Ibis gave me options
MXFanatic said:
........ it looks like it cured too much before it was inserted in the frame. (or sandwiched. I’m not sure of the manufacturing process) The clearance into the frame seems nice and tight, so I don't think that's an issue. It will be interesting to see what Ibis thinks of this.
I think you are right. Mine looks the same. I took my bike to the dealer to show them and they called Ibis while I waited. Hans asked them if I was one of the guys that posted on mtbr about this problem! (How cool is that?) I told them yes and they put me on the phone with Hans.
Hans was very sympathetic to my problem and offered two options to get it handled. Like MXFanatic, he offered me a replacement front triangle. That is great, but I really don't want to wait what could be months for it to come in. The second option was something I really hoped he would say anyway. He told me it could be fixed using JB Weld. I know there is a previous post about that but I didn't see it before I spoke with him. I took my Mojo out of the LBS and drove straight to Pep Boys for the JB Weld.
I took the assembly apart (sleeve, post and clamp) and cleaned it as best I could. I didn't have any contact cleaner or alcohol so I used fine steel wool prep the outer part of the sleeve.
I mixed the JB Weld 50/50 as the directions said. Starting at about 3/4s of the way from the top, I smeared the entire sleeve with the JB Weld. I don't recommend doing it that way again! I should have only put JB Weld on the bottom half. When I pushed the sleeve into the frame (with the clamp attached so it would go in the exact, correct depth) a lot of the epoxy gushed out of the top and onto the paint on the seat tube. Luckily, Hans told me to be careful of that so I had a terry towel ready. The JB Weld wiped right off except for a fine, grey line visible between the seat post clamp and the orange paint.
I'm going to let the JB Weld cure for 24 hours before I touch it. I feel pretty confident that it will be in there tightly and for a long, long time.
Even though Ibis offered to replace my frame, I'd rather just fix this one and take my trip to Cannell Plunge (
http://www.mountainbikebill.com/CannellPlunge.htm) on Thursday like I planed!
It's really a win-win option for me anyway since Ibis will STILL replace my frame if the JB Weld trick doesn't work. :thumbsup: