Crack on down tube - what to do?

I was doing a thorough cleaning of my bike today (Trek 2.1), getting ready to clean and grease my chain, when I noticed a crack on the underside of my down tube.  It's probably 4 or 5 inches long.  I usually do a quick wipe down of my bike after every ride, but the last time I flipped my bike over and cleaned the under side of the down tube was about two and a half weeks ago.  I didn't notice the crack then.  Since then I've put about 200 to 250 miles of riding on the bike.

Yesterday was the first time my bike has ever been in an accident.  I managed to get my back wheel stuck in a railroad track as I was crossing over it (I was perpendicular to the track - I have no idea how my back wheel got stuck).  I was rolling at about 5 mph at the time in a downtown area talking with another rider when it happened, so I wasn't going extremely fast.  My shifters, one chain stay, and my elbow took the brunt of the impact.  There are some light scratches on the shifter and the chainstay, but my down tube never made contact with the pavement/track.

I just got the bike about a month and a half ago and raced one triathlon on it and would really love to become more competitive, but I can't afford to buy another bike.  I assume it's not safe to ride if your frame is cracked, or is it?  Has anyone had a positive (or negative) experience getting something similar fixed/replaced through the Trek warranty?  The crack does not look like it occurred through impact (only the chain stay touched the ground), but seems to be stress related.  I've attached a picture of it, but it can be difficult to see.

Any suggestions/help is greatly appreciated!

Edit: I plan on taking the bike in to the Trek store either way, but wanted to see if anyone else has had a similar experience.

Edited by JRL 2009-07-03 11:13 AM






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Crack.jpg (90KB - 2 downloads)