Originally Posted by
Sixty Fiver
Looks like a welding failure... the frame has obviously cracked but it appears as if there is an undercut behind the actual weld at the head tube which could also cause a slow failure of the lower joint where a lot of stress is concentrated.
If everything else on the bike looks stellar and lines up I'd semnd the frame back to Trek and have them take a look at it... it is the way the shiny finish looks to have been laid over a bad weld that makes me wonder if it was crash or the start of a slow failure.
Nothing in those pictures supports any theory other than a front-end crash. I see no cracking other than a little crazing in the paint. There is no way to make a weld failure look like that, and a dent from a front end crash looks exactly like that every time. I wouldn't bother my local Trek dealer with this, it's pointless.