There. Its the headtube of my old faithful hardtail, only ever used to ride on the road to work.
Opinions please.

yes, all I can see is two red crosses!!

What is it?

Sorry image posting brain spaz. Sorted now.

How old is it?

No I wouldn't advise you to use if cracked.

Dam gone right through as well.

Do you like to have a broken nose and no teeth with a trip to casulty?

Why take the risk? it's lasted a decade for you which is good.
Now buy a new frame.

Health=priceless.

12 years old….. Only been used for the last 8. Like i said road only fully rigid, rode the frame twice offroad at the most.

I'd say keep an eye on it to see if it starts getting bigger?

Look like the crack goes through doesn't it? Seems very dodgy to me… Not worth the risk!

On the headtube? I wouldn't ride it, you might not have any warning when it goes. Your face will hit the ground pretty hard when it does.

I dont think a scratch would go through to the inside though! Wish it was just a scratch! 😐

Yep, that's a scorpion grind face plant waiting to happen right there! 🙂

Ok, since im the original owner of the frame and otherwise its unmarked, no stone chips, dents or dings. What do the collective think my chance of getting a warranty replacement?
Its a Marin Rocky Ridge from around '98. It was stored in the attic for 2 years before being used as my work bike in 2001.
I believe this has a lifetime warranty, but i could be wrong.

A bit gutted as it was getting stripped down for some TLC and a new drivetrain fitting, was going to use it a my 2nd bike, as no longer need a work bike as i've changed jobs and walk to work instead now.

If it's got a lifetime warranty you can't go wrong can you? Can you take it back to the shop you bought it from….?

dont ride that. you will end up with a hurty face. whats the warranty on a marin?

The shop is about 20 miles away, no problems there. I accept its not for riding, but its never had any offroad abuse to speak of, so I don't think it should of cracked there. Will speak to the shop in the morning and take it from there…..

yeah speak to the shop, if its under a lifetime warranty they'll have to replace it if they deem it dangerous and will most likely have to give you a newer frame!

Jubilee clip will sort that. No problem.

take it to the shop with reciept etc, and see what marin say. Cracks like that ain't massively uncommon and marin are usually good with warranty stuff.

brant – Member
Jubilee clip will sort that. No problem.

Damn, somebody already suggested it, still I feel vindicated by somebody who should know having the same idea 🙂
Don't think I would risk it without a jubilee clip though…

Go in gently though. Lifetime warranty might only cover manufacturer defects which I think you'd be hard put to justifying after tweleve years. If I got tweleve years out of any frame, on or offroad I'd be chuffed to bits, retire it gracefully and move on.

IIRC Marins lifetime warrenty runs out after 10years… no not exactly a lifetime, but probably more than the expected lifetime of a frame.

Personnally I'd say you've got your money out of it, either hang it on the wall or weigh it in.

Yeah, im thinking the same thing tbh.
I've spoken to the shop, need to get some frame details and he'll see where I stand.
The annoying thing is a i've a brand new drivetrain to fit to it, gaaah!

From the size of that crack I would say it will fail suddenly and catastrophically, rather than just continuing to propagate. Up to you but I'd cease riding it now mate.

do the bmx madskillz trick ™ of winding a nice big metal pipe clip round the outside.

problem solved?

Given its a bare frame, not much chance of riding it!
Hmm what pipe clip to hold a headtube together….

be right, just go easy and lean back a bit more (careful over the kerbs though)

Pfft. That'll buff out.

I always think the "I don't use it off road' thing is a bit of a red herring, sure hitting the ground/rock/tree is no fun if it does break big time BUT if it goes on the road what about all those cars/buses/taxis/tin boxes?

Just a thought 🙂

YOU'RE DOOMED! If you even so much as look at that frame again, every single component will completely crumble to dust and you will die a horrible painful death by being killed by death in a horrible way. You will be mutilated beyond the point where a coroner can identify your remains as Human. Never touch any bike ever again, wrap yourself in bubble wrap and hide under your bed! 😯

bigyinn – Member
Given its a bare frame, not much chance of riding it!
Hmm what pipe clip to hold a headtube together….

I think a stainless one will match nicely?

Wot no purple anodised ones? Pah!

If it's an alu frame it could easily be put down to having reached its end of life – it's not at a weld, it's not in a high-stress (in that direction) location unless you've been doing lots of drops/jumps, so it's fair to assume that your frame has served you well, and finally requires retirement.

Sadly CK i fear you are correct, will see what Marin come up with though, as its had an easy life really. 30 miles a week on road only, thats not a hard life is it?

Easy fix.

A cable tie, bit of araldite and duct tape. No problem.

You could hacksaw through that crack install a fork with headset etc and it still wouldn't fail. Might flex and move slightly but it wont fail catastrophically. You'd have to use a 10 tonne press to move the fork out of there. 10 yrs not a bad return on an ally frame. Jubilee clip will hold it no problem or get a split bush made like a OS bar clamp from local machine shop. There's life in the old girl yet!