Originally Posted by
subtleluck
The frame is a 13 year old Surly Pacer (4130 chromoly) with around 15k miles on it. I'm the original owner weighing 160lb and haven't been hard on the frame.
I'd be curious to see what the inside of the tube looks like using and endoscope. Perhaps the inside of any tube that one could get a camera into.
There are a few types of weld failures.
In this case, the crack does seem to move around a bit, but is largely going right down the middle of the weld.
I'd be concerned about potentially having poor penetration and the weld bead just sitting on top of the tubes.
If that is the case, then this could potentially be a manufacturer's defect that was discovered late. I can't say how that would impact the warranty.
As mentioned, it could probably be welded over, and you should be able to get another 13 years out of the bike.
Yet, the other risk is that if a welder did a poor job on this joint, it could also have bad welds elsewhere.