Challenging a warranty claim. – Specialzied –

I reckon there’s enough material there to keep riding it anyway, that BB area is huge 🙂

Watch out for the gnarcore camel towpaths!

Wasn’t saying something didn’t hit it, my argument is surely it should be able to withstand something like a rock etc catching it.

I sympathise with you but if a rock has flicked up and hit it at speed then you probably wouldn’t notice and there’s not a lot Specialized can do bar the crash replacement offer, it’s mountain biking after all. It also might be a tiny bit of damage which you could continue riding for many years without issue but due to legal issues Spec have to say it is knackered to avoid any future law suits in case you do continue riding it and it fails catastrophically.

If all else fails someone like Adrian at Swarf may be able to repair the frame for you.

Edit: now the pics are on that has taken a wallop off something!

just a scratch. tippex it or put a sticker over it and then forget about it.

maybe.

If it’s that large black mark forward of the cranks then it looks (to me, from that photo) like some sort of crash damage

Looks like a big rock strike from something flicked up to me

fathomer – Member
Unless they’ve taken paint off to inspect, that looks like it’s taken a pretty decent wallop!

This.

It’s and enduro bike /model. Enduros have rock gardens and obstacles.

STOP IT! Do you like your bike being light? What size/shape/speed of impact should it be able to stand up to?

I’ve got a DH bike that had a dent put in the downtube within around half a dozen rides. It happens, move on.

thats happened to me and mates on teh first ride of a new bike before. it sucks, but is what it is, impact damage.
Ask them for the crash replacement details and move on.

And it looks like you’ve hit an obstacle pretty hard, hardly specialized’s fault nor can they design a frame for everyone to ride into rocks.

Or as I said above look at the carbon repair people.

Basically it’s “he said” versus “experts with a very good reputation for warranty claims said”. I’m siding with the latter for now

well I was sitting firmly on the fence until I’d seen pics, now I have, I’ve fallen on one side of it for sure…

OP, I think you should re-adjust your expectations of normal use.

Get it inspected/fixed by a carbon repair company fit a Rockguardz downtube/bb cover and ride it.

They have been kind enough to offer a replacement . Just short of 1500. Which I haven’t got. Just presumed a bike of this caliber which cost me a lot, would of been up to been ridden longer than a year before the frame can’t withstand a hit/ deflection

OP, I feel for you as you must be gutted to have damaged your pride and joy. However describing the damage pictured as a crack is, shall we say, stretching it a bit.
Carbon is very strong when loads are in the intended direction but not so good when it gets an impact in the wrong direction. Check out any F1 race for front wings in hundreds of pieces.
You have been unlucky but I think Specialized are in the right on this one and going all over their FB page is probably going to see the offer of a crash replacement withdrawn.

That has taken a hefty rock strike. Either get a new frame, repair it or just ride it. Either way, this is why Rockguardz were made. Certainly saved one of my bikes from a pretty massive rock strike before.

would of been up to been ridden longer than a year before the frame can’t withstand a hit/ deflection

It is, as long as you dont **** it into massive rocks.

As Loco says, get it repaired and move on with your life.

would of been up to been ridden longer than a year before the frame can’t withstand a hit/ deflection

nonsense, it’s not about how old it is when it got hit, it’s the fact that it took the hit!
If you’d done that on the ride home from the shop the result would be the same.

I haven’t crashed /impacted anything sufficient enough that it even stopped/registered on my ride

I’m at a loss as to how you could not consider that a significant impact, especially not notice it when it happened 😯

You wouldn’t try to get BMW to warranty your 8 month old car that got hit by a wild deer though would you?
I do get it’s a right pain and the bike cost loads but you really have just been unlucky, like my fictional BMW driving example.

Unfortunately that does indeed look like it has been considerably twatted.

I recently did battle with Commencal on what I felt was a far more black and white warranty claim and that was a complete mission so good luck with this one.

If you don’t want to take their offer of a crash replacement I’d get it to Swarf then get your self one of these…

Rockguardz

Been on rockguardz website. Gonna have to fit one, and ride on! I posted on here to get a people opinion, see if I was been unreasonable wanting it replaced. Seems everyone has different views. Can’t afford the crash replacement that’s why I was fighting for this. End of the day, I know myself I wasn’t riding hard / fast enough for something to impact it enough to cause this sort of damage 🙁

Classic JRA story 😀

TBF, everyone except you seems to have the same view. But only you know what you did/didn’t hit with the frame.

I would go for a repair and a rock guard

Don’t bother with a respray, just don’t wash the mud off

As I mentioned previously (and recommend after seeing the pics), a home insurance accidental damage claim is worth considering if you have the cover.

Seems everyone has different views

Actually I think everyone (except you) has the same view* now you’ve shown the pics.

I do Feel sorry for you OP, it’s gutting when you break a bike, but that’s life, whether it’s from riding hard, or just bad luck, but that’s where the decision about how much to spend on something you can’t afford to replace comes in, and whether or not accidental damage insurance is worthwhile in such cases.

Fortunately Carbon is also one of the more repairable materials, if you’re happy to carry on riding it then do so, or save for repair/replacement when you can.

* which is the view we would have had from the start if you OP had said “I’ve twatted my bike off a rock at some point, here look at the pics”

I think trying to warranty that is taking the piss.

It can be repaired and fit some protection, ride on.

you obviously were riding hard and fast enough to cause that sort of damage.

Maybe you are more gnar than you thought?

That’s an easy repair either way. Probably under 100 quid including getting that bit repainted.

Long story short

C’mon, time for the long story. Where and what were you riding?

I’ve got a carbon Stumpjumper FSR that has taken some fairly hefty knocks from rock strikes to the downtube/BB area while riding.
Some of them have been loud enough to stop a little further along the trail & give the bike a quick once over – rocks whacking carbon fibre make and awfully loud thwack.

The most damage my bike has sustained is a <5mm circular chip to the cosmetic layer – nothing even remotely approaching the damage shown in your detailed photo.

As gutting as it must be, sometimes these things just happen. I’d look into a repair & then get one of those rockguardz.

Looking at the image, are you sure the BB hasn’t been scraped/whacked on a rock at the edge of a drop-off or something? That’s what it looks like to me rather than a strike by a flying piece of debris.

Off on a slight tangent here, but I’d have thought that the BB area of a bike would be expected to take major rock impacts fairly regularly in the course of normal use and be designed to withstand this.
Begs the question over where normal use ends and crash damage starts.

Can’t look at FB at work but from those photos that does look like a hefty rock strike and not a manufacturing fault.

Ive got a Rockguardz downtube protector on my spesh enduro – fit and forget, mine gets battered all the time and no damage

For the sake of about £30 and no hassle

OK that’s definitely impact damage vs ‘a crack’, you could perhaps argue the Enduro model isn’t fit for purpose if it’s supplied without a rock guard but I doubt you’d get anywhere (certainly not before you ran out of money vs Specialized’s lawyers if you even got that far). I do still sympathise, I haven’t got a rockguard on my carbon FS, couldn’t be bothered to fit one figuring it’s probably a rare event – I might do it now though…

OP – First up, it’s a lovely (and clearly expensive) bike so can totally see why you’re a bit upset about the damage. That said, I think most people, (whilst not all experts) suggest there has been some kind of impact and I would have to agree with that. Having previously owned an Enduro, unfortunately on these frames it’s a pretty exposed area and not only prone to strikes by debris or rocks but because the bend in the down tube is forward of the chainset it can also be the first thing to hit a log or similar obstacle if you dont happen to quite get it right, getting over.

If I were you I would check out the repair option and the rock guard as this seems to be the lowest cost, but maybe also go back to spesh and ask how long the crash replacement option is open to you. If, in a few months time you have the money for a new frame and want to go down that route then it’s still an option.

Lastly, is it covered under accidental damage away from the home on your house insurance? Could be another avenue to pursue if it is.

This thread has also served to remind me why I’d never buy a mtb on finance

Didn’t buy it on finance , but I ain’t made of money that I can just scratch off 3.5k and move on.

A- I’m still paying off the 8month old bike

You can see why I might think you did

LoCo – Member]

You wouldn’t try to get BMW to warranty your 8 month old car that got hit by a wild deer though would you?
I do get it’s a right pain and the bike cost loads but you really have just been unlucky, like my fictional BMW driving example.

Or the deer, who’s also been unlucky

legend – Member
This thread has also served to remind me why I’d never buy a mtb on finance

Don’t see why finance makes a difference. It’s unfortunate either way. But as people have advised, I’d go the repair route.

I’d have thought that the BB area of a bike would be expected to take major rock impacts fairly regularly

And this is why a Yeti has a full length rubber bumper for that area.

Get some glue and go riding.