I was considering buying this frame off a friend. However, when he stripped it down, he noticed that the cable housing had rubbed a gouge into the underside of the main pivot lug, next to the bottom bracket shell. Its hard to get a good measurement, but it looks like the gouge is 2-3mm at its deepest, whilst the lug is probably 9-10mm thick around the pivot bearing at that point. So approximately 25-30% through the lug at its deepest.

Currently there are no other issues and it would be easy to fill it in, re-locate the cable and prevent further damage. I’m sure it would be fine for a while, but there’s obviously an increased risk of the frame cracking around the pivot in future.

I showed these photos to a local carbon-frame repair shop and they recommended a fairly pricey repair to the gouge, with no guarantee that the frame around the pivot still won’t crack as a result. As for the manufacturer, I don’t particularly want to name names at the moment whilst my friend is still having a dialogue with them about warranty or repair options.

I’m interested to know what the STW carbon experts think. Superficial scratch that a strong frame can handle, or its only a matter of time until certain doom?

Thanks

Santa Cruz lower link? You can buy them with fresh bearings in them ready

I wish it was that easy. Unfortunately that’s part of the main frame.

Not a chance. That needs a proper repair or a visit to a skip.

That would be a no from me. It’s hard to know without seeing the whole frame but pivot points usually see a fair bit of load.

Even if it was okay riding it, there’s a chance it would only manage a couple of bearing replacements as well.

Even without that damage I wouldn’t buy that frame; it looks poorly-maintained, which would explain why the seller failed to spot the problem much earlier. What else is wrong with it?