[Closed] OnOne Pickenflick dent in downtube

Looks bad; even if both the down tube and top tube are straight (which would mean it is indeed just a dent), its position weakens the downtube significantly.

Both the top tube and down tube seem straight. Is it possible to get flaws or weak spots in the manufacturing process of titanium? Starting to wish I bought from a more reputable company.

That does look bad mate. Looks now of a fold.

Please don't take this the wrong way but there is no chance that the bike has suffered some sort of head on shunt that didn't seem bad at the time?

I'm just grabbing at straws mate? 😞

Definitely a valid question, and one I've scratched my head about. I suppose I've hit a few potholes and  loose rocks gravel riding, but nothing significant that I can remember. I have carbon wheels on the bike and they are still running true

Looks like the sort of damage you'd expect from stacking it into a tree!

I know nothing about Ti, but I wonder if you could get a repair gusset welded over to avoid any further damage?  And if it was impact damage and the forks are carbon...

Agree - looks like it's been ridden into a wall. Wonder if it's possible to measure the head angle or wheelbase to see if it's changed? Though being PX it was probably not per spec to begin with...

Have you tried calling planet x? They've answered first time I have called them before.

For all the bad talk about them I don't see how ANY company would put a frame out with that dent. It's pretty noticeable and not like a tolerance issue

Are you thinking this is a just riding along failure?

My pickenflick is pretty solid and I think the fork would snap before creasing the down tube.

did you climb over a fence or wall and ding it?

not pointing the finger by the way. Just curious as that would take a hell of a hit to do that damage.

That does seem an odd place to incur a dent without other damage being obvious elsewhere.

Again, I'm not pointing a finger either, just curious as to how it's happened.

That's impact damage IMO.

If the metal is soft round there, eg as a result of improper heat treatment or wrong spec tubing, maybe it wasn't a big impact.

Might be worth getting it inspected by someone who knows Ti frames, maybe Enigma?

I very much doubt you can blame On-One for it though. It's not something they could pick up in a visual inspection, although if the metal is faulty it is their responsibility and they should honour the warranty.

What size frame is it ?

i know that one brand - not planet x

use to buy butted tube and cut to length for different frame. In some size they welded the thicker wall and on the smaller sized welded the thinner butted section.

Not sure i this could be similar.

Had it been hung on a bike rack on the back of a car, or perhaps locked up somewhere and someone might have had a go at nicking it?

It does look like impact damage from riding into a rock/wall and stopping dead. However a mate had similar on an xc MTB frame a few years ago and it was genuinely from riding along, even though the shop he got it from didn't believe a word of it.

PickenFlicks are tested to MTB standards, so it's unlikely to be a JRA failure.  That's been a substantial front end impact in my opinion.

Or a manufacturing defect that went unnoticed, not impossible to believe that surely?

How's the bike stored? Any chance you had the front wheel off and it fell on something in the shed/garage?
If it was a head on impact whilst riding, I would expect you to know about it.

Either way, I wouldn't trust it anymore personally.

I snapped a steel frame in exactly that location in a head on collision with a car. It also folded the top tube.  The forks (also steel) were unaffected and the front wheel still ran perfectly true and was undamaged.  My point is therefore that no sign of damage to wheel doesn't meant that an impact (such as a hard hit on a pothole) couldn't have been transferred to the frame.

If the frame is absolutely straight with no signs of distortions at any joint, I’d think manufacturing or transportation defect. You’d remember anything that gave such a dent. I also think it is immaterial to the safety of the frame. I’d be annoyed though.

Also, looking at it, could it have been parked at a coffee stop over a rail (or a square timber such that the force on the edge was concentrated in that area)?  Or transported with the front wheel over a bar like they do on some uplifts?

Individual bikes won’t be tested, the line will have been and QC is expected to keep things consistent so that safe samples equals safe sellable product.

As above, if the bike looked right externally then no reason PX would have picked it up  as botched heat treatment/ cutting and welding in the thin area of butting etc wouldn’t be externally obvious until failure.

Speak to PX.  They are on the hook if this is a manufacturing defect.  If you’re not getting any joy, maybe ask a local company that does NDT inspections to offer an opinion?

Thanks for all the feedback. I can understand why others may think it has been in a head on impact given the damage, but I've had no crashes with it. The bike isnt hung up in storage at all. The rest of the frame and toptube is dead straight.

<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Apart from a manufacturing fault, the only other thing I can think of is that it has travelled by plane in a reputable bike bag with mounting points for the frame, but there was no damage to the bag. I'm overseas, but will try calling PX as they won't respond to emails or online support tickets.</span>

If there’s no distortion to the top tube and the head tube is where it should be then I’d say it’s a dent rather than a front end impact. Either way it’s not good and I wouldn’t want to ride it. It’s hard to see it being anything but damage done by the owner rather than a manufacturing defect. I know PX are a bit dodgy when it comes to QC but that wouldn’t have left the factory like that.

Front-end impact IMO - machined headtubes are quite stiff, so probably wouldn't distort under load, the downtube however is quite thin-walled and wouldn't take much to buckle. I'm not sure a repair would be viable  - you'd have to drill a hole at each of the crease and then put a gusset between the two tubes.

the downtube however is quite thin-walled and wouldn’t take much to buckle

Lol! It's only the most stressed tube on the frame. It's as if down tubes buckle all the time.

Loooks knackered that.  I'd be surprised if the tube was butted, I understand very few Ti builders use butted tubing as it is much more expensive and fragile with a tiny weight advantage.

Like TiRed, I'd still ride it (I've got a bigger, nastier dent in the toptube of my steel commuter I ride every day) - but it is a shame.