Scratch? That is damn near a gouge! And yet it looks like an air bubble that had the thin layer of resin (or paint) finally flake/slough off. From the angles of the pics, it could almost look like a crush mark where some of the surrounding material is raised above the indentations. Like I said above, it’s possible it’s porosity in the carbon fiber as it was being setup in the autoclave. If there’s porosity there, it could be almost anywhere as well. And if there is a bleb (a bubble) in the front of the down tube, or tot tube, that is a prime place for a catastrophic failure of the joint and a pretty dramatic crash.
I looked over the last two bikes I bought with carbon frames. I pointed out the clarity of some of the carbon fiber sheets in one area, but they were buried under enough resin. I bought both of them.
But buying carbon bikes used? (I know this is a new bike) Depending on what I was going to do with it, I might be more careful on looking them over…
But that doesn’t look like a scratch. It looks like it has a rounded bottom. Like it was a pore, a void that had a thin covering of resin over it. It also looks like someone tried to ‘fix’ it potentially. The way I’ve seen bikes made, the use a lot of resin to make sure there are no pores.
Scratch, gouge, whatever. Something caught on the tire, hit it and disturbed it.
My theory is that it was a bit of filler painted over with some poor adhesion. I looked at the first pic again and it sort of looks like a patch job they did at the factory.
@airteluser I hope your shop will go to bat for you.
I really do not think it was that. the spot is rather on the upper part, facing the seat not the street. Nothing could have hit there. If it would be in the middle or down facing part, ok… but upper side? with such force from the street?
So by “shop will bat for you” you mean acknowledge the problem?
Warranty the frame. Don’t accept no for an answer.
This does not look like a scratch to me. It looks like a manufacturing defect, at best it is cosmetic, but it could be structural.
If you bought a new car and due to a misalignment of the body panels your windshield cracks after two weeks, you wouldn’t accept that either. Bikes are expensive and if we pay €€€€ for a frame, it better be perfect.
Most of us have some sort of scratches or light damage on our bikes. My road bike is all scratched up at the rear dropouts from mounting and dismounting it from my trainer. The carbon is protected by an extra thick layer of paint. This doesn’t look like damage from an impact to me.
i used an 1500€ alloy cyclocross for 10years with all the abuses and bruises and no worries at all.
now I have a 4k€ Carbon Roadbike and after two weeks such worries. I am wondering if I shall go for a exchange and trust this was just a misfortune… or should I forget about the carbon stuff and return to my old bike.
I just do not want to have to worry too much (but then again I enjoyed riding the new bike a lot - it is a universe of difference to the old one)
Carbon bikes and components are not fragile. In fact, carbon mountain wheels tend to be more durable. There are just a few caveats:
With metal frames you can have dents and dings, which may degrade the strength of the frame. With carbon it is more 0 and 1, i. e. carbon tubes either spring back into shape or crack, they don’t dent.
Search for Danny MacAskill wheel on YouTube, you see how much it takes to destroy a carbon rim that was engineered for strength. Santa Cruz, I think, also has a video where they test a carbon and an aluminum frame to failure. Spoiler: the carbon frame is much more robust in the test.
Carbon components are typically engineered to be lightweight, and lighter components are less durable.
With carbon you can engineer tremendous strength in some directions while they are weak in others. Especially compressive strength (or lack thereof) is an issue.
Overtightening fasteners (stem bolts) and impacts with sharp objects or corners are the cryptonite of carbon parts.
Metal has its own problems. Aluminium does corrode with time, especially in areas where you sweat. It also cannot be repaired.
Lastly, metal frames are really great and often underrated.
They made pictures and sent it to the headquarters to decide. What else can I do? If the inquiry is refused I am not sure what to do. This is really a cra@ situation, spoiling all the joy I had and expected from my new, expensive bike.
Agree that it is difficult to differentiate between a crack in the clear coat and the carbon from a photo alone.
But what concerns me is that this is in a location where there is a stress point due to the curve of the seat stay, and possibly where the carbon has not been properly compacted in the mold due to the curve. Also, it is at a point unlikely to sustain external damage (eg. rock strike)
On the plus side, the seat stay is a point on the frame where there is a fair bit of redundancy.
If they don’t do an ultrasound, I wouldn’t trust the manufacturer if they claimed the frame is safe to ride. Even if they claimed the issue is cosmetic, I would insist on a new frame.
If they refuse, it’ll be tough. I think your LBS might be on the hook, legally.
What make and model is the frame? Some manufacturers are more generous than others.
Or a collection of clear coat that dried in that chasm. Either way, in my mind, if there’s one, there’s likely more, and if there is any defect in the carbon composition, a failure seems predestined. Will they cover a bleb caused fracture Will the OP survive it when it gives out? To me it’s inexcusable that they shipped that defect. I was told that part of the price of carbon frames is the ones that don’t make it out the door. Bad coating, exposed fiber mats, cracks, bubbles, bad looking fiber if it’s supposed to be ‘natural’. (The mystique of fiber)
Shipping that is a measure of the lack of attention they give to their product. Is it over blowing it? Possibly, But it makes me wonder ‘what else’, and ‘will they cover it’ if it fails. I LOVE descents, and have gone over 60mph on a few so knowing there aren’t any flaws in the frame I’m depending on kinda means a lot to me. And if the seat stay snaps on a fast descent, that’s going to hurt…
First, car frames don’t work that way but if you bring back a car with a scratch/dent/anything on the body after it left the dealership perfect, you aren’t getting any help there. You probably aren’t getting any help with a broken windshield either unless you can prove it was the manufacturers fault.
Bikes are hand made. They aren’t perfectly machined out of a billet of carbon by robots. In any case, I don’t want to debate with you further. I don’t think the issue here is structural and I hope rentagreement get’s satisfaction.
i did the coin test … and as much as I do not have enough experiences to judge it in general, there is definately a different tone from the left (damaged) side and the right (intact) side.