I was dropping my bike off at the shop for a tune-up, and while I was waiting I noticed the cables have really rubbed the head tube, and I’m not sure how worried I should be about it. I knew they were rubbing the paint off, but I felt the area with my finger, and there is a very noticeable groove on one side where the cable has rubbed.
Anyone else experienced that issue? What did you do about it?
I didn’t care too much when I thought it was just cosmetic (paint), but now that it’s pretty clear the frame is actually being worn down, I’m having visions of my head tube collapsing on a descent or something similarly catastrophic.
They sell “stickers”, clear adhesive pads you can use to protect the frame. I use these in cases where it isn’t possible to adjust things to prevent the rubbing.
They sell “stickers”, clear adhesive pads you can use to protect the frame. I use these in cases where it isn’t possible to adjust things to prevent the rubbing.
One of the guys at the shop did mention the clear stickers as a means of protection, so I’ll definitely be picking up some of those to prevent future wearing down.
I guess at this point I’m just hoping there hasn’t been too much structural damage.
I was dropping my bike off at the shop for a tune-up, and while I was waiting I noticed the cables have really rubbed the head tube, and I’m not sure how worried I should be about it. I knew they were rubbing the paint off, but I felt the area with my finger, and there is a very noticeable groove on one side where the cable has rubbed.
Anyone else experienced that issue? What did you do about it?
I didn’t care too much when I thought it was just cosmetic (paint), but now that it’s pretty clear the frame is actually being worn down, I’m having visions of my head tube collapsing on a descent or something similarly catastrophic.
There’s a surprising amount of thickness to paint. It’s not too likely that you’re wearing away anything structural
I was dropping my bike off at the shop for a tune-up, and while I was waiting I noticed the cables have really rubbed the head tube, and I’m not sure how worried I should be about it. I knew they were rubbing the paint off, but I felt the area with my finger, and there is a very noticeable groove on one side where the cable has rubbed.
Anyone else experienced that issue? What did you do about it?
I didn’t care too much when I thought it was just cosmetic (paint), but now that it’s pretty clear the frame is actually being worn down, I’m having visions of my head tube collapsing on a descent or something similarly catastrophic.
There’s a surprising amount of thickness to paint. It’s not too likely that you’re wearing away anything structural
It would take a while, but left alone cable housing can eventually wear through a head tube (I’ve seen it several times)…
I was dropping my bike off at the shop for a tune-up, and while I was waiting I noticed the cables have really rubbed the head tube, and I’m not sure how worried I should be about it. I knew they were rubbing the paint off, but I felt the area with my finger, and there is a very noticeable groove on one side where the cable has rubbed.
Anyone else experienced that issue? What did you do about it?
I didn’t care too much when I thought it was just cosmetic (paint), but now that it’s pretty clear the frame is actually being worn down, I’m having visions of my head tube collapsing on a descent or something similarly catastrophic.
There’s a surprising amount of thickness to paint. It’s not too likely that you’re wearing away anything structural
It would take a while, but left alone cable housing can eventually wear through a head tube (I’ve seen it several times)…
I’d need proof of that. I find it hard to believe that the bare metal cable won’t wear through the cable housing or guides under the bottom bracket, but a plastic coated housing will wear through a metal or carbon head tube.
If the surface of the headtube has a curve in only one direction (e.g. a cylinder versus a sphere) then you can put a straight edge across the groove and get a real idea of it’s depth. It can be quite difficult to gauge how deep a curved groove is just by looking at it without doing this. You may well find it’s much shallower than your finger rub led you to believe. If not, it may be worth having someone take a look with a view to reinforcing the area but I’d be very surprised if that were necessary. Got a photo?
ETA: What is the headtube constructed from? Carbon fibre, aluminium alloy, steel, titanium?
I was dropping my bike off at the shop for a tune-up, and while I was waiting I noticed the cables have really rubbed the head tube, and I’m not sure how worried I should be about it. I knew they were rubbing the paint off, but I felt the area with my finger, and there is a very noticeable groove on one side where the cable has rubbed.
Anyone else experienced that issue? What did you do about it?
I didn’t care too much when I thought it was just cosmetic (paint), but now that it’s pretty clear the frame is actually being worn down, I’m having visions of my head tube collapsing on a descent or something similarly catastrophic.
There’s a surprising amount of thickness to paint. It’s not too likely that you’re wearing away anything structural
It would take a while, but left alone cable housing can eventually wear through a head tube (I’ve seen it several times)…
I’d need proof of that. I find it hard to believe that the bare metal cable won’t wear through the cable housing or guides under the bottom bracket, but a plastic coated housing will wear through a metal or carbon head tube.
Unfortunately I generally don’t document anything other than the actual warranty issue, but I’ve had several frames come back with very deep grooves cut into the head tube, fork crown, suspension rockers, and even a few BB30 cranks with grooves cut in the spindle from internal cables. But here’s the most recent frame I’ve gotten back, with noticeable grooves that have started in the down tube from the front derailleur cable and rear brake line:
If the surface of the headtube has a curve in only one direction (e.g. a cylinder versus a sphere) then you can put a straight edge across the groove and get a real idea of it’s depth. It can be quite difficult to gauge how deep a curved groove is just by looking at it without doing this. You may well find it’s much shallower than your finger rub led you to believe. If not, it may be worth having someone take a look with a view to reinforcing the area but I’d be very surprised if that were necessary. Got a photo?
ETA: What is the headtube constructed from? Carbon fibre, aluminium alloy, steel, titanium?
I didn’t take a photo before dropping it off at the shop because I only noticed how deep the groove was when I was waiting in line there. But I’ll take one when I get it back and post it here.
There’s a surprising amount of thickness to paint. It’s not too likely that you’re wearing away anything structural
I hope you’re right! It certainly looks like it’s the paint rubbing off, which is why I never bothered about it before. It was only when running my finger over the area that I started thinking it might be wearing through the metal.
