Broken Time.

[Kevin3182]

Hey everyone!
So out for a ride the other day i saw this frame sticking out of the trash. On first glance the worst of the damage is the obvious seperation and some small scratches, but no other damage. Iʻm sure this would have to be x-rayed to ensure no further unseen damage but is it repairable? I know Calfee can do some pretty major repair....but i donʻt know about this much. Iʻd love to know your thoughts and other possible companies who could fix it. The question of why not just get a new frame? i donno, this is a cool find, and if it can be fixed for $600 or so dollars then why not!

Some pics:

[Werdna]

It would probably be best if you contacted calfee to get a quote. They have done some pretty amazing repairs in the past.

[2011]

Nice find. It can surely be fixed.

From what I hear, Calfee is currently overwhelmed and going under with repairs and such.

I've had great experience with Predator Cycling and carbon repair in Santa Monica. They would be slightly cheaper (since they are a newer shop) and give a lifetime warranty on their repair job. I'd email them over these pictures.

http://predatorcycling.com/carbon-fiber-repair/

Seems as though just a clean up of the two tubes, and replacing the headtube and carbon lugs would do the trick.

[Frankie - B]

Wow, that is a clean crack. normally you would see loose fibers all over the place.

[ultimobici]

Get in touch with Time themselves. They have a repair service, although I have no idea how much it would cost.

[gilesharrison]

I'd get Time to repair this. Looks like the headtube is one piece with the top tube and down tube lugs. Doesn't look like an overly complicated repair but I imagine it'd be best done on Time's jig.

Definately worth retrieve from the bin.

[HammerTime2]

What neighborhoods do you ride in? I don't see very many broken high end racing frames in the trash where I ride. On occasion, I'll see a rusted out 30 year old $80 Huffy 10 speed (that's total, not per chainring) "racing" bicycle with a "take me" sign on it.

[topflightpro]

You should go back and knock on the door to see if he can give you the matching fork too.

[timzcat]

Does anyone really think the head tube came off like that all at once? I think it is intentional in some way.
For example it was warranty replaced and the owner was told to destroy old frame and provide a picture.
Explains the lack of fork, and any attempt to repair with Time would raise some eyebrows if this was a warrantied frame.

[Kevin3182]

Thanks for all the feedback! i got the fork out of the bin as well, but my camera couldnʻt get a shot of everything and still show that it was broken. anyway, iʻll contact predator, calfee, and time and get the scoop. Hopefully my next post can be in the gallery!

[peruffo]

Quote: Does anyone really think the head tube came off like that all at once? I think it is intentional in some way. For example it was warranty replaced and the owner was told to destroy old frame and provide a picture. Explains the lack of fork, and any attempt to repair with Time would raise some eyebrows if this was a warrantied frame.

I used to work at the waranty dept. of a bike importer and I would be surprised if Time asked for such a procedure, replacement it's simply not done in this manner. I only know of one instance when this was asked for, but it was a very special case...

[CBJ]

What an amazing find. Keep us posted on the repair.

[CerveloBert]

I would hit up Frank Moir from Spyder Composites as well.

[gostops]

That nice clean break you see, occurred when the owner had the bike on a roof rack, and drove into their garage (or some other low clearance). Garage top hits the seat, front fork is attached to rack and then the screaming starts. Seen another Time with the same clean break at the lugs. If you listen close, in the top tube, you can still hear the owner crying. You have more problems than appears, the fork was under serious stress, along with the seat tube, so you will need to x-ray the fork and frame, then take your chances riding this rig. No, Time will not repair the bike, and the owner, just collected insurance and moved on. You might as well add the frame to heap of Lance TdF videos, at your local college bonfire!

[thisisatest]

I personally think it was not an intentional break, and i do not think it was a roof rack incident. I think it was a head-on collision with the back or side of a car. Ive seen this exact scenario with colnago c40 and c50 frames, head tube ripped off cleanly and completely. Fork was still fine. Front wheel was still fine. Tire did not go flat. These lugged carbon bikes had piss poor front impact strength, the failure is where the tube ends in the lug.
Remember those early cervelo commercials during the Tour showing them run a weight down onto a fork attached to their frame? Fork just bounced on theirs, head tube breaks on others. This is what they were talking about.