Cracks on carbon forks. Advice please

[Rob302]

Hi everyone new here. Just bought my first road bike (second hand bike) looked fine when I was viewing it but when I got it home and had a closer look I’ve noticed there are a far few cracks in the white paint on the carbon forks, cracks stop at the black paint. Scott speedster 40. I’m going to take it to a bike shop to get checked out this week.
He didn’t ride it much only about 60 miles in total and then was stored in a shed for a year so I’m wondering if it could be heat/sun damage?

 

[rogerzilla]

It looks like crazed paint but would I ride it? Probably not. Secondhand CF forks are too hard to inspect under paint.

 

[bikingdad90]

Can you post a picture of the bike as the fork looks bent back like it has been in a crash but hard to tell from the photos of the damage as it could just be the camera angle.

 

[Rob302]

Thanks for getting back to me.

 

[Rob302]

Can you post a picture of the bike as the fork looks bent back like it has been in a crash but hard to tell from the photos of the damage as it could just be the camera angle.

I have posted photos above now

 

[Rob302]

It looks like crazed paint but would I ride it? Probably not. Secondhand CF forks are too hard to inspect under paint.

Thanks for getting back to me. I think I’m going to down the route of buying some new forks for it. Not worth the risk!

 

[Cycleops]

Don’t think they are bent, a carbon fork doesn’t tend to bend , it just cracks and fails In a bad knock. I believe it may be an illusion created by the paint scheme. The only way to find out is to remove the paint, but you don’t relay want to do that. I should keep an eye on it and if see if it gets worse. As the crack stops at the black I would suspect it’s just in the paint but I’d be interested to hear from others who might have come across this kind of thing before.

You. might try contacting Scott to hear what they have to say. I’m guessing their warranty won’t extend past the original owner but may have been an issue on other bikes so you might get lucky.

BTW Rob hello and to the forum.

 

[Rob302]

Don’t think they are bent, a carbon fork doesn’t tend to bend , it just cracks and fails In a bad knock. I believe it may be an illusion created by the paint scheme. The only way to find out is to remove the paint, but you don’t relay want to do that. I should keep an eye on it and if see if it gets worse. As the crack stops at the black I would suspect it’s just in the paint but I’d be interested to hear from others who might have come across this kind of thing before.

You. might try contacting Scott to hear what they have to say.

BTW Rob hello and to the forum.

Hello and Thanks for getting back to me. It’s very strange, I’ve been looking this afternoon at other bikes with cracks on the forks and all that’s coming up is forks with just one crack and is clearly a brake in the carbon. I rode it before I purchased it and they wasn’t any cracking/creaking noises at all.
I’ll email Scott tomorrow and see what they say. Hoping someone on the forum has had the same problem and can solve it.

 

[DCLane]

Looks to be normal paint cracking due to heat change. If it's been in a shed, in the sun, it'll have got pretty warm in there. It may also just be the white paint only.

The lines there aren't straight, which a carbon crack would normally be. I'd have no issues with it.

 

[Rob302]

Looks to be normal paint cracking due to heat change. If it's been in a shed, in the sun, it'll have got pretty warm in there. It may also just be the white paint only.

The lines there aren't straight, which a carbon crack would normally be. I'd have no issues with it.

Thanks for getting back to me. I’ve inspected it around all the welds on the bike and there’s no cracks anywhere. Literally only on the white paint.

 

[tom73]

Paint cracks by the looks be fine to ride if you want to get it checked out it won’t do any harm.
Nice bike and welcome to the forum.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Paint cracks, I'd happily ride it. If the Carbon was cracked to that extent it would have fallen apart before now.

 

[wafter]

Highly likey to be paint cracks - consider:

a) The multi-directional nature and frequency and distribution of the cracks
b) The lack of symmetry in the cracks between each side of the fork
c) The fact the cracks stop at the black paint

From a) it looks a lot more like the result of stress acting in every direction (i.e. paint shrinking) than down specific lines of stress resulting from loading in one direction (as would be most likely be the case in an impact).

Same argument for b) - if it'd had an impact chances are it would have been shared fairly evently by both sides of the fork and damage would be similar on each.

Finally c) says a lot; especially in the second pic where two cracks both terminate at sharp points on the "S" - suggesting the white paint has been applied on top of the black and as such these points represent an absence of paint, and hence a stress-raiser / crack initiation point.

I'd still be extremely wary given what it's made of (and by all means get it checked out) but my gut tells me it should be fine.

 

[HMS_Dave]

As a former owner of a Reliant Scimitar, i immediately recognise that as crazed paint. The Reliant Scimitar had a gel undercoat due to its fiberglass construction and the sun will do that overtime. I would get it inspected professionally, but i would be pretty confident in saying that crazed paint is all that it is given the pictures provided...

 

[Gunk]

Looks to be normal paint cracking due to heat change. If it's been in a shed, in the sun, it'll have got pretty warm in there. It may also just be the white paint only.

The lines there aren't straight, which a carbon crack would normally be. I'd have no issues with it.

By the look of the rusty washer and spring on the calipers it seems as if it’s spent some time outside exposed to the elements.