Hey everyone!
I have a Factor Ostro VAM with an exposed carbon finish and clear coat (no paint).

Unfortunately, my bike accidentally slipped off its stand and made light contact with a metal surface.

The impact wasn’t hard, but it left a couple of small dents on the frame.

I’m wondering if this is just clear coat damage and whether it can be repaired to look like new.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Is this an easy cosmetic fix, or should I be concerned about the carbon?
I’ve attached some pictures.

I'm normally really relaxed about carbon bikes but this one really got me sweating.

I crashed two years and 10000km ago. Didn't noticed the cracks, because they're usually in the shadow, when the bike is upright. (Cracks are way easier to spot on the photos as in real life)
The steering stop on the older Cervelo S5 models bang against the inside of the steering tube.

I did a dye penetration test, which shows cracks on the outside. Inside is completly fine.
Knock test sounds a tiny bit deeper, but that could be raw carbon against paint.
If i press the area with my fingers it feels solid and doesnt make any sounds.

Would you continue riding that frame, given that the crash happened two years ago and it held up till now? (No later impact happened)

I’m not looking for a repair for this, I’m sure a silver sharpee or grey nail polish would look just fine… I’m curious if anyone else has had similar damage done before from using a racing bib… I never would have expected that a paper bib this would leave such a mark on my carbon frame! I’m more so annoyed than anything. It was a 100 mile “sportive” and it was raining the whole time, I’m assuming the wet conditions could have had something to do with it

**Is this carbon damage or just paint damage?**
CUBE Stereo Hybrid ONE77 HPC There is some paint damage and black carbon is visible underneath
Does this look purely cosmetic, or could the carbon itself be damaged?

Ordered a pair of secondhand Hunt 38 Carbon Wide Aero rim brake wheels off of Facebook Marketplace. Listed as being in good condition but they've just arrived and there is this flake/chip missing on the rim bead of the rear wheel.

Done the coin test and everything sounds fine and the damage seems fairly shallow, anyone have thoughts on how worried should I be?

I was checking whether the saddle-clamp bolts were tightened to the specified 8 Nm. The front bolt clicked at 8 Nm, but the rear bolt kept turning without the torque wrench clicking, so I stopped. Afterwards, I noticed these marks around the clamp bolt. Is it safe to keep riding, should I have a bike mechanic inspect it, or should I replace the part?

Hi, noticed this crack a while ago, but its getting bigger…
Is it time for a new frame?

Got this bike secondhand and already like this from the previous owner. only ridden it around 50km. At first I thought it's just a scratch that I can ignore because it's my first time having a bike with a carbon component.

A lot of people alredy told me to me replace it.

Posted this in bikewrench some time ago but just found this sub and think maybe you guys have some opinions on this damage.

Tell it to me straight doc…

How does something like this happen? Is the wheel cooked?

Rim just exploded while bike was parked at work.

The main hesitation I had when buying a carbon wheelset was its durability and trustworthiness. After five months on these wheels, I had zero issues until an unexpected obstacle did not go my way at all.

There wasn’t a crash, just a split-second decision, probably the only decision I could have made given the speed, and then a crunch. I immediately thought, “Dang, I bet something happened.” After about a mile and a half, I could tell I had lost some tire pressure.

After pulling over with a few guys, we couldn’t find a hole in the tire, and that’s when I saw the crack. They wanted me to put a tube in it and keep riding. Instead, I chose to get picked up rather than risk any further damage or potential injury.

The one thing that has kept me from weeping is that I bought the lifetime replacement warranty, so I’ll be getting a new rim.

So, do I regret buying carbon wheels? Nope. I’m pretty positive an alloy wheelset would have experienced similar damage. It was just a bad decision made at an inopportune time. Maybe I could have hooked a left or grabbed a handful of brakes, but I wasn’t sure if anyone was following too closely behind me at that moment, so I ate the pothole like it was a pot pie.

Top tube 4-6 cm from the seat tube, no fall damage, I just noticed it, no over tightened bolts as well. How urgent is it be repaired in both cases?

Hey guys!
My fork had hit on its way home and a dent just appeared.
Should i replaced it? It’s not soft our anything, but I’m not too sure if the carbon still intact.

I have a Devinci Hatchet that I got in February of 2025. Has just under 5k miles. A couple of months ago, my chain came off and I didn't think anything of it. A few weeks later, when I was putting on a freshly waxed chain, I noticed some cosmetic damage from the chain coming off. I cleaned it and touched it up with clear nail polish remover. The mark in the right, closer to the BB is just cosmetic.

Today I took the crank off completely as I am switching from 175 to 170mm cranks. Noticed this big nasty gouge that I hadn't noticed previously with the chain rings in the way. Bike has Shimano 105, 11 speed (R7000). I'm so bummed/pissed off. I've probably ridden 600 to 700 miles with this and didn't even know it. I even did a century ride on the last day of August and nothing happened. Now I need to figure out pricing for carbon repair or replacing the damn frame.

This is a pretty beefy frame but I know I should probably not ride on it. So close to the end of the season in northern VT.

Does anyone have experience having this kind of damage repaired? I'm guessing I'm looking at stripping all of the components off the bike if I have it repaired or replace the frame.

Hey I have a carbon mountain bike with a tiny paint chip on the top tube. Maybe I’m being neurotic but the coin test does sound a little different for this spot. I can’t push it in and tried to with a small Allen key.

How’s it look to you experts?

After my ride today a found this scratch on my front wheel. Did not hit a pothole or something. I did lay my bike down on the left side, the side of the scratch, in the grass. It feels firm when pressing on it and when tapping it sound the same as the rest of the wheel. Thoughts?