Christy,
Holy moly, that is scary! Is everything on YOUR body all right?

I know nothing about checking your frame but would there be some sort of stress test?

Take care of yourself.
~Claudette

Christy, Sorry to hear about this. I have been riding carbon a long time, from my Specialized Epic to Giant to Cervelo. As long as there are no gouges or chips, the frame should be fine. Surface scratches are okay, but do check regularly to make sure that they don't spread. I always check my bike very carefully after every ride, no matter what the material, to be sure everything is ok. I never ride carbon bars or stems. It is harder to determine their structural integrity after a crash. To be safe, if they hit the ground hard, trash them. Nothing worse then going down because of a bar/stem failure.

BTW, this past April my carbon frame cracked going over some railroad tracks. The down tube separated from the head tube. It was a lugged carbon tubed frame. I was still able to ride the frame home, slowly, watching the tube move in and out of the lug as I rode. Five miles and 1 1/2 hours later I made it. The frameset ended up being recalled from the manufacturer. My new frame is monoqocue. Carbon these days is a lot stronger then the carbon tubed bikes of old.

i don't think you'd want to stress test it- any undue stress would be a bad thing IMO... however, inspect it throughly for cracks. if you find any, the rule of thumb is the following: if you can stick a razor blad in the crack, you need to get the bike checked out.

One of the seminars at last week's Interbike was put on by Cervelo and FSA and covered shop issues regarding CF bikes and components. Naturally, their message and the advice to dealers was CYA based and wisely so.
According to the presenters (one of whom was the well known Rick Hjertberg from FSA) there is no X-ray or other scan type test to check for failures.
They are used to getting frames from customers who have had incidents and can give a somewhat more educated once-over. Cervelo will certainly encourage this, but reverts to the paragraph above.
Short of this, best advice is to visually scan the surface of the frame very carefully looking for undulations which would suggest delamination. This can then be confirmed by tapping along the area with a coin and listening for a change in tone (dull) which would indicate a delimination.
For frames which are lugged/glued (i.e. not monocoque) the presenters say there is no test to check for internal failures the lamination of these joints.
Hope this helps.
Good luck

Short of destructive stress testing, there is no way to be 100% certain about the integrity of the frame.

So if that's your AXM, I think your only reasonable recourse is to treat the bike as trash and get a replacement from the automobile driver's insurance company.

I know this might sound outlandish to some, but it's a mega-buck frame, and there's just no way to know. I draw the following analogy - we use carbon fiber HANS devices when we race cars to prevent basal skull fracture. They are designed to withstand a 70g frontal impact (which is basically impossible to achieve short of a NASCAR into a concrete wall). Nevertheless, after even a minor accident, they are replaced, at a cost of $1200 each. Because despite the wonders of carbon fiber, you just never know.

- Christian

You're ok, right? (Ouch.)

The bike can be replaced.

Glad you are OK.

I have a calfee and a kestrel. both have their share of chips and small gouges. Dealers and co's have looked them both over and felt they were ok.

The calfee has more chips than the kestrel as I bought it well used. Before I bought it I send detailed pics to Calfee. They said the frames where chips and lines and such are scary are those that are hollow inside like eggshells. They get their strength from the surface. They said the calfee frames were not like that and had plenty of carbon structure internally. Not knowing your bike, I recommend sawing it in half to confirm. If it's solid, you're good to go.

Christy:

That accident sounded scary, but its great to hear that you are ok. All the best for 100% recovery.

You had to know that CF frames are disposable! Easy come, easy go! Just strip off those nice Campy doo-dads and stick em' on the next one!

(The night before I got my CF frame I had a dream that I brushed against a post on a two minute test ride, and the frame folded in half. I studied the broken tubes and observed that they were made of trash can liner plastic filled with styrofoam. After I woke up I told the dream to my doctor, who immediately adjusted my medications).

Is there any truth to the rumor that at the emergency room you demanded that the radiologist x-ray the frame before x-raying you?

Anyway, I have nothing constructive to add, because I know nothing compared to the others who have posted here.

Best regards,
Josh

"Read about the Cervelo recall, checked the website, looked at the framset. Looks like bonded carbon fiber tubes to the headset that is causing the problem.

Personally, I prefer a full Carbon Fiber frame (no bonding points) - Madone from Trek. It is very stiff, light, and easy over bumps. I ride about 6,000 miles per year in a combination of 40 mile rides and 110 mile rides. The frames stiffness translates into direct power transfer from the pedals to the wheels (read: no frame flex) - great for long rides and hills. I love this frame. I have 3,000 miles on it now. Trek provides a lifetime warranty on their frames as long as you are the original purchaser. Cervelo also provides a lifetime warranty. Neither of these companies would still be in business if there was ""a weakness of all carbon fiber"".

The Discovery team retires frames after every race season too. So what. My friend (a team sponsor) is sometimes fortunate enough to get one. He rides it often. It looks and rides great. I'm fairly certain they wouldn't give the principal from a title sponsor a weak frame to ride/train on. There are many great frame materials available today - IMHO carbon fiber is one of them."