Buying a repaired carbon frame... bad idea?

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joec
Posts: 100
Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:20 pm

by joec

Ive been looking at Propels, and spotted one that has had a repaired top tube ( presumably due to a handlebar end to the tube).

now the frame looks to suit my purpose, as I'd want to take it back to black for a stealth look...

question is would you trust it?? the frame in question is below.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Giant-propel- ... 6016.l4276

Cheers Joe

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jekyll man
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by jekyll man

Depends who's repaired it... ask for proof of repair or where it was done.


I certainly wouldn't pay more than half the orginal value of the frameset (£1300 new).

Brakes etc aren't much use to the seller without the frame, so they arent exactly a "value added" extra.
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Multebear
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by Multebear

Think it through carefully before buying a Propel.

I have the Advanced SL 0, and I'm not overly satisfied.

The brakes are a nightmare. Whenever you change wheels, you have to carefully adjust the brakes; both cable length, if the wheels have different Widths, and side to side adjusting, which is the real problem, because the V brakes have to be adjusted on both sides seperately.

Besides that, that braking is bad due to two reasons:

1) the V brakes doesn't give much room for brakepad toe-in adjustment, which is why there's a lot of loud squealing due to the poor brake pad toe-in angle. All carbon Wheels both name brand and china Wheels have squealing on my Propel.

2) dirt Sticks to the part of the brakecable, that crosses the tire, and eventually the dirt gets inside the cable hausing, which makes pulling the brakelever harder and harder over relatively short time.

Besides that, the frame is really nice, but if you are racing, and go back and forth between racing wheels and training wheels, you are in for a lot of very annoying work.

HillRPete
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by HillRPete

jekyll man wrote:I certainly wouldn't pay more than half the orginal value of the frameset (£1300 new).

For around half of MSRP you should be able to get an undamaged used frame (yeah I know some people are charging insane prices on used parts, just ignore them). Surely not more than 25% of MSRP for a repaired frame, but this one doesn't even have the paint job restored. Got a repaired former high-end model myself for like 10-20% of the price, but not built yet.

Exar
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by Exar

Thanks for the link, got it at 400 pounds... now I'm just hoping that the seller wants to ship it, as I didn't really bother to check if he'd even ship it internationally....
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joec
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Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:20 pm

by joec

you sniping bastard LOL

I was out whent he aution ended so missed it, good luck, I'll be interested to hear how it works out for you.

NilesCrane
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by NilesCrane

Exar wrote:Thanks for the link, got it at 400 pounds... now I'm just hoping that the seller wants to ship it, as I didn't really bother to check if he'd even ship it internationally....



Classy :roll:

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Horze
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by Horze

You got Clarified ;)
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ChiZ01
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by ChiZ01

for a few hundred more you can get a used frame in great condition. And with this you have to spend more money and time to sand down and repaint the frame...

AJS914
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Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

No need to repainted unless he wants that. It seems like an ok deal with the extra parts.

I picked up a broken Time NXR Instinct as a project for only $250. It included a Time RTM stem that alone is probably worth $150 plus the fork is good so there was minimal financial risk. The repair looks pretty straight forward. So far I've stripped the frame of decals and clear. Repair is next. I'm thinking nude carbon in a satin finish.

Exar
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by Exar

Haven't really come across Propels for that kind of money here, the cheapest I've seen a frame in decent condition go was 800 euros but that was the cheaper version. I actually bid on the item when there were still 3 days to go, I'd hardly call that sniping...
Chains to the right!

sawyer
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by sawyer

sounds a nightmare
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Exar
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by Exar

If this is what your nightmares sound like...
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sawyer
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by sawyer

Exar wrote:If this is what your nightmares sound like...


Riding around on a frame someone else has cracked, had repaired, not knowing what's been done to it etc ... admittedly there are worse nightmares ...

but I'd certainly give this "offer" a wide berth ...
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sharkman
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by sharkman

It's really bad idea. If someone give repaired carbon frame, I throw away.


+1 binned carbon frames for less.

I would only have a carbon frame repaired if the damages was minor and not on the upper/down tube.
Even then I would want to see the frameset before the repair was done, simply don't trust sellers that want to make money for something they might not trust riding themselves.

Propel is a superb frame (although only isp for me) but not if it's your only frameset since it's not allround enough and the TCR is way more agile and the better choice for clumbing / curvy tracks.

About the brakes, the earlier (especially carbon) ones wheren't that good but the last two versions are even better than the fourier brakes and are on par with ultegra 6800 (never had squeeling brakepads not with alloy nor with carbon braketracks), the different rim width adaptation is true. Bit more work but the few times I had to, I did it in max. 5 minutes.

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