Just been cleaning my bike down and giving it a polish and found this. Right across the weld on the head tube.

What do we reckon crack or scratch??

crack

wait i mean scratch

Purely based on the mark ending at each side of the weld I’d hazard a guess at it being a crack

I’ve tried to zoom in a bit …..

Hair?

But only real way to tell is to sand it down…

Scratch. A crack would follow the line of the weld not cross it like that.

I’m thinking scratch. Weird place for a crack and being as it appears to be the bit “sticking out” the most it’s likely to be a scratch, maybe caught in a thorny branch or something?

Scratch. A crack would follow the line of the weld not cross it like that.

That was my first reaction too. However, if it was me, I’d chip the paint off to get a better look. I know two guys who snapped headtubes off bikes, really not a fun thing to do.

could try some kind of liquid penetrant testing a drop of say white spirit or wd.

I know, silly, but looks like a hair to me

I did think hair to start with too but you can’t feel it when you scratch a nail over it.

It’s possible it could have got scratched but the area is kind of protected by the brake and gear cable as they come round the frame.

Sticker.

Aluminium does not crack like that, especially over a weld.

At worst it is a crack in the paint that likely occurred when it was curing.

I had something very similar, uses a little piece of 1200 grit wet n dry followed by t-cut, totally disappeared, twas but a scratch.

Admiral Ackbar wants a word.

Hairy crack

Definitely a pube under the lacquer

There is another mark that can be seen in the bottom pic and if you look closely the top two.
1/3 of the way up the last pic on the left side where the green is a lighter shade. The crack forms an arrow head at the weld.

I’ve had similar ‘cracks’ to this on a bike that I had warrantied. I subsequently found out that the frame was ridden hard for another few years with no issues.

I’m going with paint cracking…….or pube.

Cheers all.

Do you think it’s worth pinging the pics to Whyte or just live with it ?

Depends on how confident you feel imho.

For me, I’d email the pics just for peace of mind.

Crack. Started precisely at the junction between the weld and the tube on the left and has propagated across the weld and into the tube on the right.

Scratch. A crack would follow the line of the weld not cross it like that.

Not necessarily . From its start point it would follow the shortest and weakest path between two points following the crystaline microstructure of the material and the strain direction of the load. Commonly in bikes this will follow the edge of the weld between the tubes, but in orthogonal tubes and dependent upon the load and strength of the weld, it can cut across.

I see this – but I am -7, very colour blind and my eyes are tired.

I see almost the same as Wally … except looks like 2 scratches to me…

Yep I’m with Wally!

Are you the original owner?

Is it still in warranty?

If you answer no to any of those then save your time and sand it and show us what you find. If its a scratch, just order some touch up paint from whytes website.

Keep the sanding to a minimum

I’m the original owner and the bike was new in November and has covered 350 miles.

Can you get a really close look at it (microscrope / magnifying glass / jewellers loupe or macro lens)?

A crack will appear quite different up close than a scratch.

Given it’s under warranty I’m guessing you don’t want to start sanding paint off?

Take it back to where you bought it from. Whyte are usually very good.

I think it would be more than fair to remove the listing before checking its not a crack “Whyte e150 emtb (Heavily upgraded) enduro MTB
£4,850”

If it’s still under warranty, I would take it back and let the mfg have a look. Or a dye pen test kit would give you a better idea.

Good point. Removed.

I’ve contacted Whyte so will see what they say.

I think the problem is cleaning it. I never clean my bike, and I’ve never found a cracked frame.

Can you drop the forks out and inspect it from the inside without paint?

Can you drop the forks out and inspect it from the inside without paint?

Not a bad idea. Will have a look tonight.

I’m the original owner and the bike was new in November and has covered 350 miles.

I think it would be more than fair to remove the listing before checking its not a crack “Whyte e150 emtb (Heavily upgraded) enduro MTB

£4,850”

@renton, sorry for the thread hijack but what’s wrong with this one? Why are you selling it?

@damascus if I’m perfectly honest there is nothing wrong with the bike at all.

I just feel like getting something with more rear travel and a bit plusher.

It looks more like a scratch. On your close up the mark tails off. Its quite sharply defined to begin with then gets smaller and thinner in a kind of sweeping motion.

@renton, What did whyte say?

@damascus.

Whyte cane back content it was just a scratch and said nothing to worry about which was a relief.

@funkmasterp it’s not a Lahar. Lol