You’re looking at the right rear portion of the headtube on a 2008 Specialized Roubaix Elite purchased new in Jan 2009, now with 8401 miles. (The light/dark gray tube in the middle-left is the handle of a frame pump.)
About midway down the crack is a chip that I noticed when the bike was about a week old. Thought it was in the clearcoat and promptly forgot about it. Today the pump vibrated loose on a chip-seal road, and I noticed the pronounced crack as I was replacing the pump. There have been no catastrophic events over the 8401 miles; just the usual frost heaves, expansion joints and cracks, broken concrete, and potholes.
Stopped at the LBS at the end of today’s century. All the help uniformly said “Eeeeewww” when they saw it, and it drew a lot of attention (from the customers, too
). The owner took one look and said “new frame.” Specialized provides the new frame, and the shop eats the cost of moving all the parts over.
No one at the shop had ever seen a headtube crack in the back like this; if it cracks, it’s always been in the front. How ‘bout you folks? Any cracked headtubes here?