Carbon frame crack

amaferanga

I hit the deck last night (on a slippery corner) and despite some a bit of road rash thought me and the bike had escaped unscathed. But this morning I spotted a small crack on the top tube. It appears to have been caused by the bars turning and hitting the frame (can't remember exactly how I fell, just remember sliding along the road on my side - ouch).

I've taken a picture with my phone - the crack measures about 8mm in length.



I'm off to the LBS at lunch time for their opinion.

What do you folks think? Is my frame borked?

Ben6899

It could be just cosmetic in the aesthetic surface weave of the carbon or even just the paint/laquer... difficult to tell from the photo.

Hope you're not too banged up!

ex-pat scot

Yes. Sorry.

matterai

I rode a cracked tarmac sl for a year. cracked top tube and seat stay.

I finally got it repaired by HQ fibre products in Norfolk. Seems more than fine. Did before really.

I know a number people that have used them.

The repair would be bare carbon tho and they did sand a bit of the area around the crack.

skyd0g

If necessary, you could also try carbonology.com

amaferanga

Well the news from the LBS was positive. Looks like it might just be superficial cracking in the paint/lacquer. I'll keep an eye on it for now and maybe look into a repair. Thanks for the links.

sheffsimon

amaferanga wrote:

I hit the deck last night in a race (on a slippery corner) and despite some a bit of road rash thought me and the bike had escaped unscathed. But this morning I spotted a small crack on the top tube. It appears to have been caused by the bars turning and hitting the frame (can't remember exactly how I fell, just remember sliding along the road on my side - ouch).

I've taken a picture with my phone - the crack measures about 8mm in length.



I'm off to the LBS at lunch time for their opinion.

What do you folks think? Is my frame borked?

Sorry to hear bout the frame, sounds like it might be OK though. Was a couple of riders behind you when you hit the deck. Some interesting bits last night for sure, and one or two came off.

Next one will be dry and sunny

Monty Dog

FWIW it's almost impossible to judge the extent of the damage superficially - the fact that you believe that it was caused by the end of the bars hitting the tube would suggest it's a 'bruise' and there could be internal delamination too. Top tubes aren't highly stressed and you could ride it for years with no further problems, but a repair would be straightforward / relatively cheap.

amaferanga

Monty Dog wrote:

FWIW it's almost impossible to judge the extent of the damage superficially - the fact that you believe that it was caused by the end of the bars hitting the tube would suggest it's a 'bruise' and there could be internal delamination too. Top tubes aren't highly stressed and you could ride it for years with no further problems, but a repair would be straightforward / relatively cheap.

Thanks, that's pretty much what they said at the LBS. The thing that puts me off a repair for now is that I'd be left with an unpainted bit on the top tube - bare carbon presumably. Of course if there's any change in the crack I'll reconsider.

amaferanga

SheffSimon wrote:

Sorry to hear bout the frame, sounds like it might be OK though. Was a couple of riders behind you when you hit the deck. Some interesting bits last night for sure, and one or two came off.

Next one will be dry and sunny

....and hopefully the farmer won't drag loads of mud onto the road the day before the next one!