Hi all,
I killed my 7 year old TI hardtail earlier in the year after a very hard life - it developed a hairline crack 90 degree through the weld on the top tube / seat tube junction. I reckon I rode with it for a few months like this before I accepted it wasnt ' a scratch' and I got it welded up and had holes drilled at each end of the crack.
I was told it may crack again and the weld had no warranty - I accepted that. The question is will I die - the weld patch has cracked through but gone no further - re holes doing their job in stopping the weld propagating.
I reckon it cracked again after 150 miles on the road / forest stuff as been riding another bike. I noticed it in the car park before I ' had ' to ride it cracked on a 2 day off road tour in the lakes last week rucksacked up. It survived 50 miles and 6 on / off road mtn passes - stake pass / scarth gap / blacksail etc
Am I likely to have a problem - its a lovely frame and I couldnt afford a new one...
opinions?
paul
What frame is it? What warranty on it? That said, warranty is probably null and void if you've already had it repaired independently...
Is it possible To have a gusset welded in to beef it up slightly? This may cause the frame to crack else where though.
its out of warranty! hence the repair - its an old merlin
paul
I've cracked my Airborne in exactly the same way.
Genesis suggested £300 odd to replace the top tube, but they didn't think it was worth the hassle.
Again, loved the way that bike rode, but regretably am starting to look for possible replacements
ETA - to answer your question... I was concerned that the HT could fold back on the TT. There's obviously a fair bit of stress in that area for the crack to develop and propogate in the first place. IMHO a failure would at least result in an OTB crash, possibly with the added risk of sharp exposed metal edges where stomach and groin overtake the bike 😥