Was lovingly preping my bike for todays ride yesterday, when i spotted this

Are my worst fears about to be realised?
Any help and advice appreciated

Scrape the paint away to see in the metals is cracked – which frame is it?

strip the paint off and see what it looks like . doesn’t look good though.

Seems to be right on the weld though so surely should be easy to sort.

Its a 2010 Orange ST4.

send it back.

I hope it is just the paint ! My carbon road bike has a few short cracks now around BB but using magnifier looks to be supeficial, as above scrape some paint back and check metal

+1 for sending it back

I’ll give orange a call tomorrow. Tbh I don’t want to start scratching paint off just yet.

My 2009 st4 cracked in a very similar way on a weld albeit a different place (the shock mount). Orange were exemplary in sorting it and as they’d just stopped producing that version I got a brand new 2011 frame under warranty.

Read a few reports now about this type of st4 and as they changed the suspension layout for the 2011 one it mKes you wonder if there were inherent weaknesses? Great ride mind you and whilst it’s stiffer at the back I’m not sure the later one is quite as much fun.

Thanks Pedlad. I do have warranty, the bike is 6 months old and actually only been on 15 – 20 rides.

I haven’t read any other reports of ST4 cracks though. If it is a recognised problem, is it just the older ST4s?

I’m pretty sure thats a crack.

Paint doesn’t just crack for no reason.

Don’t bother scraping paint back. that is a bloody great obvious as you can get ‘crack’

It even follows the line of the welding fishscale!!

Saw reports of cracks like mine. No others around bb mind you. Not seen one bad report about 2011 model and I do like mine a lot. Guess I’m just sentimental remembering my first (1st full sus)

Thought I should post an update on how this progressed.

The frame went back to Orange, and sure enough it was a crack. Guys there were surprised, saying its the first time they had seen a crack there. Without question, they offered me a replacement 2010 frame.

However, I didn’t want a replacement 2010 ST4 (rightly or wrongly, there would always be a nagging thought in my head that I could get a repeat failure). After explaining this to Orange, I asked to upgrade to a 2011 model – again no problem.

Unfortunately for me, I actually bought my ST4 cheap when the 2011 model was on its way out, and was required to pay a sum to make up most of the value of the current RRP. As the new ST4 is a £100 more than the 5, I opted for an Orange 5 instead.

Effectively, I have ended in paying just under £200 less than you would for a new Orange 5. And to help out further, Orange fitted a new headset and seat post (as the ones on my ST4 would not fit) free of charge.

The customer service support from Orange has been top drawer. I’m taking the 5 to Wales this w’d to see how it compares to the ST4. I’m hoping I love it just as much – if not more.

not sure what difference what you paid for the frame/bike has to do with anything, given they (presumably) sold the frame to a shop who then chose what price to sell it to you? Or is the 2011 actually a different frame with a higher RRP than the 2010, so youre effectively upgrading to a different bike in all but name?

I’m neither a fanboi nor a basher, but having just bought a NOS Alpine cheap (as in £1000 with a CCDB cheap) I’m thinking how they might treat me if it fails.

good news from Orange – what nice chaps!

my FEA brain suggests that a few hard sprints would have finished it off.

and this is why frames should be white – you’d never see that on a black frame…

Good news James least your sorted now and on a frame you wanted too.