Parkpre Pro825 SS - Dead before it was even finished :-(

get it welded and ride it

it's fecked anyway ,so a good repair can only prolong its life

The crack is on the join between the weld and tube not on the centre of the weld where I would expect to see a crack develop. I would suspect it is just the paint cracking and not the tubing / weld. As you have said the paint is flaking off elsewhere so I would have a pick around the cracked paint and see what lies beneath. Steel framed bikes with high quality light weight tube sets like your pro 825 are very flexy and if painted the paint cannot flex in the same way the frame can.

I must say it does look as though the tube itself is cracked, but I certainly agree with REKIBorter that cutting the paint off is the thing to do to be sure.

I'm not sure that a 8-5-8 (i.e., 8 to 5!) tube is all that flexy, but I find it a bit surprising that a crack like that would occur such a long time after the welding that would have caused it. That bit of tube was subjected to an extremely high temperature, which can cause excessive stress, but then again it is designed to take it (and if 8-5-8 isn't up to it, then it doesn't say much for my Kilauea which has a 7-4-7 top tube!)

I think it's a bit suspicious that it has happened just after the frame has been painted. Paint baking is nothing like as hot as welding, and again shouldn't really cause any problem, but even so it gets put in an oven for the first time in 15 years and next thing you know it's got a crack. There's no such thing as a coincidence, I always say. But then again, I'm often wrong.

Anthony":1jyolpxb said:

I must say it does look as though the tube itself is cracked, but I certainly agree with REKIBorter that cutting the paint off is the thing to do to be sure.

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I'd have to agree, seen a fair few cracked frames in my time and they do seem to crack just behind a weld like that more often than in the middle of a weld.

Hopefully it's just a crack in the paint as it's a nice bike and looks like a lot of work went into it.

Anthony":1jyolpxb said:

I'm not sure that a 8-5-8 (i.e., 8 to 5!) tube is all that flexy, but I find it a bit surprising that a crack like that would occur such a long time after the welding that would have caused it. That bit of tube was subjected to an extremely high temperature, which can cause excessive stress, but then again it is designed to take it (and if 8-5-8 isn't up to it, then it doesn't say much for my Kilauea which has a 7-4-7 top tube!)

I think it's a bit suspicious that it has happened just after the frame has been painted. Paint baking is nothing like as hot as welding, and again shouldn't really cause any problem, but even so it gets put in an oven for the first time in 15 years and next thing you know it's got a crack. There's no such thing as a coincidence, I always say. But then again, I'm often wrong.

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Was the frame not spray painted? Just going by the primer pic and the mentions of how easily the paint chips.

joins will crack in the haz (heat affected zone )
thats where that appears to be cracked
needs investigated further looks paint to me but....

for shame, that's a really nice project. i'd strip the paint in that area and give it a good look before writing it off.

I've stripped back the affected area, i'm pretty sure it is cracked.

This frame has had a fair bit of abuse over the years.
It was raced for a season when new and then got used as a trails bike when it was starting to be a trend in the mid 90's. It was then only lightly used for years until I decided to paint it. Although I don't think it was used much as a rigid bike, it had Mag21's then later RST Mozo Pros.
The crack may have been there before I painted it (it is a rattle can job so no extra heat treatment, I couldn't fit it in the oven to bake), and now the white showed it up, it would be difficult to notice it with the std Ti Plate Finish and under the top tube.

So can this be repaired without replacing the toptube?

Terrible news, I'm sure it can be repaired just a question of how much you are prepared to spend on it. When I had my Pro Elite repaired I was in a win / win situation; I couldn't ride it unless it was repaired.

Dave Yates is your man:

http://www.daveyatescycles.co.uk/repairs.htm

Really helpful, give him a call and have a chat, he'll let you know what your options are (and how much it'll cost).

I'll wait until i can afford to repair it before i contact anyone. Meanwhile, i'm still using it. The proof, covered it snow and manky road slush.