Ibis Ripmo - cracked frame. Are all carbon bikes this fragile?
10-06-21, 01:52 PM
#26
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A buddy of mine, avid rider, but not super fast, has broken every suspension frame he's owned, usually in a pretty short time. The fastest he ever went won him a KOM on a local trail, mainly a downhill, and he did it with a broken swingarm before he realized it was broken.
The frames he broke were all aluminum, BTW. He's between suspension bikes now and riding a decades old rigid frame.
I am in a similar boat - I broke every steel MTB frame I have ever owned within two years of purchase - GT, Concorde, and Norco. THe manufacturers considered these frames 'under warranty' and I got replacements. I have never broken an aluminum MTB frame (GT, Kona), and my Ti frame broke after ~20 years - a crack that started from the deep gouge in the seatstay caused by chain suck.
The moral of the story Is - if you are pushing your equipment hard, failures might happen. Feed your piggy bank when you can so you have a few shekels saved up when you need to replace something, and regularly give your bikes a close inspection to minimize the chance of setting out on an 18 hour unsupported epic with a head tube about to separate from the frame.
The frames he broke were all aluminum, BTW. He's between suspension bikes now and riding a decades old rigid frame.
I am in a similar boat - I broke every steel MTB frame I have ever owned within two years of purchase - GT, Concorde, and Norco. THe manufacturers considered these frames 'under warranty' and I got replacements. I have never broken an aluminum MTB frame (GT, Kona), and my Ti frame broke after ~20 years - a crack that started from the deep gouge in the seatstay caused by chain suck.
The moral of the story Is - if you are pushing your equipment hard, failures might happen. Feed your piggy bank when you can so you have a few shekels saved up when you need to replace something, and regularly give your bikes a close inspection to minimize the chance of setting out on an 18 hour unsupported epic with a head tube about to separate from the frame.
10-06-21, 04:12 PM
#27
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You know .... maybe if @ClydeClydeson's "buddy" is also a clyde ..... but look. Professional Riders go a Lot faster and hit a Lot harder. Pro stunt-freeriders do 50- and 100-foot jumps and ride away.
I am not trying to offend anyone ... but anyone who is breaking a bunch of frames is doing it wrong.
Think about it--If I told you I had bought 17 cars in the last seven years and every one of them got wrecked .... would you think it was the cars?
I am not trying to offend anyone ... but anyone who is breaking a bunch of frames is doing it wrong.
Think about it--If I told you I had bought 17 cars in the last seven years and every one of them got wrecked .... would you think it was the cars?
10-06-21, 05:13 PM
#28
Banned.
You are correct, my typo should have said: "second-hand carbon frame bike." The reason is that I am unaware of any carbon manufacture that will warranty a carbon frame. Let me go back to edit that.
10-07-21, 08:36 AM
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Maelochs Yes he is a 'clyde' but not super huge - under 250 lbs, is my guess. The issue is that he rides his bikes for several years, not a single season or two before being given a new one by a sponsor. I've known him for the better part of 20 years and he has broken (I think) 4 frames. The failures are also not catastrophic - he has not been stranded by a bike snapped in half, just notices it feels funny and inspects and finds a crack when he gets home.
Pros break frames too, but you are unlikely to hear about it as it would reflect badly on the sponsors, and it doesn't look good in the videos or photographs.
Pros break frames too, but you are unlikely to hear about it as it would reflect badly on the sponsors, and it doesn't look good in the videos or photographs.
10-07-21, 10:58 AM
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I cover all my carbon mtb frames with Invisiframe film. It wouldn't protect against a major hit, but it stops ALL of the minor paint chips. So you would know for sure the difference between a cosmetic paint chip and a serious impact.
10-07-21, 11:05 AM
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Agreed. Looks like it got raked across a tree stump or rock by the trailside rather than something loose getting kicked up.
10-07-21, 03:16 PM
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Maelochs Yes he is a 'clyde' but not super huge - under 250 lbs, is my guess. The issue is that he rides his bikes for several years, not a single season or two before being given a new one by a sponsor. I've known him for the better part of 20 years and he has broken (I think) 4 frames. The failures are also not catastrophic - he has not been stranded by a bike snapped in half, just notices it feels funny and inspects and finds a crack when he gets home. (emphasis added)
I have done a fair share of riding including some fairly hard off-road (made big mistakes and crashed hard, mostly) but have never broken a frame except by severe crashing .... and never broken a steel frame unless a car was involved. So, especially considering you say you aren't riding super fast, I wonder why you and your buddy break so many frames? It is unusual, whether you think so or not. (I 'd say do a poll here, but I don't trust most posters ....
)I am not trying to criticize you or your buddy, but I shoot MTB races sometimes, and I see riders of all sizes and skill levels going as fast as they can, and I listen to the stories they tell, and breaking every single frame they buy in a couple years is not a common story.
That's all.
10-07-21, 03:36 PM
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I have tested wrapping 3 layers of CF around a broken steel fork blade. When it's hardened 2 days later, I put it on the cement garage floor and WHACKED it as hard as I could with a steel hammer. The floor and my wrist suffered more. LOL
That is what I then wrapped my seat tube with, on my heavyweight tour bike.
That is what I then wrapped my seat tube with, on my heavyweight tour bike.
Last edited by GamblerGORD53; 10-08-21 at 11:10 PM.
10-07-21, 04:53 PM
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And if you’re concentrating on the task at hand you may not appreciate the severity of a hit. I broke a rail of a pretty new saddle during an event ride. Didn’t discover it until I went to put the bike on the roof rack. I had to think of when it happened. Concluded that it must have been the big bump I hit during a descent near the end of the ride. Didn’t seem that severe when it happened.
10-07-21, 04:59 PM
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Honest question.. aero shaping and even weight seems a pretty low priority on the MTB scene; why is CF a thing at all for those bikes?
10-07-21, 05:01 PM
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10-07-21, 05:35 PM
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My last high end Aluminium trail bike was pretty solid, but very heavy by today's CF standards. About 8 lbs heavier and very noticeable on steep climbs or accelerating.
10-09-21, 08:00 AM
#38
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Say what you will, I haven't beat on the bike. Rode my previous mtb much harder for much longer (a Breezer Repack 2014).
Either way, the repair is done. Rode the bike at killington yesterday and was happy to have it back.
Edit to add - huge shout out for Ranch Camp (bike shop and restaurant) in Stowe Vt. They got the part around noon on the day I was planning to leave town, and they had it replaced by 4 pm at a more than reasonable labor cost. And that was on a busy week goign into a busier weekend.
Last edited by billyymc; 10-09-21 at 08:03 AM.
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10-09-21, 10:53 AM
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That doesn't really mean much; this isn't something that happens on a schedule like tire wear - you took a hit, plain and simple. Unless your Breezer was stupid heavy, it probably would have needed some attention, too.
10-09-21, 02:30 PM
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Honest question.. aero shaping and even weight seems a pretty low priority on the MTB scene; why is CF a thing at all for those bikes?[/QUOTE]
Recently my wife's heavily modified Superlight was stolen and we were looking at the few bikes available in her size in socal. The parts on the Al bikes were much higher weight and lower quality than for carbon (lower price too; even though she's a WW, we would purchase Al if it was equipped with good parts; only bike we know of that's satisfies this criteria is Ibis, but no stock).
Recently my wife's heavily modified Superlight was stolen and we were looking at the few bikes available in her size in socal. The parts on the Al bikes were much higher weight and lower quality than for carbon (lower price too; even though she's a WW, we would purchase Al if it was equipped with good parts; only bike we know of that's satisfies this criteria is Ibis, but no stock).
10-09-21, 03:06 PM
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10-09-21, 03:13 PM
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10-09-21, 04:26 PM
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10-09-21, 05:15 PM
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Yeah, you're right. I worded badly. Overall bike weight matters, but on approx avg 30+lb bike weights, and the difference between a CF and alloy tubed frame is 1lb, the 7lbs difference between lower and upper end complete models is much more due to other parts.
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10-09-21, 06:31 PM
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On a FS frame, the weight difference is more like 1.5 - 2 lbs. If you want to compare apples to apple, look at the Al vs CF versions of the Ripmo frames.
10-09-21, 06:48 PM
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Not really. Honesty, almost everyone is riding a carbon bike and they don't all break - not any more than aluminum. Did you do the coin test? Also, talk with Ibis, they are the best company to deal with.
10-09-21, 06:52 PM
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10-10-21, 04:29 AM
#49
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I did speak directly with the warranty manager at Ibis who, upon seeing the picture I sent him, advised me to not ride the bike and offered the $480 price for the replacement swingarm.
10-10-21, 07:50 AM
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As for carbon bikes, put paint protection film (the stuff for cars) on all the chain stays and down tube. Stuff works like a charm to prevent chips and also helps with impacts.