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I had a CAAD9 with a similar bit of shonky QA around the top of the head tube weld.
The lip is where the weld was flush with the top of the head tube and was then faced away in finishing. The jagged mark around the head tube top on the right is probably where someone has done something stupid with a screwdriver to get a bearing out maybe. You can't determine if that's fucked it from a photo though, you'd need to take a look.
Surely alu frames are designed to last more than a few years
If you don't use them, they will last forever :)
If you use them, you proceed towards their service life which for these frames was pretty conservative, like it wasn't designed / built to last more than a couple of (hard) race seasons. They were effectively disposable, on the assumption that a lot of them would die in crashes / race incidents and that people valued weight (lack of it) and ride feel over long term durability.
Now we are in the carbon monocoque era we get to have our cake and eat it.
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Howard
1561
Right, I thought the aluminum may have corroded slightly and could be brushed/cleaned up and repainted to look new, but if it's a weld then understand that wouldn't be the case.
Surely alu frames are designed to last more than a few years