Paint Crack or Carbon Crack

[ALAN Carbon+]

I recently noticed a crack near the headtube of my 2012 Lapierre Xelius. I spoke to the shop that I bought the frame (new old stock) from in 2014 and sent some photos to them as they are interstate.

The shop passed the photos on to the Australian distributor who said they would consult with Lapierre about the frame. Lapierre believe that it is only a paint crack and only covered by a 12 month warranty.

When I was in my local shop recently, I mentioned the crack to them and they inspected the frame. They were concerned about the crack, particularly given the location of the crack near the head tube and cable guides for the internal routing. They also deal with the Lapierre distributor, but for other brands in their portfolio.

I would appreciate other thoughts on whether they think it is just a paint crack as Lapierre believe or something more. My gut feel is it worth having the frame looked at further as I now have some doubt in my mind about the frame.

[bikemaniack]

In my opinion it's a paint crack,but in strange place. It was a normal thing in older Specilaized MTB frames:)

bad thing is.that it finish on black decal,so we dont know how long it is. But its easy to fix.

[kgt]

IMHO it is not just a paint crack but I also trust Lapierre. If it becomes bigger then I would seriously worry.

[hatsunagi]

It looks like a paint crack.
Put a drop of water on it and if it flows into the (supposed) crack,it would be real carbon crack...

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[jfranci3]

Pull the cable port out and see if you can see anything from the other side. You might need an inspection cam and you still might not be able to get an angle on it. Is there a cable port on the other side?

[totalcompactroad]

i would say paint but its odd as it echoes the shape of the cable guide

definately worth further inspection

[AJS914]

Tap it with a coin on and around the spot to see if the sound changes. If the sound goes dead or changes to a lower tone when you are tapping on the crack then it's more than a paint crack.

[FIJIGabe]

It looks like a paint crack, but I would recommend you listen to the CyclingTips podcast from Feb. 19. They interviewed Raoul Luescher from http://luescherteknik.com.au/, who talked about his technique for scanning CF. I've got no connection to them, but since you're in Australia, it may be worth a look, for peace of mind.

[wilwil]

Looks like a carbon crack to me. The paint will only crack if what its applied to has cracked. Paint can scratch, obviously, but that doesn't look like a scratch. I had a crack on a brand new C60 on the head tube, it looked like a scratch at first sight but a microscopic picture proved otherwise. Been waiting weeks for Colnago to sort it out.

[jfranci3]

Looking at it again, it looks like the cable grommet is attached on the outside of the structure, under the paint. I bet they do structual layups, attached the grommet, and then put the finish layer on. That or the grommet is glued onto the top and blended in with some goo. The crack is probably nothing to be worried about given the C shape, a structural crack would be a line in a given direction.

[Svetty]

White paint is more prone to cracking than other colours I'm lead to believe. I'd also do the 'coin test' but it looks more like a paint crack to me.....

[fogman]

In my experience, the paint does not crack unless the carbon fiber underneath is also cracked.


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[ALAN Carbon+]

Thanks for everyone's input so far. I have contacted the shop that I bought the frame from to have a further conversation with them about the frame. The owner of my LBS's view was that if it was his frame, he would expect it to be replaced.

It looks like a paint crack, but I would recommend you listen to the CyclingTips podcast from Feb. 19. They interviewed Raoul Luescher from http://luescherteknik.com.au/, who talked about his technique for scanning CF. I've got no connection to them, but since you're in Australia, it may be worth a look, for peace of mind.

Thanks, went back and listened to that podcast the other day, I also watched one of his YouTube videos specifically about paint cracks which was useful.

Looking at it again, it looks like the cable grommet is attached on the outside of the structure, under the paint. I bet they do structual layups, attached the grommet, and then put the finish layer on. That or the grommet is glued onto the top and blended in with some goo. The crack is probably nothing to be worried about given the C shape, a structural crack would be a line in a given direction.

The internal cable guide looks to be built into the frame, there is a metal sleeve that is inserted into the guide that acts as a cable stop for mechanical groupsets (swapped for a grommet for Di2) there is also a rubber grommet on the outside that secures the cable outer in the cable guide so it doesn't rattle. This thread has a good pic of the internals viewtopic.php?t=106971

[ALAN Carbon+]

Lapierre has refused the second warranty claim after my local bike shop submitted a new claim based on his inspection. They remain adamant that it is a paint crack despite my LBS expressing that they think there is more to it.

The frame will be stripped over the weekend and sent to Luescher Teknik to have a detailed examination done.



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[FIJIGabe]

Thanks for following up.