less than 4 months old giant TCR, paint cracks?

AMc1

Not happy at all, love the bike but flipped it over to give it it's first decent clean when I spotted paint flaking off the rear drop out, can sort of live with that but then spotted a crack in the seat stay close to the brake. i hope its only a paint crack but a few weeks ago I heard a loud crack whilst riding at a steady pace on a flat smooth surface, bike seemed and rode ok so I put I down as a rock being flipped up against the frame.
should I accept paint cracks on a bike this new with about 200 miles on it? is what you get with composite frames? I'm new to this road biking game so didn't want to come across as picky if its common
its going back to Giant anyway but don't think I'll have it rushed back somehow

priory

that all sounds familiar and in my case it was a cracked aluminium frame, although rather older(also a Giant) . I would rush it back to the shop. I have also cracked one steel and several other Al but they were fairly obvious if one looked .

mcowan77

My 6 yr old defy frame cracked...new frame sent out within a week

AMc1

couple of pics, not too bad... yet

Grill

You've nicked the dropout on something and I can't see anything of note on the seat stay.

AMc1

That bit on the drop out started as a crack then the paint flaked off without it being ridden, paint is still cracking from the "bald" bit

Monty Dog

Paint flaking off the drop-out is expected - paint is brittle and doesn't like being clamped between serrated bits of metal. If you don't like paint cracks and chips, you should have bought a naked-finish frame. The other 'crack' simply looks like a scuff/scratch. It's all down to wear and tear I'm afraid.

foggymike

Some T-Cut or gentle rubbing compound may sort out the seat stay mark - that just looks like a light scratch rather than something suspect but no harm getting it looked at.

All my carbon bikes have cracked and peeled where the wheels clamp. Your Giant dealer can get touch up paint to match so it's easily sorted. Even with a naked finish the clearcoat eventually cracks and breaks off so there's no escape! Maybe unfinished Ti frames are the way to go for the paint damage averse?

As it's so new they may replace it anyway as Giant guarantee paintwork/finish for 6 or 12 months or something like that (like most decent bike companies) so good luck!

AMc1

Looks like a bit of a scratch but the frame has a ripple in it (from new spotted it whilst I built it up) just on one seat stay, really hard to spot but dead easy to feel, the crack has appeared right in the centre of the indentation, Giant want it back just waiting till after christmas for their courier to collect.

AMc1

Giant have sent a replacement for my faulty 2013 composite 1 frame, a 2012 composite 2 frame! Thought I'd get a like for like exchange at least, couldn't even get the same bike on a return even though they have them in stock. Don't think I'll be spending my refund on another Giant,

Monty Dog

Me too - I think some people have very high expectations; my suggestions with a new bike is simply to drop it on it's side, let it fall over and learn to live with the scuffs. I think Giant were being very generous in replacing a frame that was simply suffering from regular wear and tear IMO with another.

AMc1

Seat stay cracked not just the paint, I could live with flaking paint, but it had a ripple in the carbon from new which then cracked, take it I should have kept it then ?

spankwilder

Giant probably don't want you to spend the refund on another Giant either. I'd look at an italian brand, the quality of paint finish will likely be much higher and the bike will look pretty too. The only bit that would concern me would be the stay and that crack looks incredibly straight, more like it's run along something. The crack you heard more likely came from the rear wheel seating correctly in the drop out under your weight, which also scrubbed some paint at the same time. Generally you get break out at dropouts when the paint finish is fairly thick, or if the owner hasn't opened the QR enough when fitting, removing wheels

city_boy

AMc1 wrote:

Giant have sent a replacement for my faulty 2013 composite 1 frame, a 2012 composite 2 frame! Thought I'd get a like for like exchange at least, couldn't even get the same bike on a return even though they have them in stock. Don't think I'll be spending my refund on another Giant,

Giant do seem to make a habit of this. They replaced my 2012 Composite 1 frame with a 2013 Composite 2 frame because they said that is what they had in stock at the time. I wasn't too bothered though because the 2013 frame had been improved from the previous year's and I actually preferred the colour scheme!

But I agree, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect at least a like for like replacement ?

Beave

My one and only experience with Giant`s after service was fantastic albeit slightly long winded.
To cut a long story short they sent me a brand new Advanced SL 2 frameset to replace a Advanced 2 frameset which got damaged by way of the rear mech hanger breaking off causing abit of damage to the rear stay , could have gone either way on the warranty due to the nature of the claim but brilliant service from both Giant and Bournemouth cycle works who helped out and way beyond what I was expecting . They even let me keep the old frame which I had repaired to as new so win win all the way

The paint all chipped off the drop outs of my white TCR adv so id say this was normal , it wasn't anything I worried about as I knew it was going to end up looking like a dogs dinner anyway

vrsmatt

Well to all the posters being totally unsupportive of the OP I have a 2013 TCR Composite 1 which is less than a year old and it has EXACTLY the same crack on the seatstay in the same circumstances at the OP, ie heard a loud cracking noise on a ride on Saturday then noticed the crack when cleaning on the evening :-(

It is most definitely not a scuff or 'wear and tear', its pretty insulting to suggest that given how well we all know our own bikes!

Hope Giant honour the warranty as I hope they do

HellsCyclist

AMc1 wrote:

Not happy at all, love the bike but flipped it over to give it it's first decent clean when I spotted paint flaking off the rear drop out, can sort of live with that but then spotted a crack in the seat stay close to the brake. i hope its only a paint crack but a few weeks ago I heard a loud crack whilst riding at a steady pace on a flat smooth surface, bike seemed and rode ok so I put I down as a rock being flipped up against the frame.
should I accept paint cracks on a bike this new with about 200 miles on it? is what you get with composite frames? I'm new to this road biking game so didn't want to come across as picky if its common
its going back to Giant anyway but don't think I'll have it rushed back somehow

I recently restored a 7-8 year old Giant SCR1 that had been neglected. Although quite scratched there is absolutely no paint cracking or flaking. I definitely wouldn't accept a new bike that is in the condition you describe.

vrsmatt

To update on my story, the cracked paint was a cracked tube, exactly the same as the posted pics (hint, flex it with your fingers and you'll soon see)

I collected my replacement yesterday 14 days after dropping it into the shop, I got a like for like, if the colours had been wrong I was told the mismatched stuff like forks/seatpost would have been changed too

Fabulous service and great lifetime warranty

on-yer-bike

The Ops picture wasnt good enough to determine scratch or crack. Sounds like a fault with Giant though. Paint always comes off drop outs. On my Colnago I had to remove the paint to get the wheel in!

sandyballs

I have a Giant TCR Adv in naked carbon from 2009. It has not a scratch or crack on it and the drop outs are in superb condition. I love it and use it throughout the year, it has not even melted in the rain!

Just thought I would put some balance to the thread.

Happy riding.