a good crack

This crack behind the bottom bracket on my carbon bike has been bugging me for some time. Today I decided to do something about it.

The original monocoque frames were just that, one piece of moulded carbon. These days although still referred to as "monocoque", most frames consist of two pieces, the front and rear triangle, moulded together. This is why you can look at a bike and say "it has the front end of a TREK and a rear end of a PINARELLO". It's also one of the main reasons why carbon frames have become cheaper to produce. No need to waste money on design when it's so easy just to copy.

This crack appears right in that location where two pieces of carbon fuse together. This is perhaps the strongest part of the bike (it has to be around the BB). The crack can be seen on the surface, but it's difficult to determine how deep it goes. Carbon bikes are weaved, with layers and layers on top of each other. Unlike aluminium which can fail dramatically and suddenly, carbon cracks tend to grow and grow like a peeling apple. If you are lucky a noise will appear before sudden failure. This is what happened with my first carbon bike which also cracked.

Anyway, time off the bike today, taking pictures and trying to push for a warranty claim. Bit of a cold too. Hope I'm feeling good enough for some asaren in the sunshine tomorrow....

Saturday's training: rest day