Help please, is my cracked carbon headtube going to kill me?

SpeedyTurtle

I have a 1999 Kestrel 200 EMS that has 2 small vertical
hairline cracks in the head tube. One 1/2-cm coming from the top and
one 1-cm coming from the bottom. I don't know if it is the paint or if
the actual carbon is cracked, I have included a couple pictures.

#1: Do you think by looking at it, is it cracked all the way through,
or is it just topical? #2: How could I find out for sure?

It hasn't gotten bigger riding around town on flat ground, but I
haven't pushed it and when I noticed it I took off my clipless pedals.

I tried the tap test, but don't really know what to listen for.

Please give me any insight you may have or let me know how I can
determine if the frame is due for repair/junk or if I can continue
riding it.

I appreciate your replies.

softlad

I would remove the headset cups and look at the head tube from either end - that should tell you whether the cracks are just superficial or if they go all the way through.

Have to say, it doesn't look promising though.....

Weejie54

+1 for removing the cups. It would be foolish for me to say continue riding it as that is something you should decide yourself. Having said that, if it was me, and there was no sign of cracking internally, I would probably ride it - but it would always be on my mind that there were cracks on the outside. Perhaps a trip to a c/f repair specialist would be in order.

rake

looks fine to me.

andy_wrx

Scott recently replaced my wife's Speedster frame under warranty for similar looking cracks, so presumably they take it seriously.

But I did see a bike on eBay that had cracks rather worse, where the seller had fixed a jubilee clip round the outside of the tube... :shock:

dennisn

I doubt that the head tube will kill you but the tree you smash into might.
Sorry, couldn't resist.

Monty Dog

That looks pretty terminal to me - radial stresses would normally mean that the crack would propogate from the inside out. May be worth checking whether Kestrel offers a lifetime warranty / replacement scheme? Problem is that it can really be repaired because it would require a reinforcement on the inside - making it impossible to fit the headset cups.