Here's the situation:

I bought a complete bike (Titanium frame) from a large chain store just over 2 years ago. On purchase, I sold the forks and immediately replaced them with a brand that I prefer.

Since then, 2 of these frames have failed on me. The first one was replaced under warranty, the second one they refuse to replace. The shop admits that it is a manufacturing fault, but they said I voided my warranty by splitting up the bike. They won't listen to the argument that all bike parts are pretty much expendable and even if I hadn't sold the forks, I could have had to replace them by now anyway.

They say the issue is that this particular frame is discontinued, but they are offering nothing more than saying I can take it up with Trading Standards if I want to.

So, does anyway know what the legal situation is? I'm going to have to spend a load of time researching it, but pointers might be helpful!

Have you used forks with a longer A2C?

Hmm – you have to look at the small print of your warranty – what make and frame? Then look up that warranties frame guarantee.

I'm assuming the fork you replaced the old fork with was of the same amount of travel?

Take it up with the manufacturer of the frame?

was the frame available 'frame only'?

my 2p;

1) if they replaced it the first time knowing you'd been using the 'wrong' forks then they've accepted that the failure was theirs not yours

2) they either think you won't bother with trading standards or believe they've got a good case.

Personally, I'd call the shops bluff and put a full document together of who's done what and when and then talk to trading standards and see what they say.

It was sold with 140mm Fox Forks, I replaced them with 100-130mm Revelations. I don't know the axle-to-crown, but I can't imagine that the Revs would be longer.

I have emailed the manufacturer, so maybe they will help.

It really aggravates me when I compare to recent LBS cases… My friend took an Easton stem to Cycle Care in Wycombe to return it due to a product recall. Easton never got around to sending him a new one so the shop gave him one from their own stock. He hadn't even bought it from Cycle Care and they knew that… but you can bet he'll be back to buy stuff from them in the future.

…large chain store…

Leisure Lakes ?

large bike store in bad service shocker!

depending on the frame and the forks you fitted i cant see theyre being a problem with warranty…

Halfords?

How did the frame fail Aiden?

voided my warranty by splitting up the bike

They're just making stuff up to shut you up!

You've replaced a component for a better one, in your view. Would the warranty exclusion apply to other components that wear out or deteriorate like chain, cassette, tyres, chainrings, cables, disc pads, saddle, grips etc.

It is nothing to do with warranty – its to do with your rights under the sale of goods act. I do wish people would stop muddling the two up.

Its up to you to show that it failed as a result of a manufacturing defect. Engineers report and small claims court.

TJ to the forum….

I think I wouldn't bother with trading standards just go for small claims.

**** TJ, you hang around and say nothing for ages and then get here at the same time as me..

Also given that they replaced it once it might be easier to prove they knew it was a problem. I'm not sure an engineers report is necessary, I do these types of failure analyses all the time and small claims tend to ignore them. Its broken, what more do you nee to know/If there is obvious impact damage then that shoots you down, if there isn't then it should be OK.

To be fair TJ, it might be a warranty claim, depending on the terms and conditions in the warranty. After all, the warranty is laid over and above those rights guarenteed in the Sale of Goods act.

Aidan, you need to have a look through the warranty terms and find out if there is anything in there which states what will void the warranty. You also need to check how long the warranty lasts for, and whether this runs from the date of purchase of the original bike, or from the point they gave you the new frame etc…

Only if it looks like the warranty won't stand do you need to then look at moving down the route of the Sale of Goods act.

Any chance of naming the shop – I want to add it to my list of where not to buy from…

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not going to name the shop as they're known to have thrown a hissy fit in the past for someone complaining about them on a forum. Their reputation precedes them, so most STWers would probably avoid them anyway. But they were the only option for that bike at that time.

While I understand that the legal rights are under the sale of goods act, and I've read previous threads saying (as TJ re-iterated) that it's up to me to prove that it's a defect, I guess that the company's admission that it is a manufacturing defect will suffice. I suppose that's where it turns from the warranty (which they're free to weasel around with) to the sale of goods.

Reading http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk, it seems like it is worth writing to my credit card company as well. Time to do some letter-writing before going down the small-claims route.

From now on, it's niche bikes direct (2 of the bikes in my shed) or from Cycle Care (2 more in the shed)!