Originally Posted by
kaitanium
yea i saw that one...and that wasnt even junmping rocks and such!!! just broke...i wonder how long he has used that bike and how much abuse it has gone through
This is why I am not a fan of dark colored frames (although I still have one, black
). Right now have a silver, two butter-yellow bikes, and one clear-coated bike (natural aluminum finish).
A light colored frame will give plenty of visual warning if a crack appears, but it's difficult to catch those on dark colored frames. Having said that, I suppose it is possible to ride a bike to breaking-point without premature cracks showing...
Over the years I've seen cracks appear in various places but the most common place I've seen them is near the welds at the bottom of the headtube/downtube connection or somewhere along it's gusset if it has one. It pays to occasionally inspect that area, especially after a crash (or if the bike crashes regularly
).
.