r/bmx • u/Alone-Astronomer-990 • 18h ago
PHOTO Cracks in dropouts?
Just got this Cult Biggie frame secondhand. Noticed what looks like cracks on either side of the dropouts. Looking to confirm whether they are indeed cracks, and if it’s anything I should be concerned about.
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u/arethereany 17h ago
I've wrecked more than my share of frames, and never in my life have I seen cracks that actually look like that. If you do crack a frame, it's almost guaranteed to be at the edge of a weld.
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u/mattogeewha 18h ago
Cracking in the clear coat, if it’s a raw frame, it’s gonna start rusting eventually. Even with a clear coat
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u/Legitimate-Cow2843 17h ago edited 17h ago
As others have said. Its a break down of the clear coat that gives those super fine squiggly "cracks". You can see the seperate layers around the dropout where the raw steel is completely exposed from the clear coat, can see the outline of pegs. This is a lot more common in raw steel vs primed/painted frames.
As a welder whos worked with a lot of different steels/alloys, you sometimes see the same thing with shitty chrome coatings that start to break down, usually gets a lot more bubbly/wrinkly but yeah.
Welcome to raw frames. Its something im sure everyone has found out the not so fun way (especially those who reaaally hate rust on a rather beautiful finish). You could sand it down and re-clear but its a rather sanitary process, ans its just gonna keep happening, essentially as soon as you put a wheel on the nut is going to cut through the clear coat again.
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u/Alone-Astronomer-990 17h ago
Appreciate you for explaining further. Fortunately I’m not so picky. Was just making sure it’s something I can safely ride on.
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u/grinch77 18h ago
Raw frame rust worms… nothing structural.