I posted a thread last night, but I don’t believe I did a very good job of asking my question. I am looking at a new high end carbon bike (CR1) but was dismayed when I learned the rear hanger is not replaceable. After looking around at some other manufacturers it seems Scott is not the only company doing this (Trek among others is also guilty). Is this the norm among the “nicer” carbon bikes these days?
While I have been a roadie for over 10 years and feel I have pretty refined handling skills there is still the pretty good chance you are going to go down if you participate in crits and road races. What used to be a $15 fix could now easily be $500 or more depending on the manufacturer’s crash replacement program.
Is this something I should get over and buy the bike (the fit was perfect and I love my aluminum Scott Speedster S1) or keep shopping for another carbon bike that fits well and offers a replaceable hanger? If the latter, any suggestions on bikes that are in the same price range and have a similar fit?
Yes, I know carbon is not the end-all-be-all of materials, but I have an alu and ti bike, and would like to give carbon a go. Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
I think you missed the question. He was asking if the carbon frames that have all carbon drop-outs make the frame disposable, when/if something breaks. This was first thought when looking at the Cervelo tt bikes. I posted here and not a soul thought it was a big deal. I contacted my dealer and Cervelo and they told me that there was never a problem and never was going to be an issue with that area. How they knew that, I don’t know. I almost sold my Cervelo because of this but I ended up rationalizing that Calfee could fix it or I could get a replacement under warranty from Cervelo.
I’ve only munched the hangar on two bikes – a MTB (pretty common) and an old steel Trek (the chain got sucked up between the cogs and spokes, tearing off the rear derailleur along the way). Even in crashes in road races and crits, it’s only been those two times.
Yes, if the dropout is all carbon, I’d say that the frame is pretty much toast if the hangar gets “bent” (it won’t bend, but you get the idea). Not much can be done to repair it. Though for a TT bike, I don’t think the chances of that happening are anything to worry about.
Peter,
Thanks, you hit the nail on the head. One bit I neglected to mention was that on the Scott CR1 the drop out/hanger is a single piece of aluminum bonded to the cf stays. Do you (or anyone else) know if Calfee can replace a piece like this ( a la Trek with the Madone)?
In reply to Brider this will be my “do it all” bike, not just for TT/Tri, so group riding and the inherent risks are my main concern related to crashing.
Not user-replaceable and not replaceable are two different things. I wouldn’t exclude a frame from your list just because you can’t replace the hanger. I damaged a hanger on my Trek OCLV a while back. The bike had to be stripped down and the frame sent to Trek, but it was repaired and looks as good as new. It cost me about $350 in total for the teardown/buildup, repair, shipping, and new rear der.
Jeremy,
Thanks, I rode an F1 at LBS and the bike just did not fit me well. I am all legs with a T-rex torso and the compact geo of the Scott was more comfortable.
Mike