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Anybody had any experience with poor Trek warranty support on carbon frames?? The bike was bought new in Sep 2010 and has had very light use mainly on roads. Crack is on a rivet on the inside of the frame near the rear brake calliper. The rivet holds the brake cable to the frame. Bike is like new – never been crashed or dropped. My local dealer submitted a warranty claim but Trek have rejected it saying the damage is from small stones hitting the frame over a period of time. Complete rubbish!!

The crack clearly comes from the rivet as shown by the attached photographs. It would be highly unlikely that a stone of sufficient size could hit that exact spot given its position on the frame. Small stone impacts would leave other marks and scratches on the frame which are not evident.

Does anyone have the name & e-mail for the main warranty manager at Trek?? I came up with a name – Colin Knell????????

Very unhappy to receive such poor support from Trek.

i had perfect service when i snapped a Lemond, and haven’t heard anyone say that haven’t.

at the very least i would be asking what the crash replacement policy is. I assume you are the original owner? Colin does/did lurk/post on here.

“preview” is your friend…

yes i’m the original owner. Trek want around EUR900 for a new frame!! Don’t mind paying if crash damage – but this is not.

have trek seen the frame or just workign off what the bike shop say?

the bike shop support the claim and sent several photos plus written report. Another part of Treks reason for rejecting the claim is they haven’t had any other reported failures in this area. So I guess it can never happen!!!

Whilst not in exactly the same place a friend had a mysterious failure of the seatstay on a 2002 9.8 frame (as I said on BR), and they rejected that.

It looks very odd for sure!

I’d push harder and ask trek for evidence that stone strikes on rivets causing this type of failure.

Are you in uk? only replacement price in euro makes it sound not?

i’m from england but have been working in Cyprus for the last couple of years. Trek is the main bike brand sold over here with one main dealer.

How the hell would you get a stone strike there one, let alone multiple times?
Do you ride backwards a lot??

Hi there.
I had a massive problem with TREK on Gary fisher warrentee issue a while back.

Forum post.
TREK / Fisher Warranty Issue – thoughts please.

I ended up shouting and screaming very loudly, very unlike me, and getting the head of TREK UK Involved who eventually sorted it out.

Here`s his email address. Nigel_Roberts@trekbikes.com might save you a massive rant.

Good luck

Great – thanks Mooly that is really helpful. 🙂

I gave you that name on Bike Radar, nice to know memory’s not failing me!

Can you clarify where you bought the bike, and where you submitted the warranty claim?

Just wodnering if you have been caught out with different bits of Trek ie importers, saying not my problem, and you’ve fallen thruogh the gap.

MTBCY, i have replied to your e-mail recently. I am happy to assist you. Lets keep the correspondance off the forum until we investigate the claim fully.
Thanks
Colin

MTBCY – What was the outcome of your dealings with Trek. Until I read your thread I was seriously considering the same bike!
Hope it worked out!!

Dodgergammon

I’ve just recommended a carbon Trek Fuel EX to a MTB newbie friend so hope this has a happy & swift ending. We look fwd to news .

MTBCY,

It is highly unlikely that TREK are able to ascertain the cause of this failure without a physical examination. It is their first response to reject claims, you will probably need to push harder. I can help you by putting you in touch with a material scientist with almost 20 years experience with composite materials and also failure analysis.

Give me a shout if you need support.

I’ve cracked two 9.9 elite frames, a ’10 and a ’11, both were replaced in under 10 days with the following years model.

Fantastic service from Trek in my experience.

I’ve only had great warranty experience throughTrek, via my local bike shop / Trek dealer, which is ACTiV in Folkestone. I know of several people who have had frames replaced and one of those (I’m sure from memory), was because a cable guide had popped out and made a hole in the frame.
When I had mine replaced, they sent the frame off and Trek examined it. Perhaps send it to Trek directly rather than your local dealer sending photos….?