Pace RC200 head tube crack - advice needed

Mijbil

Dirt Disciple
Ive just bought an F2 frame off ebay, not listed with any issues. I opened it in excitement, only to spot a 1 inch crack at the bottom of the head tube, which has obviously been there for a while. (see photo)

Gutted.

Can anyone tell me if this is repairable? Or is it a problem at all?
 

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Problem = yes
Repairable = probably using a sleeve

If it wasn't mentioned in the listing though, I'd want my money back.
 
I've seen two RC300s on here that have had a similar crack repaired, one of which is still for sale...

viewtopic.php?f=39&t=261346&hilit=rc300+frame+for+sale

You could ask velofrog who did the repair on his. I can't remember who had the other RC300 but it was a similar 'welded band' repair.

Quality username by the way - I'm currently reading Otter Country by Miriam Darlington and it's very entertaining!
 
My RC200F8 headtube cracked at the top of the tube, click on the RC200F8 link in my signature to see how I sorted it ;)
 
Thanks for the tips guys. I'm waiting for pace to come back to me, ideally I'm looking for someone to do a top notch repair on it polished, I don't have the expertise myself. Tricky one, I'm not emotionally attached to it like others as ive only owned it from this morning, but then 16.5 is the only size I can have as Ive only got little legs, so I'm wondering if it is worth the hassle of getting fixed.
 
Pace will most likely put you in touch with Spondon Engineering who were about as helpful as a chocolate teapot when I dealt with them. I also asked Adrian if they had any tooling or jigs lying about that could be used to replace the headtube on mine but that turned into a dead end also.
Its definitely worth repairing in my opinion especially as its a 16.5" frame, not many that size around, most are 18" and bigger. I didn't have the expertise to repair mine either but it all turned out rosy in the end ;)
 
That repair job worked out well, looks like it would be worth contacting a motor cycle engineering company to do the work. I'd still not be happy paying perfect pace money for a cracked fram and would be looking for some form of recompense from the seller/eBay though, you would at least have some pennies towards the repair.

Not sure if they do alu repair, but it might be worth contacting enigma bikes as they do titanium repairs and have a good reputation.
 
My f8 headtube cracked, but thankfully was still under warranty. They had just stopped making frames so I do confess to being a little nervous until Adrian said "yes, can fix that no problem". Which is the reason my f8 has an RC300 externally butted headtube.
 
Now we've established they have a tendency to crack in the headtube the question we must be asking is why? :?

Suspension fork ? Rough riding ? Must be some common denominator :?
 
dyna-ti":27xgnoa6 said:
Now we've established they have a tendency to crack in the headtube the question we must be asking is why? :?

Suspension fork ? Rough riding ? Must be some common denominator :?


This isn't a problem reserved for Pace frames though, plenty of other manufacturers produced aluminium frames which also seemed prone to cracking at the head tube, amongst other places.

Maybe the type, grade, and thickness of the aluminium used is the issue? The fact that the RC300 came with a butted head tube also says quite a lot about the construction of the head tube itself.

And lets not forget the finite fatigue life of aluminium alloys as opposed to steel or Titanium.

I do think there is an element of user error or abuse in some cases though. The Pace frames were designed for XC/ race use, so getting "insane" air or hitting "gnarly" drop-offs is perhaps exceeding the design parameters of the frame, pretty much any frame will break if you drop in from a sufficient height.
And the increasing travel of suspension forks no doubt contributes to both the abuse the frame takes, and the stresses put on the headtube on a daily basis.
 
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