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Scott CR1 - does broken front mech mean replacing the whole frame?!

The front derailleur mech of my Scott CR1 has detached itself from the frame as shown on the attached photograph.

My questions are:

Does the (carbon) frame need to be replaced as an intial telephone call to the LBS I bought it from and visit to Evans has suggested?

Even though it is the derailleur, for the above reason it may be a frame issue. Does anyone have any useful experience of Scott's warranty? Intial indications from LBS and Evans are that Scott are very strict and unless you can show documented evidence that you have serviced the bike every year, they will not honour the warranty?

How much should I expect to pay to replace the frame (whole bike is £1800), new derailleur and refit components to new bike (assume alll done by LBS or say Evans)? I am trying to work out the economics of it.

Background

I bought the bike, a scott cr1 team 105 triple, in July 2010 from LBS. For various reasons it has had modest use, hundreds of miles a year rather than thousands. I've been pleased with it (until now). I was riding along nicely yesterday when I noticed it had dropped into the small front ring. After a failed attempt to change up I stopped to inspect the problem. The plastic ring which forms part of the derailleur seems to have snapped and slipped further down the seat tube and the rest of the mech has detached a bit from the frame. There are no visible holes in the frame at the point of detachment. LBS's response has been disappointing so far, questioning whether I may have crashed it (I haven't ) or done heavy mileage and as they are no longer a Scott dealer, they have largely washed their hands of it. They have sent me off to a Scott dealer, the most convenient for me being Evans where it is booked in for them to take a look. The bike has been well maintained, just not formally serviced every year. I am aware of my statutory rights, so I may be back to the LBS if things don't work out.

Sorry this is wordy, Thanks in advance for any useful comments.

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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24 comments

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Johnny Crash | 7 years ago
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Further to previous comments, this also happened to my frame (a 2010 CR-1 Pro) and Scott decided that as it was corrosion, it wasn't covered by the warranty. 

The bottle cage mounts in the seat tube had also corroded through. 

I used rivnuts to mount the bottle cage onto and I simply glued and riveted the hanger back on with a hand riveter. (A clamp-on mech hanger didn't work because of the location of the bottle cage and mounting holes.) 

It has been perfectly fine and I've used the bike regularly for the last 36 months like this. 

 

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vaughan | 8 years ago
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Thanks to the ealier bloggers as I had a broken rivet on my Ribble Carbon R872 frame which is two years old. The blog gave me the confidence to make my own repair. I couldn't face the hassle of getting the repair done under guarantee, so ordered a pop rivet gun from toolstation which arrived in two days (including a bank holiday) and only cost £10. It came with several rivets including some 1/8" which fitted my frame. I wanted to use the bike before I could make a repair so made a tool which allowed made to fit an M3 screw into the hole with a nut on the inside. The tool consisted of a long aluminium tube with a hole to hole the nut. I even included a washer on the inside by glueing it to the nut. I could see the nut through the rivet hole and got the screw started OK. I then realised that it would be much more difficult to get the screw out and if the nut rotatated I would be really stuck -- so not so clever after all  40 ! So I waited for the gun to arrive.
My son works in the aerospace industry and pointed out that electrolytic corrosion between carbon and aluminium is a big concern in aircraft. Hence there is always a thin glass layer and a waterproof layer between the carbon and the aluminium. I put some paint on the rivet to try and prevent the corrosion but I doubt whetehr this will last long: but now I know how to do the repair I can easily do it again.

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Toro Toro | 8 years ago
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A big reason is that modern carbon frames often have very non-standard profiles, especially around the BB, so a standard-shaped band-on would be no use. Nor can it be slid up and down the tube - to e.g. accommodate the fitting of a compact chainset - if the tube-profile changes signficantly over the sliding distance, as many would.

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Batchy replied to Toro Toro | 8 years ago
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Toro Toro wrote:

A big reason is that modern carbon frames often have very non-standard profiles, especially around the BB, so a standard-shaped band-on would be no use. Nor can it be slid up and down the tube - to e.g. accommodate the fitting of a compact chainset - if the tube-profile changes signficantly over the sliding distance, as many would.

Yes, but designers could possibly make a specific band to fit their tubes? It seems to me that ,for example, Scott have not done much r&d in this area by assuming that a poxy corrosion prone rivet will suffice on a very expensive piece of carbon fiber !

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Batchy | 8 years ago
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Mmmm ! Why do manufacturers use " braze ons " ? Surely band on mechs are simply less likely to cause problems and are cheaper to install and easier to adjust !

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JonD replied to Batchy | 8 years ago
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Batchy wrote:

Mmmm ! Why do manufacturers use " braze ons " ? Surely band on mechs are simply less likely to cause problems and are cheaper to install and easier to adjust !

I guess in no particular order: minor weight saving; that's how they were often done on frames ; possible user error on refitting a band-on mech with overtightening the seatclamp ?

Tho' whether a braze-on subject to corrosion is a good solution is another matter - particularly if water ingress is likely to give issues.

(IIRC the braze-on style mount I had on a Cannondale in the early 90's was bolted on via a couple of vertically-aligned rivnuts)

Still, good to hear it's been sorted.

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Vercors | 9 years ago
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Far from you Leigh2612, so unlikely to be the same shop. Pleased you got it sorted.

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Leigh2612 | 9 years ago
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OP what area are you in? Sounds Luke the same thing that happened to me recently. Got fobbed off by LBS then another shop got it warrantied fairly quickly.....just wondered if the initial shop may be the same?

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jacknorell | 9 years ago
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Well done Evans.

The original LBS stating it was caused by riding a bike, in the wet, is ludicrous. Removing the seatpost would not affect the rivet in any way.

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trek-buyer | 9 years ago
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Kudos to Evans, but this should have been done by LBS, it was their responsibility, shame on them. These will be the same guys pleading in future to support the local and not shop with the larger chains.

Glad you got it sorted.

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Vercors | 9 years ago
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PostScript. A happy ending. Scott did repair it under warranty. Credit to them and especially Evans who dealt with the warranty claim on my behalf, even though I did not buy the bike from them, stripping it down, sending the frame away and rebuilding it with a free full service, new cables and offering a tune up when they stretch, all at no cost.

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Vercors | 9 years ago
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The good news is that LBS (on inspection) and a fairly local frame builder (subject to inspection) reckon the damage may be fixed by riveting and the frame can be saved, although LBS is not confident about the task and therefore would not undertake it.

The bad news is that that LBS' position is that the failure was caused by heavy corrosion caused by water Ingress from riding in the wet and therefore fuller servicing they say is relevant because on a service it would have been removed by more regularly removing the seat tube to make sure there is no water ingress. LBS reckons no way will it be covered under warranty or by them, although they are still friendly. Unless I get a different view, that appears to scupper the warranty and statutory rights.

I have touring bikes 20 plus years old where this has never been an issue and have cleaned, dried and lubed this bike after rides but maybe carbon, no mudguards is another ball game? I will confirm with frame builder if frame can be fixed and how much the repair will cost before deciding. Thanks again for all previous posts.

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Vercors | 9 years ago
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In response to my complaint LBS has made warmer noises and agreed to look at it to try to help (but without an actual commitment). I'm taking it in, so we'll see.

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pwake | 9 years ago
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Yep. Definitely exhaust all your other options first before you repair it yourself, as it really does look like a manufacturing defect.

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notfastenough | 9 years ago
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Any repairs you attempt to make will surely void any warranty claim, so I'd leave that until you are 100% certain that Scott or your LBS isn't going to help out.

It p*sses me off when shops pull out an excuse for it not being their problem. Them not being Scott dealers anymore isn't your problem, but your problem is definitely theirs.

Take as many pictures as you can before you send it anywhere.

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Vercors | 9 years ago
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Thanks for all the posts so far. I have sent a written complaint to the LBS to get it on record. I have found them to be fair until now, so I'll see if they will reconsider.

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glynr36 | 9 years ago
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Scott have a 5 year frame warranty.
Get onto the shop you got it from, and tell them you want to pursue a warranty claim for it and see what Scott offer you.

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Gkam84 | 9 years ago
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So they are still riveting carbon frames? I thought that was a long since gone method.

I still wouldn't do a DIY job on it as first choice. I would see what Scott will do for you regards warranty replacements.

If that is a no go, then try the DIY or get someone to rivet it back on for you.

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Jimmy Ray Will | 9 years ago
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As above... or if all else fails, remove the rest of the hanger, buy a clamp on front mech and just clamp it around the frame.

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pwake | 9 years ago
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So, in answer to your original question; no.

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pwake | 9 years ago
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Your frame isn't 'done' mate. From the looks of your photo all you have is a broken rivet, so should be a simple repair. I've got a CR1 and the front mech mount is attached to the frame by four standard 'pop' rivets. Your photo looks to show that one of these has broken (maybe due to galvanic corrosion between the carbon and aluminum) with half the rivet still stuck in the frame and the other half in the front mech mount (under a layer of paint). To repair the damage you should just be able to push the half in the frame into the frame; remove the bottom bracket to get the half rivet out, otherwise it will rattle around in their and drive you nuts! Then remove the half in the front mech mount. You should then have a hole in the mech mount and a matching hole in the seat tube. Now you get yourself down to Screwfix and buy a hand riveter and some rivets (they sell a mixed rivet pack, so you should get the right size; you can compare the head size to select the correct one), this shouldn't cost you more than £30. Get back home, bend the front mech mount gently back into position, select your rivet (maybe spray it with some paint first to make it more resistant to galvanic corrosion), put it in the rivet gun, pop it through the matching holes, squeeze the rivet gun and Bob's your uncle! Good as new! Don't worry about the frame, this looks like a failure of the rivet and the frame should be fine. Carbon-fibre reinforced plastic isn't some mysterious, magical material, as some would have you believe; it's bloody strong stuff (not fantastic with impact loads, admittedly) so give it a go, or alternatively try and deal with Scott/LBS/Evans BS and end up shelling out for a new frame.
I've actually carried out this repair to two bikes including a CFRP framed TT bike that subsequently carried me through one Ironman and several half-ironman races plus loads of TT's and shorter tri's.
Bikes are simple! Hope this helps?

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Johnwm66 replied to pwake | 8 years ago
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Just wanted to thank you for such sensible advice. It saved me from not having my bike on our three month adventure in Italy. Loose rivet broke off my Pinarello Dogma 2 and the front derailleur was left extremely loose. The rivet head then broke off in my fingers. After reading all the precious postings about carbon frames, I thought that was it for cycling here, but after reading your post, I pushed the rest of the broken rivet through and the first Italian Hardware store that I tried had a pop rivet gun. Bingo two new rivets (I found a second missing one) and good as new and handling all that Strade Bianche can dish out.

BTW I am probably the only guy who let the bike shop drill holes in my carbon frame to fit new Campy electronic group set. It was the Dogma 2 which is not meant to allow the Electronics unless you have the special frame. That was two years and many hard kms ago without any trouble. Frame warranties not worth the trouble and carbon is much stronger than the worry worts think.

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Gkam84 | 9 years ago
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On a carbon frame, it almost certainly means the frame is done, because it is not a typical "braze on" where it was brazed to a metal frame.

Before brazing, they were riveted to the frame.

I think on carbon, they are moulded into the frame during manufacture, hence it cannot just be typically repaired.

If it can be taken off cleanly, you could get a carbon braze on adapter and be going again, but I don't know if that would weaken the structure of the tube or not. You really need to get in contact with Scott directly, I wouldn't be going through Evans as they had nothing to do with selling you the bike in the first place. They are just going to charge you to say it is or isn't broken.

I would be going back to the place you originally purchased it and demanding that they are responsible for your bike and any warranty issues, regards whether they deal in Scott or not.

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Flying Scot | 9 years ago
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The derailleur is intact, it is a 'Braze on' type.

What's bust is the mounting that's glued and riveted to the frame, the dealer is correct, it's a part of the frame and technically, yes the official manufacturer advice is a new frame.

However carbon fibre frame repair specialists will be able to repair it.

In the old days,these mounts were brazed to the steel frames.

I haven't had carbon repaired, so don't offer a recommendation for who to use, but there are a few out there.

This kinda thing

http://www.carbonframerepair.com/index.php/bh-g5/

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