Bicycle Mechanics - Bad seat stay or bad paint?

Just noticed what appears to me to be a crack in the seat stay. Of course, my brain and wallet are trying to convince me it's just bad paint. Opinions? I'd really rather not take any chances ...

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My vote goes for bad paint.

Mine's for crack. The clue for me is the compression indentation on the right side of the picture. I'd suggest trying to lift away the paint with a thumbnail along the crack edge. If it's surface paint cracking, the primer underneath should be intact. If not... it's a metal crack.

Either that, or its a sloppy join in the metal, but it appears *not* to be a brazing weld at that location.

But then if you look about midway through the red part, you see the tubing gets smaller.

by anychance does this frame have internal lugs?

The details in the pics indicate a possible/probable crack developing in the metal, and not just the paint.
A picture zoomed out a little would show where on the seat stay the crack is.
At this point though, you will likely have to chip some of the paint off and delve further into what could become....a total repaint! After some torch work is done, which requires at least partial, if not complete bike disassembly. And the painting certainly will. Clean all loose parts. Reassemble. Upgrade.

CA-CHING, CA-CHING, CA-CHING$$$

Heck, it's only a little crack...;)

The details in the pics indicate a possible/probable crack developing in the metal, and not just the paint.
A picture zoomed out a little would show where on the seat stay the crack is.
At this point though, you will likely have to chip some of the paint off and delve further into what could become....a total repaint! After some torch work is done, which requires at least partial, if not complete bike disassembly. And the painting certainly will. Clean all loose parts. Reassemble. Upgrade.

CA-CHING, CA-CHING, CA-CHING$$$

Heck, it's only a little crack...;)
:roflmao:

Sorry, OP.. I shouldn't :roflmao:

But then if you look about midway through the red part, you see the tubing gets smaller.

by anychance does this frame have internal lugs?
There is a possibility I suppose, but it still suggests something amiss with whatever "glues" it together.

What's the make and model of the bike, and what's it made of, wmelton?

But then if you look about midway through the red part, you see the tubing gets smaller.

by anychance does this frame have internal lugs?

I don't know if it has internal lugs, it's a 2005 Felt F70. I checked Felt's 2005 archived web site but couldn't find any specific information about the frame, only this ...

"Custom Butted Super-light 7005 w/carbon seat stays, bulged seat tube, CNC'd head tube & BB shell, forged dropouts w/replaceable hanger"

The details in the pics indicate a possible/probable crack developing in the metal, and not just the paint.
A picture zoomed out a little would show where on the seat stay the crack is.
At this point though, you will likely have to chip some of the paint off and delve further into what could become....a total repaint! After some torch work is done, which requires at least partial, if not complete bike disassembly. And the painting certainly will. Clean all loose parts. Reassemble. Upgrade.

CA-CHING, CA-CHING, CA-CHING$$$

Heck, it's only a little crack...;)

Seat stay zoomed out ...

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I think thats just where the carbon joins onto the metal.

If it were me, I would just keep an eye on it, maybe contact felt.

Check their frame warranty; you might be able to wangle something out of it. My feeling is that (a) it could be just flex between the two materials that has cracked the paint, but (b) the more serious scenario is that the glue in the joint is in fact not sound.

Thats what I was going to say, but my english sucks and I didnt know how to word it :p.

Thats what I was going to say, but my english sucks and I didnt know how to word it :p.
I third that!:)
Keep an eye on it. Maybe mark the ends of the crack with a dot of Sharpie.
Meanwhile, contact Felt. Maybe they have a replacement red sticker that you could use to cover it with.;)

if the graphics are lacqured over it could be that too. put a dab of tipp-ex across it and get a mate to sit on it and flex it a bit.

Just took the bike into my LBS, the owner's quote was "This is sooooo under warranty." Look's like I'll be getting a new frame next week. Thanks for all the advice, it's appreciated.

Glad it's worked out for you. And thanks for the thanks.