Originally Posted by Kontact

It was very superficial. The OP's bike is 3/2.5, not 6/4. Litespeed used 6/4 on only some upper end models.


This thread is full of bad science and consumer philosophy, but these are the basic facts of this failure:
1. It was caused by a bad weld. Regardless of where the crack propagated to, it started at a contaminated weld point. It really doesn't matter what shape the crack is. Like galvanic corrosion on a carbon bike, the welds shouldn't do this and it is from a defect in construction.
2. Good titanium welds don't crack. The welds should be the strongest part of the bike. It doesn't matter how long it takes - a 49cm bike isn't stressed very much and sits more than it gets ridden. The same contaminated weld would have only lasted a powerful Cat1 racer riding a 60cm one season. These bikes are made of aircraft hydraulic tubing - do you think TWA would be okay with random cracks in their flight control systems?
3. Titanium used in bikes (3/2.5 or 6/4) is twice as flexible as steel. While steel bikes of normal construction will wear out with enough riding (usually the right chainstay near the BB goes first), titanium is very hard to wear out because the frame never flexes into the plastic deformation zone.
4. "Lifetime warranty" is not marketing - it was built into the cost of these not-inexpensive bikes. In the mid-90s the base level Litespeed bare frames were $1500, and a complete Catalyst bike was $3300 in 1996 with Ultegra and alloy rims. You paid for that lifetime warranty, and Litespeed would rather not have people talking about bad welds instead of good customer service.

If Lightspeed makes excuses and won't honor the warranty, find another one. I have bought many of this era Ti frames and bikes for bargain prices because I ride a 50cm and those smaller sizes always go for less. Recently I picked up a Douglas Ti bike complete for $500.