Hey guys, I am trying to figure the best course of action here. I started hearing a noise on my bike yesterday and upon inspection I saw this crack on the headtube. I am not completely sure the noise is from here but I am pretty sure the crack was not there before. It is a second hand bike that I rode for a little over a month. The guy who I bought from has a repair shop so I took it there, he says it doesn’t look bad and since I can’t prove I didn’t crash (I didn’t) he doesn’t want to offer much help. He suggested to make a pen mark and keep an eye on it to see if it grows and come back in a few weeks to see if we can repair it, but I don’t feel comfortable riding like this around traffic. Any help is appreciated.
by Got-Freedom
10 Comments
the frame is done. nothing worth fixing. stop riding it.
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It’s done.
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Stop riding that frame immediately. A cracked head tube will lead to catastrophic failure. The fork is about to separate from the bike on the next bump or pothole.
NBD
Thanks for the help everyone, it is good to have confirmation. I know how aluminium can fail and it is a bitch to work with, so I didn’t buy the guy’s explanation. Pretty upset about the situation right now, I will see what I can do with it, maybe I can sell the other parts, but I won’t ride this thing anymore.
Don’t even need to read the whole post. Cracked headtube, especially on an aluminum bike, should NEVER be ridden. I repeat, NEVER! When you throw it in the trash, make sure to saw it in half or a least bash it up to the point where no one would be able to dig it out of the trash and hurt themselves. Best of luck on whatever your next ride is!
DO NOT ride it. If you do, carry that pen the seller mentioned to fill out hospital and dental intakes.
This frame is done.
If you really want to postpone the death, get a metal hose clamp and wrap it around the base of the head tube, where the bearing is, to reinforce the frame ([https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5121Deb8rCL._AC_SL1000_.jpg](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/5121Deb8rCL._AC_SL1000_.jpg) to illustrate). It will look ugly, but should stop the load from the bearing expanding the crack. But I wouldn’t.