In early December, I noticed a clicking with every pedal stroke on my 2020 Trek 520 bike. Because it happened with every revolution, I figured it was probably the saddle, so I tightened (stretched the leather slightly more) the saddle. The click persisted. So I tried wiggling the saddle and discovered the whole seat post wiggled! Inspection showed the seat tube was cracked just above the top tube and the crack went almost completely around. There was just a bit of metal on the front of the seat tube joining the two parts of the seat tube.


When I made this discovery, I was about 15 miles from home. I rode the bike the rest of the way home, and have not ridden it since.


I took the bike back to Jay’s Cycles where I bought it. They contacted Trek. There is a lifetime frame warranty, so Trek will replace the frame. Unfortunately, there are no frames available. The estimated time frame is April, 2022. In the meantime, I’m riding my 2012 Trek 520.


The rest of the story is in the photos below.


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Broken Seat Tube, December 6-7, 2021