I recently removed the stock front derailleur clamp from my carbon frame and noticed a couple of small indentations where the clamp was sitting.
The indentations feel solid. No soft spots, cracks, or spreading lines, but you can see slight impressions from the clamp.
Is this normal compression from the clamp, or something I should be concerned about? Safe to ride or worth having inspected?
I can post pictures if that helps.
by cableguy8
2 Comments
If you take off that derailer, you could knock around the tube with a coin, as shown here: [https://youtu.be/yyKlJm1SUCs?si=4v5C6JM4iyHBADXF&t=30](https://youtu.be/yyKlJm1SUCs?si=4v5C6JM4iyHBADXF&t=30)
If it sounds more or less consistent across that spot, then almost certainly you have no reason to worry. Just looking at the photograph, it doesn’t look deep and the imprint could just be in the paint and clearcoat.
There’s no way to know what the extent of the damage is without having an expert inspect it.
I recently bought a bike which came with a carbon seat post that had some similar looking compressions due to being overtightened. It was totally fine until it suddenly wasn’t. Thankfully the seat post snapped while most of my weight was on my feet and so I kept the bike upright and my taint uninjured. I don’t want to think about what a catastrophic seat tube failure might look like.