I have a 3-year-old hefty steel touring bike from a small manufacturer that subcontracts its welding to Taiwan. I believe they buy their forks pre-assembled from a respected manufacturer. (I'm avoiding names because I don't want this to show up on a google search.)
Last week, I was JRA and I noticed this:
I haven't crashed or abused the fork, other than my weighing 250#, riding it some 5000 miles on rough-paved roads, some loaded touring (though with the weight mostly on the rear), and a dynamo hub that vibrates a bit. The blades and steer tube both look perfect -- some paint chips, but no bending or buckling. No significant rust (I live in Los Angeles).
I'm hoping to get the manufacturer to warranty the fork, but I don't have any evidence that I haven't abused it, nor do I have any evidence of a manufacturer defect other than my opinion that forks just shouldn't fail this way. I've seen lots of wrecked forks, and it's always the steer tube or blades or dropouts that are bent or broken; never the fork crown lug.
(1) What do you think caused this?
(2) Assuming they don't believe that I didn't abuse the fork, is there some sort of abuse I could have committed that would crack the lug but leave the fork blades and steer tube in perfect condition?
The bike manufacturer says that the fork manufacturer will have to make the call on whether the fork is defective. I haven't talked to them yet, but when I do, I'd like to have an idea of what went on with the fork. The bike mechanics I've talked to think it's clearly a defect, but none of them do any frame work, so I was hoping to get the input of someone who has actually built a frame before.
Thanks for your input.