a true wonder material, and over recent decades bike companies have mastered using complex carbon lay-ups to optimise stiffness, power transfer, and overall ride feel. How the layers of material are used is what gives your bike its specific characteristics, so as a repairer it is important that we carefully remove the damage and rebuild the area using similar carbon weaves and thicknesses, layered in the same direction as when the frame was first built. This is how we both maintain the original ride characteristics and also make sure not to create additional frame stresses outside of the repair area. Repaired improperly and your frame may be more susceptible to future fractures, damage and handling issues.
Although every bike and every repair is different, we work hard to be as transparent with our pricing as possible. We only charge for the exact time each repair takes based on a fixed hourly rate, so we’ll give you a detailed estimated prior to starting work. And with typical repairs starting from only $500, keeping your damaged bike on the road may be more affordable than you’d think.
While creating a strong, reliable repair is our number one goal, how it all looks to you, the proud owner, can be just as important. We offer a variety of finishing options to make your bike as functional or as perfect as you want it to be. Beyond repair our paint shop is second to none. We give you three ‘post-repair’ paint levels of your choice starting from just $250.
CARBON FIBER REPAIR PROCESS
STAGE 1 - DIAGNOSTICS
We begin with a visual inspection to identify the area(s) of damage. Our eyes can tell us a lot and can give a sense of potential damage. An acoustic test, also called a tap test, can also be a good gauge for damage, cracks or subsurface delaminations. Additional visual testing may be done on the frame’s interior using a borescope to identify inconsistencies in manufacturing and other interior concerns.
Finally, ultrasound testing can tell us more about what we can’t see or hear. It allows us to detect voids, manufacturing defects and damage propagation - like delaminations - outside of the directly impacted area of concern.
One or all of these tools may be used to identify the scale and severity of the damage - or to check that the very obvious crack in your bike’s frame is the only damage it’s suffered, for example.
STAGE 2 - PREPARATION
Once we have identified areas in need of repair and a map of the damage has been created we prepare your frame by removing localized paint all the way down to the raw carbon. This creates a working space for rebuilding the damage.
The damage itself is then sanded or ground out of the frame. This technique is called scarfing, which creates a dished shape of concentric carbon layers with the damage. This area is kept as small as possible and can be as little as a centimeter to as big as is needed depending on the scope and scale of the damage.
STAGE 3 - REPAIR
Once the working area is prepared, cleaned and free of damaged and delaminated fibers we’ll assess the layup of the carbon. Here we note the specifics of the original build in terms of fiber layer thickness, direction and weave type. This is important to ensure the finished, repaired frame has the same strength and ride characteristics as its original structure.
The result of this process will be a detailed sketch of the layup plan which allows us to cut and prepare new carbon fiber patches matching the concentric layers created in the scarfing preparation step.
Each piece of replacement carbon fibre is adhered to the existing material using aerospace grade epoxy adhesive. Wet layups are cured under heat and vacuum compression to ensure the repair area strength matches that of the existing frame.
Once we’ve gotten to this point your frame’s structural integrity is back to factory grade and almost ready to ride. The finished raw carbon fibre repair needs protection from environmental factors like UV and moisture. Now we prepared the repair area for the paint finishing option of your choice.
PAINT FINISH OPTIONS
Level 1 - paint protection band
FROM $250
If you don’t need your bike to look like nothing ever happened and you just want to protect the new carbon fiber layup. This is the most cost-effective option. We’ll simply apply a black or white band of solid colour around the repaired area and apply a new gloss clearcoat over the top. Think of this as the wabi-sabi option.
Level 2 - complementary paint finish
FROM $450
Sure, you might not want a full restoration of your bike’s paint finish, but you’d prefer to have something more subtle than a paint protection paint. This middle option involves us coming up with a simple but complementary design to protect the carbon repair in a way that loosely matches the bike’s existing design. This level doesn’t include any colour matching services but we’ll use our years of paint experience to achieve an aesthetically pleasing new look.
Level 3 - full paint restoration
FROM $750
This is the truly seamless option: a full restoration of repaired area to bring it back to the exact factory colour scheme, with an accurate colour matching service included. This can include all branding, logos, and other designs - we charge based on the time taken so get in touch for a bespoke estimate.
It’s also not unheard of for us to undertake a full repaint of your bike, should you want to take the opportunity to give it a whole new look.
The Fine Print
We bill hourly and do our best to estimate the time that will be spent. The above numbers are estimates and all jobs are invoiced according to actual time spent. Feel free to email for an estimate.
Repair lead times including paint or refinishing range from 3 weeks to 3 months depending on the time of the year.
*Mechanical services may be required. This can be done prior to drop-off at VéloColour or VéloColour can do the required additional work at our standard hourly rate. For more information, check out our Mechanical Services.
Properly packing and shipping your frame takes time. We charge $75 on top of listed prices for this service. Shipping within North America typically ranges between CDN $120-$300.
Drop-off, pick-up and/or delivery are the responsibility of the customer.
Expedited service available for a rush fee of $350 - depending on availability.
We offer a limited lifetime warranty on all carbon fibre repairs.