Trek Domane crack - anyone seen anything like this?

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alcatraz
Posts: 4064
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:19 am

by alcatraz

Hi WWs

Found a weird little discoloration by the fd wire exit hole and a few cracks near it. It seems to be rather focused in one spot and doesn't go anywhere. I can't imagine that the spot is structural or especially stressed either. We were scratching our heads as to how such a thing could occur. The wire isn't resting on the edge or anything like that.

I had a look through the bb shell and the inside shows no sign of metals, just clean dry carbon and the (plastic?) guide tube for the internal fd wire.

It looks almost like a chemical spill on the outside or some kind of reaction under the paint. Maybe something is oxidizing underneath.

Any guesses? Thanks...

/a
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spdntrxi
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by spdntrxi

it's kinda following that discoloration of the red in the zoomed in pic. That does not look great.
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fordred
Posts: 86
Joined: Sun Sep 13, 2009 4:22 pm

by fordred

Make use of the lifetime warranty...
The fact that it's at the BB area where it'll flex makes it worrisome.

alcatraz
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Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:19 am

by alcatraz

So what could cause paint in one round spot to swell up like this pretty much level across the spot? Is it some kind of degreaser or other washing liquid that could have contacted some layer under the paint?

That is what it looks like to me... The fd exit hole is just the way in.

This frame is several years old and has been ridden 30-50kkm.

/a

TobinHatesYou
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Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

fordred wrote:
Fri May 11, 2018 2:54 am
Make use of the lifetime warranty...
The fact that it's at the BB area where it'll flex makes it worrisome.
Yep. Preemptive grats on a NBD.

alcatraz
Posts: 4064
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:19 am

by alcatraz

No brainer decision? :lol:

Not so easy, his lbs is on the other side of the planet. But it's an option :thumbup:

I was more curious to know if anyone of you have ever seen something like it before?

/a

DamonRinard
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by DamonRinard

To me it just looks like the cable guide pressed on the edge of the paint, lifting a small section away from the frame surface.
Damon Rinard
Engineering Manager, Road Bikes
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Ex-Kestrel, ex-Velomax, ex-Trek, ex-Cervelo

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WinterRider
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Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2013 2:46 pm

by WinterRider

alcatraz wrote:
Fri May 11, 2018 9:46 am
No brainer decision? :lol:

Not so easy, his lbs is on the other side of the planet. But it's an option :thumbup:

I was more curious to know if anyone of you have ever seen something like it before?

/a
Ah... the joys of owning plastic bikes. :roll:
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Fisherfreerider
Posts: 269
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 1:19 am

by Fisherfreerider

DamonRinard wrote:
Fri May 11, 2018 11:33 am
To me it just looks like the cable guide pressed on the edge of the paint, lifting a small section away from the frame surface.
This is exactly what I was thinking. I bet it is just the paint.

sungod
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:37 pm

by sungod

if it's not going to be warrantied, i'd be tempted to use a fine pick and lift off the cracked paint to see if that is as far as the problem goes

if it's not just paint, i'm sure a cf repair specialist would be able to fix it, it doesn't look like there'd be serious/widespread damage, probably a 'local' patch would be enough

if just paint, clean and recoat the area

AJS914
Posts: 5397
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

Try the tap test to see if you hear any dead spots.

My guess would be a paint chip. Since the LBS is not close I'd do the tap test and probably just keep an eye on it. Since the frame has a lifetime warranty he can always take it in if it gets worse.

Bigger Gear
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Location: Wet coast, Canada

by Bigger Gear

This might sound crazy, but I have been told by at least one professional painter that the mixing to get reds tends to make most paint more brittle than other colours. I'm not sure if this is true, but the person is very experienced and I trust his opinion. I'd certainly have Trek take a look at it, and if they do not think it's a problem I'd ride it, but first I would mark the current length of the crack to see if it propogates any further.

AJS914
Posts: 5397
Joined: Tue Jan 28, 2014 6:52 pm

by AJS914

Does Trek provide warranty on a paint crack or a discolored spot?

If it was my bike and out of warranty, I'd peel back the paint at the crack in order to see if the carbon is cracked. I wonder whether Trek would look down on that if did it before showing it to them.

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Lewn777
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by Lewn777

The only real way to understand waht's going on is to get the bike scanned by a specialist.

Also lifetime warranty? Not a human lifetime! That's the lifetime of the bike, 7 years for aluminium alloy, not sure what's considered life time for carbon fibre.

sennder
Posts: 170
Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2016 12:13 pm

by sennder

Trek has a 1 year warranty on paint. In general, getting a diagnosis from trek will require taking the bike to a trek retailer. But it never hurts to submit a support ticket with Trek regardless (with pictures). Their support was really helpful with my handlebar woes.

--sennder

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