Just discovered a crack in the head tube after my Christmas ride.... what a way to start Christmas. :cryin: Brought it to an lbs and they said it definitely needs to be repaired. They gave me two options, either I have it welded or they'll machine a stainless steel sleeve around it to act as a clamp. What do you think I should do?

The official distributor in our part of the world is in Australia, so if ever I do get a claim on the warranty I gotta ship it all the way there. I haven't been able to speak to them yet though as its a holiday in Australia today.

If it was mine, I'd

a) Get it replaced under warranty
b) If not under warranty, get a new frame......(from a different builder)

What type of material is the frame made of?
What type of headset was on the bike?

I'm hoping to get it replaced under warranty and yes I'll most probably get a frame from a different builder, mostly cuz the brand isn't available in my country.

Its a alu/carbon mix. As for the headset, its not of the integrated into the frame type headset. Not sure of the technical term for it. Hehe. But its threadless and its a domina drive headset.

I've had a 4 mm crack in the head tube of my Orbea aluminum cross bike for about 2 years now. It's at the lip of the bottom cup. I've watched it closely over this whole time and hasn't changed any. I don't put a lot of miles on the cross bike but it does take a pounding during the race season.

If my frame was under warranty I would have replaced it, but all has been well so far. If replacing the frame isn't an option for you, you might want to consider just watching it a while. Caveat though,; when aluminum fails it can fail suddenly and catastrophically. I don't worry so much on my cross bike because I don't scream down hills at 40+ mph on it.

Post a pic so we can see the carnage.

Here's the pic of the crack.

So hfc, you're saying you'd go ahead and use it? When you say screaming down hills at 40+mph on your cross bike, that would be on rougher terrain than a smooth road? And I assume at races the terrain is slightly rough too? Cuz if you see the pic, I think our damage is about the same. I'm trying to gauge how much abuse you put your bike thru with the crack.

I'd ditch the frame, or at least see if i could get some warranty action out of it. Don't ride it.

I would definitely NOT ride my bike with a crack like that. If that's steel, the head tube can be replaced without too much trouble. If it's aluminum or carbon, it's new frame time.

Yup, I've stopped riding much to my dismay. I had 3 bike rides scheduled for this week. Rides for the holidays. But no more. And when I'll bike again... I do not yet know.

Wow I'm gonna go home tonight and check all my frames for cracks after seeing that!

Dude ... its part of cycling... go onto ebay and do the serch for complete bikes & frames...

Rebuild the bike...

Thats also why most of us have at least two bikes...

I used to have two bikes. But I sold my old steel to help get my friend into biking. Oh well....

Got no response on the warranty front but there's an lbs here willing to take it of my hands and sell me any frame they have on stock. I think I'll just go that route. I'll most probably get something cheap for now as a temporary bike and save for something I'd really like. This unforeseen expense is kinda too heavy on the pocket right now.

You might try looking around for a used frame. Take a look at the classifieds here, Craig's list, Ebay, etc.