


Was out riding today and heard a rock kick up and hit the bottom of my bike… thought nothing of it until I got home and started cleaning my bike and noticed this. Can’t tell if the rock hit it and it caused my paint to chip or if it actually cracked my carbon.. relatively new bike (~1 year).
by Playful-Ad-4372
9 Comments
That’s a crack. Do not ride it. Take it to a shop and have them inspect it
Do a tap test. Take a round metal screwdriver and tap on the sides of it, then the center. If it is a dull sound on the affected area, it’s cracked. If the sound stays high pitched then it’s fine.
BUT there are some areas on the frame that are harder to determine if it’s cracked by the sound.
Looks cracked to me though. Can’t tell without doing the tap test for me.
From the side bar.
* “Is this cracked / safe to ride?” – If you have to ask, don’t ride it. We probably can’t tell from a picture just what condition your bike is in. Take it to your Local Bike Shop and ask them. If it’s carbon, a specialist repair shop may be required. They should have the equipment and expertise to inspect it properly.
Usually it’s hard to tell from a photo. Even the sub’s sidebar says as much. But I’m 90% confident this is a crack. Paint scratches don’t spread out like that. This is material that cracked and allowed for enough flex to crack the outer paint as well.
Scrape the paint and see if it is a crack or Flex it a little bit and see if you see a crack
Doesn’t look good.
I don’t know anything about carbon frames but am wondering how a rock can cause such a crack, that must have been a large one? If small rocks can cause this, how risky is it to ride carbon gravel bikes which are regularly hit by rocks and pebble, and even with black paint where you wouldn’t even see this on a first glance?
Almost looks like it’s a crack that even extends past the crack in the paint. I would try to remove the paint and see how it looks, but I’m leaning towards at least some amount of cracking in the fiber.
Weird spot for paint damage and likely spot (joint) for carbon damage.