Trek Madone fork cracks

Bergwerk

A question for you carbon guru's. While cleaning my 2013 Trek Madone I noticed some cracks around the bottom of the fork crown. What do you make of these? Paint cracks or is the carbon separating from the aluminum steerer? The forks don't creak of have any undue flex. But still, doesn't look very confidence inspiring, what do you think?

imposter2.0

Looks like paint shrinkage to me. My 2012 S-Works had something very similar around the BB sleeve - but was never an issue.

dizzydane

I have a very similar issue of cracking paint on my Madone's front forks too. I emailed Trek and their response was, "Paint cracks can happen, usually as the frame flexes under load, and the paint doesn’t. I don’t want to call it “normal” but it is something I have seen over the years, and it’s not a structural concern."

I have cleaned the areas on my bike and applied clear nail polish over to help stop the cracks spreading - in my case the paint has cracked off. Seems to have worked.

k-dog

Yep, paint. My Trek fork did similar - although mine got worse so I rubbed it back and had the fork resprayed.

The carbon fibre doesn't actually start until the straight legs - the steerer includes the crown and they're bonded further down. There's no join in the area of your cracks.

It's worth removing the brake and giving it a good clean and grease - mine had corrosion build up and it took a lot of effort to release the brake.

Bergwerk

Thanks for all the feedback so far. Great to hear that it's the paint. Was worried there for a moment that the thing might fail catastrophically on the cobbles one day. So the aluminum runs down into the fork legs? No chance of the steerer tube coming undone near those cracks.

k-dog

Exactly. The carbon starts about 2" vertically down from the bottom of the steerer.

Bergwerk

I sent Trek a mail and they responded that the brake calliper bolt being overtightened might be the cause. No way to be certain of that as I bought the bike second hand. Would have to be tightened insanely to compress the thick carbon shell and alu steerer for that to compress I recon.

dizzydane

Strangely, my aluminium bikes (which take abuse) with carbon forks have never had this problem...

Bergwerk

Trek advised me to take the fork to a dealer for inspection. The dealer thinks there is a serious risk that it could be a crack in the carbon below. He sent it in to Trek who say the fork is out of warranty (2013). They offered a 200 Euro 'courtesy deal' for a plain white replacement fork, which seems pretty expensive to me.

The bike does get ridden pretty hard, so I wouldn't want to risk the forks breaking under stress. But wouldn't an aftermarket replacement such as the http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/FOPXRT80/planet-x-rt80-carbon-fork be a cheaper option and function just as well? what do you think? Any other options?

k-dog

That dealer doesn't know how they makes forks either then - that part's alloy!

Matthewfalle

Have you had the bike on a roof rack?

Bergwerk

Matthewfalle wrote:

Have you had the bike on a roof rack?

Haha! Why yes, in the pouring rain, at highway speeds and above, for miles and miles and miles. </sarcasm>

Bergwerk

I've been looking at options for aftermarket forks still. Better safe than sorry. The thing is Trek uses an 40mm offset, and all other tapered forks I can find have at leat a 43mm offset, or larger. The Madone has a 73.8 degree head tube angle, which at present give a trail of 57mm. If I was to go for a 43mm offset fork the trail would be 54mm, which is below the 55-60 degree sweet-spot trail range for race bikes the internet seems to agree on. It would become a very nervous steering bike indeed.

Anyone know of manufacturers making tapered carbon forks with 40mm offset?

svetty

If you are prepared to scrap the forks and spend £££s on a new pair why not chip away the paint so you can visualise under it. If - as has been suggested - this area is continuous alloy then you can just apply some fresh paint and ride them secure in the knowledge that they are sound.

Matthewfalle

Why not call your Trek LBS and see if they can get you some new Madone ones the same as you have at the moment? No problems re offset and all that jazz

Bergwerk

The search for a suitable aftermarket fork was unsucsefull. There are just no real options available with similar geometry as Trek uses.

Seen that both Trek and the LBS didnt think it was safe to ride like this I ended up shelling out for the Trek 'neutral replacement fork'. A petty that Trek doesn't stand by its product and replaces this kind of thing free of charge.