Cracked Seat Tube...

holiver

Hey Guys,

I've noticed a bit of play in the saddle and seatpost upon my steed of late, along with a creaking sound. I thought it might be some dirt getting in there, but on further inspection I have noticed:





Do we think anything can be done to salvage this, or is the frame now scrap?

Cheers!

nicklouse

I would bin it.

mattv

Nice crack. That's not good, needs a frame builder. What frame is it? What kind of warranty does it have?

holiver

It's a Merlin Malt 1 from 2007. I need to confirm the warranty on it, but I've emailed them with the photos.

holiver

I popped into my LBS who are familiar with my bike over lunchtime. They said it was fooked in their opinion and that I should wait to hear back from Merlin.

My only concern with a replacement frame, whatever the source, is that my current one has a very, very short head tube (~110mm) and that the fork has been cut to that, with only a couple of spacers under the stem.

supersonic

Depends on the terms of their warranty.

holiver

Yeah. I need to dig out whatever documentation I received with the bike to double check, as the website doesn't help in this regard.

In any case, it's not the kind of failure I would expect from a frame that has been used as a commuter, despite how horrible some London roads are! The seat post has been run well under its maximum extension too.

Mr Dog

OOCH.. result of an impact?

holiver

No. It must be a manufacturing or design fault, as 4.5 years worth of light commuting shouldn't result in this kind of damage in my opinion.

In any case, I will sort it out with Merlin and eagerly await their response via email!