Scratch/crack in carbon fork, anything to worry about?

Adamkalin

Hello O wise-ones, hope you may be able to help with a quick query,

After wiping down my bike after this evenings ride I noticed this scratch running down my carbon fork (apologies for the poor picture quality, but should be big enough to get the idea):



It doesnt appear to run very deep, but i can just about feel it when running a finger nail over the area, so perhaps more of a scratch than a crack at this stage. I have no idea where this might have come from as I cant recall any scrapes or anything like that, least of all any that might cause a scrape in that direction.

Anyway, without knowing much about the properties of carbon, is this something to be concerned about or "tis but a scratch"? Do carbon forks even have paintwork that can be superficially damaged?

Many thanks for any help.
Cheers, Adam

Monty Dog

Looks like a paint crack, rather than structural - the top layer of material with the weave and clear gel coat is cosmetic. Forks are hugely over-engineered and you'd need to take a big chunk out to weaken them - if the crack was emanating from the drop-out or around the crown, I'd be more worried as these are the high stress areas.

smidsy

How about sendng the photo to the manufacturer, they may send you new forks under warranty.

Total peace of mind will result. :-)

rolf_f

Bit of T cut or rubbing compound will probably sort that out. If you've been cleaning the fork and let a bit of grit from the brake area get onto the the cloth, then you'll easily make a nice long vertical scratch like that.

Monty Dog

It's highly unlikely for a structural cracks to propagate from the middle of a surface - more typically at an edge, notch, hole or groove which creates a stress-raiser.

Adamkalin

Thanks for your comments everyone, great points all. Youve reassured me that this should be merely a cosmetic thing, though now Im aware of it I'll be keeping an eye out to see if it gets any longer of its own accord. Cheers!