Challenging a warranty claim. – Specialzied –

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

It makes the difference because there’s nothing worse than still paying for something you cant use anymore (in the case of something being totally ruined). TBH, upgrade-itis is the main reason I’d never do it

bit harsh, its defo impact/scrape damage, but does beg the question why on earth don’t they come with some form of built in/replaceable protector?

I know Santa Cruz come with a build in rubber one, but even that doesn’t stretch all the way around the bb area, to me given that most people incur rocks on a regular ride it should be standard have one as an absolute minimum

I guess that’s why rockguardz were created, but id still be miffed given all you’ve done is ride it, and regardless of crash or not, its not withstand a rockstrike which is fairly common in riding in gereral!

I put a dent right in the centre of a five before, on the bb, luckily it was dead central so didn’t affect the BB thread, but ive no doubts at all if it was carbon it would have cracked

the rockguardz are the way forward for the sake of 30 quid, I’m pretty sure it would have shrugged off that in your pic, or at very very very worse case just cracked the guard

Is it the same concept store you bought the 2015 from
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/whats-my-legal-rights

and they then changed everything on it cos the cassette was skipping? So you had a sh1t experience with Spesh then went back and gave them £3.5k?

I think your expectations with the shop were too high, given your previous experience.

Yes I snooped. Still feel bad for you, hope you get a result though.

Get that and fit some old inner tube … sorted

Downtube

but id still be miffed given all you’ve done is ride it, and regardless of crash or not, its not withstand a rockstrike which is fairly common in riding in gereral!

well, be fair to it, it probably has survived rock strikes, it was just *this one* that caused more damage than it was capable of withstanding.

We don’t know the details of the impact, it could have been anything from a normal 1/2 fist sized rock bouncing up, to a very pointy head sized flint at just the wrong angle/point of impact, to 110KG of rider smacking into a granite slab @20mph.

Expectations from the above impacts would be very different.

Reminds me – I’ve got to take a drive up to Rockguardz so they can model my Capra

Cant believe Spesh don’t fit a rock guard. My Ibis has a strip of thick helitape and Orbea a great big rubber thing all round that area. Both manufacturer fitted. FWIW that has taken one hell of whack. Did you see a Sniper in the bushes?.

That’s clearly impact damage .

Quite a big impact by the looks of it .

I am with Specialized on this one .

Sorry OP , suck it up and move on .

Repair and carry on riding.

I can vouch for HQ Fibre as providing a reasonably priced, good quality carbon repair.

Yes is the same v666ern, different bike tho. The problem was resolved but it wasn’t s jumping cassette. They offered me a discount on this Model as a gesture of good will. Which was great of them. The guys at the store have been spot on, they’ve done all they can do. I was just testing the water to see how where I stand . Not good seems to be outcome

out of curiosity what was the cause of the skipping issue on the old bike? your thread left us hanging with no closure!

out of curiosity what was the cause of the skipping issue on the old bike?

Rock strike?

amedias – Member

but id still be miffed given all you’ve done is ride it, and regardless of crash or not, its not withstand a rockstrike which is fairly common in riding in gereral!

well, be fair to it, it probably has survived rock strikes, it was just *this one* that caused more damage than it was capable of withstanding.

We don’t know the details of the impact, it could have been anything from a normal 1/2 fist sized rock bouncing up, to a very pointy head sized flint at just the wrong angle/point of impact, to 110KG of rider smacking into a granite slab @20mph.

Expectations from the above impacts would be very different.

it probably has survived some rock strikes, don’t know where the chap lives and rides

i think the BB should be covered from new with some for of protective coating, not everyone lives in flat wooded singletrack, or rides trail centres all the time with little to no loose rocks

ride the peaks/lakes and you’ll see any vast array of rocks/boulders/baby heads popping up left right and centre, the one place rocks are going to strike up is around the BB area, for this reason alone it should have some form of impact protection built in from new, as i said SC do it and numerous others do too and some protection is better than none at all…or alternatevly just supply a rockguardz type creation from new that you can put on and take off at your leisure dependant on where/what you ride

They offered me a discount on this Model as a gesture of good will. Which was great of them

+1

Just seems you were unlucky on this one

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

but does beg the question why on earth don’t they come with some form of built in/replaceable protector?

Streamlining of production costs? It’s an extra thing to align and fit. Any impact damage can be blamed on the user as has been demonstrated here.

dmorts – Member

but does beg the question why on earth don’t they come with some form of built in/replaceable protector?

Streamlining of production costs? It’s an extra thing to align and fit. Any impact damage can be blamed on the user as has been demonstrated here.

costs? seriously on frames that cost £2800 to us UK punters/mugs?! 😆

i couldn’t care less what it costs them, £2800 selling price should include some form of protection for the frame in certain areas, where rocks are susceptible to cracking the frame

but its regardless, its crash replacement so spesh are indeed correct, it is rock damage and isn’t a frame failure, as said above you could maybe argue the point it should be able withstand/have something to protect it, but you wouldn’t get anywhere

sup up learn and buy a rockguard i guess!

i think the BB should be covered from new with some for of protective coating

I don’t disagree, I was jut pointing out that saying it can’t survive a rock strike is a bit too black and white.

the one place rocks are going to strike up is around the BB area

or my shin, speaking from experience 🙁

but does beg the question why on earth don’t they come with some form of built in/replaceable protector?

Streamlining of production costs? It’s an extra thing to align and fit. Any impact damage can be blamed on the user as has been demonstrated here.

2016 carbon stumpjumpers now have a rubberised guard in that exact spot.

Now I’ve looked at the picture I have to agree with the majority it’s had a right whack & I don’t think Spesh will give you a free frame my friend.

A worn out tyre cut to length & take you time to shape / make adjustments & tie wrapped on when riding really rocky rides, I did the Ardrock with mine fitted & came away unscathed. I’ve tried the Rockguardz and shattered it to pieces.

It might not look the best but does it matter if it fends of rocks.

costs? seriously on frames that cost £2800 to us UK punters/mugs?!

Yes seriously.

EDIT: I should say I’ve worked in product development and have seen the way bonkers decisions like these (not fitting a guard) come about. It’s likely to be all about development costs, production costs and possibly even aesthetics in this case

2016 carbon stumpjumpers now have a rubberised guard in that exact spot.

Carbon Reigns have those too.

Hmm, pushing it, but I suppose that you could argue that putting a guard there on the new model was partial recognition of a design fault indicated yours unsuitable for intended use

My Enduro bounced down a mountain side, the first few bounces with me still attached to it. The only impact damage baring a couple of scratches was where the top tube had struck a big rock and crushed it, duct tape and no jumps for the rest of the holiday.
Kevins Stumpjumper was a slide into a large boulder, two days after my crash. The underside of the down tube and bottom bracket area was crushed and gouged as was the Rockguard so it was hit with some force.
I don’t think that the frames would have had a lesser impact if they had been made of aluminium.
I know how you must feel as will anyone who has damaged a bike, I think looking at yours I would have it repaired however if you do I don’t think you will be able to use the crash assist in the future.
The front end is the same on the 26″ as the 650b so you may be able to source a second hand front end or bike as a cheaper option and swap it all over.

dmorts – Member

costs? seriously on frames that cost £2800 to us UK punters/mugs?!

Yes seriously.

EDIT: I should say I’ve worked in product development and have seen the way bonkers decisions like these (not fitting a guard) come about. It’s likely to be all about development costs, production costs and possibly even aesthetics in this case

well it seems from the pic above, that they have listened/used their brains and put a guard on all current carbon models, so yes for 2800 to a punter for a frame I think its fair they should sup up the costing! (as they have done)

Don’t worry, theyll have offset the cost of the guard again using less carbonz somewhere

There isn’t one on the 2016 S Works Enduro unless someone has pinched it, wouldn’t have minded one though

OP, to add something useful to this thread, i can vouch for how good these guys are at carbon repair having seen their work on a mates Stumpy.

if you don’t want anything fancy, you could speak to them and send it in for a repair. it’ll be as good as new for a couple of hundred at absolute most.

Carbon repair[/url]

There isn’t one on the 2016 S Works Enduro unless someone has pinched it, wouldn’t have minded one though

You might want to get one!

Feel for you OP. I had a massive clang on my first ride of my new bike but couldn’t see a scratch! Pure luck.

If I was you, I’d be doing the same thing. Good luck either way.

I have often though, whilst looking at expensive bikes, if that goes bouncing off down a mountain side could I afford to replace it. The answer is basically no I couldn’t

I do feel for the OP. I’m sure the my Aluminium Trek would have been destroyed by that impact. Its not good for the sport overall that its so easy to damage a frame in normal use

I flattened a downtube on a steel frame from a rock strike.I also chipped my shin bones and had a load of stitches from another,the hospital were surprised it had’nt broken my leg from the look impact damage.
Both times on rigid, v-braked 10mm stemmed monsters (it was the 90’s so fluoro lycra was probably also involved) so basically impossible to go that fast!!
Yes,it’s a pisser but it’s also a fact of life and riding bikes….sh1t happens and stuff breaks.

Given that rock guards have only started coming on bikes as standard in the last couple of years, not sure it’s an ‘admission of guilt’ on not fit for purpose, it’s a nice to have feature, like fork bump stops on down tubes, but nothing more.

I feel sorry for you OP. Whilst it clearly looks like impact damage, that’s not to say there was an underlying fault from when the frame was made which made it susceptible to failing from a small impact. I’ve broken a carbon frame before from an impact with a tree and that was at about 25mph so I certainly knew I’d done it, and the damage didn’t look as bad as yours. I’ve certainly had plenty of rocks fly up which I’ve felt and heard and they’ve done nothing more than chip the paint.

Even if it wasn’t specialized’s fault, after dropping that much money on a frame you would hope they’d be prepared to keep you happy. It’s not like your going to buy from them again or recommend them if your frame broke so easily without you realising it had even happened. This could be a rare genuine “just riding along” case.

bennyb – Member

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

Being expensive doesn’t make things indestructible. Really feel for you, it must suck but if you hit things hard there’s a good chance they break. And that looks like it’s been hit with a meteorite. Accidental damage doesn’t respect timescales, it can happen on day 1 or day 10000, I spent ages totally refitting and refinishing a favourite bike and then crashed it on the second ride and bashed in the top tube. It’s because God hates us.

I would agree that it’s impact damage I’m afraid, and would recommend a repair. I’ve had carbon frames repaired in the past for not a lot of money and it’s been grand since.

I would, however, also like to point out that Specialized’s warranty department had a change of staff in 2014 with a new guy in charge and their previous exceptional standards have gone. I dealt with them around that time and they were really quite difficult- not in agreeing the warranty (it was pretty open and shut) but in sorting out a replacement and so one. The shop said they’d have numerous problems with them in the months before hand.

I can point you towards the owner of a very nice expensive hand built titanium frame that was dented AND PIERCED by a rock thrown up by front tyre in the gnartastic venue that is the Chilterns.

I’d be gutted, but it isn’t a warranty or manufacturing deficiency.

That looks like it’s taken a fair whack. Not sure any design is going survive that so I don’t think it’s an issue with Specialized. There’s threads on here about warranty relatively often and I think yours is black and white albeit not in your favour. Must be gutting but nobody is to blame.

Whilst rockguards etc may help I’m not sure their absence is a weakness or the fact that they are now on some bikes a sign of admitting that they should have been on previous models. Bikes don’t typically come with heli tape or bumpers to stop cable rub but it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look at these things before using the bike.

I obviously can’t go into details on a public forum, but there were some very good reasons why the previous guy had to leave. The staff in the warranty dept are all good guys & gals, they’re not out to try and screw anyone.

I feel bad for the owner, but surely if you spend 3-4k on a bike you have 40 quid for some frame protection?

I had a 3 year old alloy camber frame recently replaced under the warranty, as it developed a small crack near the bb. Specialized and the lbs (Bike Scene) I bought it from were brilliant and sent me a brand new frame no questions asked.

Just get it repaired and keep riding.

munrobiker » I would, however, also like to point out that Specialized’s warranty department had a change of staff in 2014 with a new guy in charge and their previous exceptional standards have gone.

I have had spesh for 10 years and change bikes regularly.

I needed some hep recently and based upon their change in attitude (have claimed before) would never buy another

But that does look like a nasty whack – unlucky dude