I bought a second hand GT I-Drive 4 frame(2006 model I think)back in March this year and have had 7 months awsome xc trail riding on it. But was biking up a fire road track last week when I heard the frame start to make creaking noises! Stopped and had a look and seen that the top tube had a crack that went nearly all the way around(just 1 inch from being a complete break), about 1 inch back from the headtube. Now I know that I bought it second hand so accept the risks that come with that and that because I’m not the original owner I can’t claim a new one on warranty but just wondering if anyone else has had this problem before and whether it may be fixable? I’ve contacted GT direct and also CSG(Hot wheels) who distribute GT’S in the UK so will see what they say! Any help apprecciated. Cheers.
Colin.

ally tubes, 4 years of riding at least… and you don’t know how hard it was ridden before you had it.
Also, the 4’s were shortish travel xc bikes so cracks will surely occur eventually.

Also, the 4’s were shortish travel xc bikes so cracks will surely occur eventually.

Any bike will crack eventually but I’d be peeved at 4 years, and certainly being a short travel xc bike shouldn’t make it fragile.

I had an IDXC which was the incarnation before this, bought new and went through 3 frames on warranty due to snapped shock mounts before I sold up and moved on. Sorry to have to tell you this, but from what you’ve explained it isn’t fixable and as you say, there’s not going to be any warranty help from hotlines. It’s new frame time I’m afraid.

I have has superb ‘warranty’ service from HotWheels on a second-hand Mongoose Teocali.

The conversation went something like…

Me: I’ve cracked a 2nd hand Teocali, I know I’m not covered by the warranty – how much to buy a new front triangle?

HotWheels Send us the frame – if it looks like a genuine failure, we’ll replace it anyway

This ws a few years ago and every case is different but I wouldn’t be surprised if HotWheels treated you decently.