I found a dent in my new bike :-(

…which is odd becuase its a Carbon frame. I never noticed before, have only ridden it 4-5 times and never crashed it. In the pic it looks like there is exposed material but there isn’t its a trick of the light.

Could it be a defect? I’ve sent the pic to CFC already for warranty advice, and stated I’d rather keep it than rebuild back the stock parts which I’ve replaced.

My question, is it safe, likely to fail and probably just a manufacturing defect?

image

Look on the plus side; one of those carbon shards will almost certainly lance that boil on your arse as the frame explodes into a billion pieces.

Carbon doesn’t dent. It could be a manufacturing fault (most likely imo) or it could be the result of a crash or a combination of pressure and vibration against something hard. If the area has been depressed or is “soft” the frame is compromised

As I have said before carbon varies hugely in terms of quality and higher quality costs a lot more. Also the manufacturing process is complex leading to potential variations in the finished product. It doesn’t respond well to impact particularly with sharp objects/edges.

But it hasn’t hit, or been hit with a sharp edge.

Are you telling me its ****, and has cost me £350 per ride?

plastic bikes are something i keep away from.

sorry to be no help.

Give it a tap, if it’s delaminated it will sound hollow/different to the surrounding area.

What bike is it?

My bet’s on an On-One. Any takers?

It’s a Vitus. And the previous photo I saw of it, this “dent” wasn’t visible.

That’s not where your brake/gear lever would hit the frame? It looks too far back, but….

druidh as it……chip innit

That’s not where your brake/gear lever would hit the frame?

or where workstand would clamp?

This reminds me of I conversaton I overheard a while back.
Guy was discussing taking his bike back to the shop to look at claiming a new gear shifter under warranty. It had snapped off while hauling his bike over a deer fence and dangled the weight of the whole bike off the shifter.
I’m sure that was just a manufacturing defect too though. 😆

Its about 3″ from the seat tube, so no the H/bars wouldn’t it. It has been in a workstand. but clamp further up the tube because direct opposite that is an exit point for an internal cable route – plus I never tighten the clamp tight.

Scotroutes, which photo one of mine? If its the “whole bike” pic I posted on new-bike-day you wouldn’t have seen it from that distance?

Do you know what, it might have been there from new – look at my prior Flickr pic, and zoom in to the TT where the verticle line of the breeze block at the saddle end intersects the TT

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Which also means its not exploded when riding as I’ve ridden it since.

Regardless of whether it will break, send it back: it’s a defect. Make sure you at least get a new frame out of it.

It should be a warranty replacement imo, in terms of a silver lining its good news it happened so quickly

That’s the photo I was referring to. I can’t see the fault in that photo but maybe you can at a better resolution.

Regardless of whether it will break, send it back: it’s a defect. Make sure you at least get a new frame out of it.

I’m reluctant to, as I’d need to replace all the stock parts, its a faff. And I’ve sold the OEM wheelset subject to payment & collection.

I’ve contacted CRC for advice with the same pic, lets see what they say.

That’s the photo I was referring to. I can’t see the fault in that photo but maybe you can at a better resolution.

click on the pic, go to flicker and zoom in – its there.

I can see it on the Flikr image. The distorted light reflection gives it away.

I’m reluctant to, as I’d need to replace all the stock parts, its a faff. And I’ve sold the OEM wheelset subject to payment & collection.

Hence why I said make sure you get a new frame out of it. I would imagine they’d send you a new frame, rather than a complete bike, any way.

I would imagine they’d send you a new frame, rather than a complete bike, any way.

CRC innit, so I would not assume anything.

How’s it ride then Kryton?

They will need the entire bike back for exchange so I wouldn’t go selling any parts off it yet……

How’s it ride then Kryton

Light, fast, stiff and comfortable. Other than the above, I’m very happy with it. And I still will be if it doesn’t explode, crack etc.

My experience of crc was the full bike had to go back, and I had changed the group set etc. I would be contacting the wheel purchaser and knocking that on the head. It might knob them off, but it’s a legitimate issue, so don’t really think anyone would hold it against you. I can’t understand how you didn’t see it till now?

if there is no actual exposed fibres/visible crack then I would guess it’s a defect from something in the tool (mould). Carbon can dent but you would normally expect there to be some rear face damage and delaminations before getting any real visible damage on the impact face, certainly anything easily noticeable.

But it’s tiny! Be pleased that it’s now no longer pristine, therefore you can rag the tits off it without worrying about a rock strike or two.

Your view may differ, and it’s your money so fair enough.

Personally be ok riding it as its probably not a dent per se but a defect as mentioned in other posts, and so wont really effect anything much. CRC will probably report it to the manufacturer, who will issue a credit. I would therefore expect CRC to offer you a credit (not huge mind – carbon frames aren’t that expensive to make so they wont get that much back) but enough to compensate for what is in reality likely a non-issue other than the way it looks.

Light, fast, stiff and comfortable. Other than the above, I’m very happy with it. And I still will be if it doesn’t explode, crack etc.

Good to hear, probably a good thing they are sold out but still on my list if I see one secondhand.

That is a very handsome bike! Risers spoil it a bit for me, but that’s being really picky. Lovely job, just enjoy 🙂 (and get a credit if you can)

Injection moulding point? 😉

That’s a nice frame though.

Actually, can someone explain what the heck is going on with that saddle, looks like a chunk missing, or is it sun cream in my eyes?!

I’ll be following this with interest.
One of Vitus FS bikes is appealing, but little worries about CS.

@ PJM No injection molding for CF. Or was that a joke?

@bear – The saddle is part matt part gloss and the gloss bit looks odd.

@ Rubber-headed eunuch[/url] – if you’re going to post pics you need to do it in a way where the reflections aren’t so distracting; inside perhaps?

Crack, defect, light or whatever…

Why would you clamp a frame by the top tube in a workstand anyway? Just use the seatpost!

Is he dead yet?

You riding it at the Bonty 12hr? I predict it’ll fail catastrophically after 11hrs and 59 minutes 🙂

@ PJM No injection molding for CF. Or was that a joke?

Never heard of vacuum infusion?