[Closed] OK - so what frames have failed on you then?

Paint failures? Was it load-bearing?

iron horse flag staff
speciaized hardrock
Marin B17
Dmr Trailstar
Mr Big ST10

Only one that has failed rather than been killed by accident damage. That was an Airborne Valyrie road bike,crack at seatstay/seattube junction. Was relplaced under warranty.

Marin Nail Trail
CRC Alloy frame
numerous DMR Trailstars

Although the DMR's were good fun to ride.

1992 Kona Cindercone (Downtube buckled, don't know why)
1996 Kona Hei Hei - Seat tube cracked
On One Inbred 853 - Chainstay gave out to chainsuck, reapired and still in use.

And I've snapped a Sanderson as well, and a couple of sets of forks

1. Peugeot Road bike - both dropouts snapped (pretty sure the second when the first one broke
2. 1995 Kona Kilauea - snapped RH dropout (since repaired and still in use)
3. GT Edge road frame - seat tube snapped just above the BB weld
4. Dolan Road frame - RH dropout snapped
5. Scott G-Zero - cracked at the seat 'tube'
6. Pace RC303 - cracked at the top of the seat tube/top tube gusset weld (Pace replaced under warranty)
7. Rocky Mountain Element - broke at the dropout
8. Giant NRS - Grrr... pretty sure it was already cracked when I bought it second hand off here...

Hmmm I've broken a few dropouts, haven't I...

2002 transition preston (after 5 years)
2007 transition preston fr (after 5 rides)
2007 transition preston fr (after 2 rides)

The first one i was fine with, the latter 2 got warranteed really quickly and the 4th frame was a different design.

(having a Lynskey myself)

Are you worried mate?

Raleigh 501 road frame - head tube cracked
Sirius 653 cross frame - down tube snapped (during a race)
Cannondale 2.8 road frame - seatstay snapped
Kinesis ally road frame - b/b shell came away from frame (during a race)
Raleigh Ti road frame - chainstay cracked
Kinesis Evo ally/carbon cross frame - chainstay cracked
Ambrosio carbon road frame - seat tube cracked
Van Tuyl Ti cross frame - chainstay cracked

I think that's it 😳

Cracked a Prometheus crashing (fixed it too!); also did this:

[url= http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5468488463_730be351c8_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5468488463_730be351c8_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/7693620@N05/5468488463/ ]brokenbike2[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/7693620@N05/ ]alan cole[/url], on Flickr

Pace RC300 head tube cracked

2000 Marin Mount Vision (4 years old) - BB fell off
2004 Marin Mount Vision (a year or two old) - cracked just above the BB on the underside of the down tube.

ATB replaced it asap
(kinda annoyed I didn't manage to break it again & get a 'new' shape MV 😉 )

Raleigh Tuff Burner around 1986, seat tube cracked at the bottom bracket.

Trek Fuel ex 9 broke at brake mount after 4 weeks..
Scott Spark, only seat stays on frame are original..lol 3 years old
Older trek ex9 fuel frame, ovalized head tube...but my fault for running 8 inch disks on it.

Rocky Mountain ETSX70 after many years but it was just poor design

Specialized epic
Specialized Big hit

plus have seen alot of stuff that really shouldn't have broken but have 😉

Alpinestars Al Mega (raised chain stay),8 months almost every weld cracked.
Specialized Sirrus Pro, chain stay cracked after years of use.
Tomac 98 Special, top tube/head tube weld cracks.

1993 Rocky Mountain Blizzard - bottom bracket stretched - warranty
1993 Rocky Mountain Blizzard - Rear brake boss bent from factory - warranty
1995 Rocky Mountain Blizzard - seatstays cracked - warranty
1995 Trek 9900 OCLV Team Issue - brake boss snapped off - warranty
1995 Trek 9900 OCLV Team Issue - bottom bracket fell out - warranty
1997 Kona Explosif - dropout cracked after 11 years - welded up as my singlespeed
1999 Intense Uzzi SL. Seatmast snapped, 2 x chainstay cracked, 2 x seatstays cracked - I ran this for 6 years
2004 Balfa Minuteman - seat-tube cracked
2010 Whyte 19 steel - cracked dropout - warranty

I tend to keep my bikes for a few years… I've only owned two frames that I've not broken. The Nicolai Nucleon I just sold and the Nicolai Helius AM which I've only had for a year. There is one other frame I didn't break which is a Trek 8900 from 2002 but I wore it out - the threads in the bottom bracket seemed fine but bottom brackets always got loose in it even with PTFE tape or threadlock etc.

I'm on the lookout for a new hardtail… certain Ti frames are off my list :o)

Cotic Soda. 3 smallish cracks on bottom of downtube propagated from creased dents (rock strikes).

I large crack across seat tube/top tube junction which I didn't notice, attributing the creaking noises to the cracks I knew about. I gave the frame to a mate to have a go at welding the downtube cracks and he spotted the big one straight away.

?? Emmelle californian ridden into a parked car, warranty replacement(!)
94 kona lava dome, drive side drop out cracked/split was over 10years old by then tho
97 GF montare, cracked top tube warranty replaced with...
00 GF supercaliber, cracked seat tube in 09, probably still under warranty I found out just after I binned it 🙁
?? Kinesis xc>120 cracked chainstay

Scott Tigua - chainstay snapped (reapired using some rods and to hell with what it did to heat treating) and top of seat tube snapped off

Scoot G-Zero - Crack in shock mount on swing arm. Replaced swingarm.

Both were quite old at time of death

tomac eli cracks on nearly every weld possible
litespeed unicoe bottom bracket failure

ibis mojo paint problems replaced even though over 3 years old
really good service from ibis themselves as shop over here left me out in the cold pre 2pure

Can't believe it's taken this long.....

2009 Commencal Meta 5 frame - seat tube/top tube weld

The only one in recent years was a Cannondale Prophet MX which cracked and failed after around 15 minutes of owning it.

orange sub zero
snapped frame above the seat tube/crossbar joint.
asked orange to weld me a gussett onto the frame to stop it happening again.
they refused.
then brought out the sub zero with the gussett where i wanted mine about 4 month later.

Cove handjob

Intense Tracer (twice)

Ritchey P22 - fell to bits after 12 months. Light though
Marin Pine Mountain Full sus. Pivot failure
Early Yeti 575 - Carbon flex joint cracked
Santa Cruz Heckler - Swingarm split at disc tab
Specialized Enduro - seat tower cracked.
Ti 465 - Yes
Orange Vit-T - Shame that.

Best warranty? Specialized. They couldn't have been better. Worst? Santa Cruz. If you have a Blue frame, you don't want a red swingarm.

Specialized Big hit

That's good going!

My old one felt indestructable.

ribble reynolds steel road bike - snapped top tube
kona stab primo 2002 - cracked shock mount
kona stab primo 2003 - bent the downtube in a crash
crc alloy xc frame - crack seat tube/top tube weld

2006 Trek Top Fuel 110- cracked at alloy BB/carbon seat tube junction after 18 months- warranty frame replacement was:
2008 Trek Fuel 9.8- cracked at carbon suspension mount/down tube junction after 38 miles - warranty frame replacement was:
2009 Trek Top Fuel 9.9SSL - cracked at rocker pivot on seat tube after 4 months- warranty replacement was:
2009 Trek EX9 whole bike for frame replacement ( didn't want the replacement carbon frame they offered, very good of them to give credit towards whole new bike)- all the bits left over are now on my hardtail

All I can say is I was unlucky with carbon frames and that Trek UK were brilliant in sorting it all out (thanks Colin) and I am still very happy with the EX9 two years on

1983 raleigh burner seat stay crack
1983 mongoose californian chainstay snapped
1984 haro master headtube crack
1989 diamond back topanga u brake mount weld come away
1993 alpinestars al mega dx seat stay crack
1999 GT sts d/h crack bottom bracket shell (4 days old )!!!

must be more ! cant believe not snapped a bike in 12 years !

Trek 930, cracked at the chainstay/bottom bracket weld, replaced under warrenty
Trek 920, same as above, also replaced under warrenty
Old Peugeout race, cracked at the top of the seatstay, binned as it was old and dead and racers are designed to jump...

I've never broken a MTB frame. Must try harder.
Late 80s Raleigh 501 steel road bike, snapped at downtube/head tube junction in approx 1993. Replaced under Warranty. Bought first mountain bike 1994.
Numerous steel road frames broken doing jumps n stuff when I was in my early teens- replaced by skip scavenging.

What I've done (surprised because I don't break bikes):

Gary Fisher Big Sur (new frame after crack left BB hanging off almost!)
On One Ti 456 (still no answer after emailing and calling all day so don't know yet)

What I've maybe contributed to (bikes I've ridden as little as once in some cases):

Cube Fritzz (chainstay broken right through)
Yeti ASR-5 (chainstay broken after a few rides by the customer)

1997 Zaskar - crack slowly spreading round seat tube (still riding tho!)
2003 Blur - clean through seat tube. One of the dodgy weld batch. 2006 Blur XC as replacement - had to pay for swingarm tho 🙁 - still, kudos to Jungle for sorting me out as it was just out of warranty.

Must be something about my riding style that busts seat tubes?!?!

2 x Kona Muni-Mula Ally Frames, Seat tube to Top Tube Junction
1 x Kona explisif Steel Frame, Seat tube to Top Tube Junction
1 x Cannondale Super V Rear Triangle

Anyone keeping tabs on this - looking like Kona's are pretty crap scanning this list?

Broke my Hemlock at the chainstays... Known issue of course so I wasn't that surprised, especially considering the use the bike gets put to... what did surprise me was that Cotic couriered me a free set of the upgraded chainstays, even though I told them I'm the second owner so no warranty. Had it built back up 3 days after it broke. Never has a broken frame made a man so happy

Whyte PRST-1 in 2003. The disc bake calipers were mounted onto cheap cast plates which attached to the frame and forks. Riding down a single track road braked to move out of he road of a wee 7.5 ton tipper. Bridging plate on front forks failed jamming caliper into the wheel, snapping it clean off just above the caliper and folding then snapping away to the right closer to the headtube on the right hand fork leg. Proper face plant! Nice bloke in the tipper stuck the bike on the back and took me home. ATB were gonna replace the forks but Chris at J.E James in Sheffield where i bought the bike said to them "you wanna see the state of his face, I think you might want to make some kind of goodwill gesture". Few weeks later they'd put all the parts off the PRST-1 onto a PRST-4 which is still going strong. Luckily that's all that's screwed up on me...

Ragley Ti - cracked headtube.

Amazing service, replaced frame before Id even sent back faulty one!

None whatsoever in 20 years

Maybe i'm not trying hard enough

2006 Yeti 575. 2 weeks & 1 ride old when I took it to Les Arcs for a week of guided singletrack trails. Last trail on last day, the n/s dropout parted company with the chainstay & it also rippped the carbon flex joint apart. Despite my protestations that the whole frame should be replaced, all Yeti did was replace the rear swing arm. 1 week later, I discover a crack in the brace that joined the seat stay to the top tube...

Yeti 'customer service' left a lot to be desired. I will never spend my hard earned with that company again.

My lbs exchanged it for a Turner.

None.

Raliegh Maverick, Al Carter, Orange Clockwork, Orange Sub5, Niner EMD, Orange ST4 all fine and dandy (and I am 14st and I do ride em a lot)

Only two road bikes...

Raleigh of some sort in late 80's: Forks parted company with the crown, had them welded bac on and thrashed it some more to school and back.

Raleigh pursuit (2009 to present): threads to stem tightening thing have washed out. Still riding it, but really should get it fixed somehow.

Managed to kill the threads on my first mountain bike's BB, but that was my own fault not tightening the damn thing up properly

I've never broken a bike frame
either I'm:
1) a very smooth rider
2) buy good quality bikes
3) don't keep bikes that long
4) a big fanny
6) can't count
or all of the above 8)

Didn't snap the Big Hit 😯 just bent the rear end, epic was a test bike at the shop I was working at.
Have seen a rather fast downhiller clearing the old pedalhounds (opposite Cwmcarn DH) road gap and landing 'flat bottom' on an Epic with no damage so again down to my spanner riding 😉

Orange Sub Zero cracked in the same area as Ton's bike. Less than 12 months old but Orange would not give me a full warranty. A few months later they brought out a new model with a new gusset. Never bought Orange again and never will.

muddy fox somethingorother. seat stay cracked. was 4 years old and well (ab)used.

scott scale. folded on me.

cannondale one40. chainstay cracked.

saw lots of cracked cannondale super sixes in the last six months.

Raleigh 501 (Road) - Cracked head tube
On-One Inbred (MTB) - Cracked drive-side chainstay
Airborne Zeppelin (Road) - Cracked seat tube at junction with BB
Van Nicholas Zephyr (Road) - Warranty replacement for above, same problem
Van Nicholas Chinook (Road) - Warranty replacement for above, same problem
Now on my second Van Nicholas Chinook just waiting for it to crack!

I did this to 18Bikes' Cotic Hemlock demo bike 😳

[url= http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3616/3451353764_4281d06e38_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3616/3451353764_4281d06e38_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Did'nt stop me buying one as Cy had it all sorted on the 2010 model - and now they are discontinued 😥

Deejay...............that drop to flat was no higher than five foot.
most bikes would have folded.......... 😉

🙄

Spesh Enduro wrecked rear bearing put straign on the rear triangle.

Cove Hustler x2 first replaced under warranty (with hastle) second told to go swing by Silverfish (cheers!)

Well I own a Commencal Super 4, have done for a year and it's not cracked yet. Do I get the booby prize?

Airborne Lancaster.
British Eagle Cambridge (commuting bike)
- both within 3 months of each other.

Thought I'd broken my Sanderson Life but a welding torch straightened everything out 🙂

tthew - Member

Well I own a Commencal Super 4, have done for a year and it's not cracked yet. Do I get the booby prize?

Either that or Internet hyperbole ? real life?

I've cracked 2 Handsomedog XC03 frames.

First one cracked at headtube/toptube weld within a month.
They replaced, cracked it in the same place again within a month again.
They replaced again with the steel talisman, had that a year with no cracks as off yet. They did tell me they would not replace it again because it would clearly be due to my hand-fisted'ness if I broke another.

Wow. Only one cracked Commencal, until now.
The crack in my seat / top tube weld is tiny at the moment though so still enjoying riding it.

Either that or Internet hyperbole ? real life?

I had a late Taiwanese Cotic Soda which cracked at the seat tube slot. Replaced swiftly with a Lynskey one under warrantee (after a minor but surprising debate about the difference in retail price). Very happy with it. I've got two Lynskey-built frames now, and frankly don't expect them to be any more likely to break than anything else.

Viper B52 bomber pro jump frame - Cracked at the headtube
DMR Trailstar Mk1 - Cracked at the headtube
DMR Trailstar Mk2 - Snapped behind the seat tube
Commencal Mini DH 2008 - Cracked around the shock mount
Commencal Mini DH 2008 - Cracked around the shock mount on my warranty replacement doing this drop..

Giant Reign X 2010 - Snapped the maestro link

Not bad tbh. Never had a frame that i could sell on. I always ended up getting a new frame when i broke the current one!

Feeling much better now.

Most companies seem to have their issues!

Everything breaks. Providing someone (bike shop and distributer plus manufacturer) get their act together stuff is usually sorted out!

And yes - flakey paint can be a warranty issue! And those Stiffers were replaced free and quickly!

Cannondale Scalpel: cracked chainstay. Replaced under warranty.
DMR Switchback: bent top & down tubes hitting a rock at speed. Shouldn't have run rigid forks. Crash replacement is still going strong.
Iron Horse MkIII: cracked swingarm. Replaced under warranty. New one cracked, but the company had gone under so got it welded up. Not pretty, but still going.

Cove Hustler at 9 months -

Warranty replacement was solid for 4 years then sold on.

Two Mongoose Teocali's (07 models)cracked around the upper shock mounts within 6 months of each other. Shame really as they rode really well.

2002 Club Roost XC, cracked at the weld above main pivot. Replaced under warranty twice, then given the new model XC4 which I sold new, it wasn't much of a DH bike.

2003 Azonic saber, cracked on the seat stay weld,replaced and sold.

Tthew, it will. Mine was just over a year old when it cracked at the seat tube, just where the top tube meets. Replaced v. quickly under warranty and has now done 15 months crack free! The area around that particular join does seem to have been beefed up so if yours is a 2010 or later you should be OK

Kato - Member

None whatsoever in 20 years

Maybe i'm not trying hard enough

+1. All I've ever actually broken was a quill stem in 1993 and cracked a rear rim on an 'unexpected' square edge the other week. Must try harder.

Just one - 2001 (or 02) RM ETSX-70

And my Principia Mac-B - the bottle cage bosses ripped out, but that doesn't count cos I'm still using it.

[i]2006 Yeti 575[/i]
No such problems with my lovely 2006 575 🙂

Peugeot Elite whilst doing my paper round (20+ years ago).

Cube Reaction GTC team done around 30 miles....not a happy bunny

[quote="appy"][url= http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/914/20120513190807.jp g" target="_blank">http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/914/20120513190807.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Uploaded with [url= http://imageshack.us ]ImageShack.us[/url]

And some pics that show how little use its had

[url= http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/565/20120513190115.jp g" target="_blank">http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/565/20120513190115.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Uploaded with [url= http://imageshack.us ]ImageShack.us[/url]

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Uploaded with [url= http://imageshack.us ]ImageShack.us[/url]

[url= http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/4488/treadd.jp g" target="_blank">http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/4488/treadd.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Uploaded with [url= http://imageshack.us ]ImageShack.us[/url]

[url= http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/523/bottombrackett.jp g" target="_blank">http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/523/bottombrackett.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

Uploaded with [url= http://imageshack.us ]ImageShack.us[/url]

Done a couple of Anthem frames, cracked where the seatpost meets the top tube, around the edge of the top of the weld. Have to say that Giant and Swinnerton Cycles Forest Centre on Cannock Chase were absolutely excellent each time, was very well looked after. Eventually went for a different model frame but have since bought Giant and from Swinno's purely on the basis of the excellent aftercare.

My first NRS frame died. Rang Giant, replacement, plus a new shock and seat collar was delivered to my LBS overnight.

Giant warranty - superb!

So even though there has been years of abuse thrown at Kona bike "everyone knows Kona's snap" and everyone knows someone who knows someone who saw a Commencal snap there have only been about 3 people saying they've broken a Commencal and no Kona bikes made after about 2003 on here. And it seems that regardless of what manufacturers and magazines say about Ti bikes being "a bike for life" they seem to break quite often, especially considering they're pretty rare. And a lot seem to go around top tube/seat tube area.

Also even though I'm a crash happy fatty I have only buggered up a set of forks and a few wheels...

...so far
Tom KP

[url= http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5214/5468488463_730be351c8_z.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5214/5468488463_730be351c8_z.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/7693620@N05/5468488463/ ]brokenbike2[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/7693620@N05/ ]alan cole[/url], on Flickr

All of my frames have failed.

They've failed to turn me into Steve Peat or Tinker Juarez. 🙂

only been about 3 people saying they've broken a Commencal and no Kona bikes made after about 2003 on here

I can only answer for Commencal on here. Actually I dont really have the enthusiasm to contradict you too much. But basically you're very wrong. The only frames I've ever managed to split all came from Andorra.

I dont have photos of 1.1 and 2.1 that all came under warranty. Basically - I bought 1 bike - got 4 all within 12 months.

[img] [/img]

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Orange ST4.
3 times, 3 different places.
Orange warranty helped the first two really well, third not and then struggled to get any replacement part that fitted.
Frankly I didn't trust it in my head anymore, and did not want a face/ground interface due to failure at some point again...or more bills and issues.
.
Shame, cos prior to that I have owned 3x Clockworks/C16r's and a Sub5 (for 7 years hard use) with not a single issue...

snapped the dropout off my first Kona, a 92? Hahanna, and managed to snap the down tube on my Lemond Tourmalet, the first such is life, the second got a new, much nicer frame as a warranty replacement.

This [img] [/img]
'02 Heckler, after 7 years though. It's replacement,'09 Zesty 314 after only 2 years 🙁

2009 focus superbud, snapped clean through the seatstay