Check your bike over!

[deedolce]

It could have been bad...I have a 3 or so year old Specialized alum. road bike. I had ridden about an hour, and stopped for refreshment, was hooking up my bike, when I noticed 2 cracks on the head tube! A 2" crack on the botton, reaching for a 1" crack on the top! Yikers!
Took it to the lbs and Specialized has a lifetime warranty on the frames. I should be getting the upgraded replacement next week. They're sending a Ruby frame, carbon! Woot!

Still, kinda scares me if I didn't happen to glance at it. I mean, BOOM, front end collapses...whew!

[han-grrl]

Ditto on checking your bike over. I cleaned my mtb after one ride, and noticed the frame was cracked. Actually i heard it snap during the ride but thought it was a branch. i was very lucky that the frame held for the ride...

fortunately Trek sent me a new frame as it still had the lifetime warranty on it.

[mimitabby]

Raleighdon had a similar thing happen with his old aluminum Raleigh.. They gave him a good discount on his last Raleigh bike, not quite as good as what you got.

[LBTC]

A friend of ours had his Canondale alum road bike crumble under him. Luckily he wasn't really hurt. And lucky his house insurance bought him a new bike - Canondale wasn't interested in helping him out!

H&B
~T~

[BikeDutchess]

Same thing on my '03 Specialized Dolce - had it in for a check-up & tune and they found a cracked head tube as well! They are replacing the frame, but I'm not getting the Ruby frame, I'm jealous!

[deedolce]

Hey, BikeDuchess, I think that's around the year I got mine! Blue that year?

Now, after reading on 'catastrophic failure of carbon' on the 'other' bike forum, I'm not sure if I'm all that happy. I'm not a racer, I ride for myself on local roads and do organized rides. Sure, I like speed, but ...

[BikeDutchess]

Yup, the blue Dolce Elite. I'll have to see what color they're replacing it with.

Not sure about the risk of catastrophic failure. I'm thinking in the overall scheme of things our risk of getting hit by a car is probably much greater.

[deedolce]

HA! True...gotta keep things in perspective...

[ATL Laura]

Did any of you notice any creaking noises that went along with the cracks in your frame? I have a Giant OCR3 aluminum frame that has been creaking like crazy for the past week or so. I've checked it over several times, but can't find any cracks, neither can my LBS, but I'm still paranoid.

[bike4ever]

Giant OCR's regularly have creaks. Have your LBS contact Giant directly. Giant will request they look at very specific points before sending out a new frame.

[sundial]

Terry posted a warning about the '06/'07 aluminum Symmetry, Isis and Madeline bikes for this reason:



If you have one of these bikes, and the head tube is cracked, please contact them asap.


Apparently, several companies have used similar aluminum frames or materials and it's become a problem.

[KnottedYet]

[ATL Laura]

Giant OCR's regularly have creaks. Have your LBS contact Giant directly. Giant will request they look at very specific points before sending out a new frame.

Thanks for the advice! I brought my bike to a friend who has owned several Giants and he knew exactly where to look. He tinkered with something and sprayed some WD-40 and the creak is gone. And no cracks were found