cracked 10month Attack Trail frame – 2 bad cracks!

Hi anyone else had such short shelf life out of a supposed to be aggressive bike.

it is 10months old 2010 Marin Attack Trail with two really bad cracks!

Only problem is that ATB will only replace it with a Mount Vision 2012 frame, completely different frame.

Any ideas, have my eye on a nukeproof mega.

Really disappointed with the attack trail’s longevity!

Aren’t they both 140mm FS’s?

no the 2010 attack trail is a 150mm travel bike with a tappered head tube. I have a set of 160mm lyrics on it. the new mount vision is a 140mm more towards xc

Sell the MV, buy a mega.

EDIT actually kick up a fuss, that’s really crap.

new mega frame is £900, think I might struggle raising that from selling the frame on.

going to head up to the bike shop tomorrow for a chat to see what alternatives there are, cant ride my bike as I am expecting the top tube to split in two.

I suspect they have no Attack Trail frames left, my old TARA link Attack Trail ovalised the head tube and they replaced it with an 09 Wolf Ridge as they had no TARA frames left.

Any legalists in who can recommend on that? Would have thought replacements would need to be like-for-like or equivalent…

for some reason marin have stopped making their bigger travel bikes and have gone away from the quad link frame, they are awesome but have now lost faith. I ride it hard but that’s what its for.

They might give you a whyte?

NW depends on warranty I think, probably lots of small print “we may replace your good frame with something shit” etc…

OP – hassle MD of Marin in US?….or are they just a Brit brand these days?

how do you upload pics on here?

Mmm… No smallprint on their website:

“Standard Limited Frame Warranty
As standard, all Marin 2007 – 2011 frames are supplied with a 3 year Limited Warranty covering defects in materials and workmanship. If accepted for a Warranty claim the frame will be repaired or replaced free of charge. Crash damage, damage caused by poor maintenance, fair wear and tear, delivery and labour (i.e. frame swaps) are not covered by this warranty.”

There’s added bumf about the upgraded warranty but not for the standard one (the upgraded one states “allowing us to supply the original owner with an equivalent, more contemporary product, in the event that an original replacement is not available.”) Not directly relevant, but it’s the only mention in the warranty doc of replacements.

These are the cracks

As above they probably have no attack trail frames left. They can’t give you something if they don’t have it.

They have some built up on here, maybe if you asked nice they could get one of those frames and sell the bits off themselves?
http://www.atb-sales.co.uk/atbshop/range.php?BikeModels=MTB

how bad do you think these cracks are, surely not normal!

10 months and it’s got to be a sales of goods act surely? Not fit for purpose – refund or replacement….

Tell em you won’t accept the MV frame, and give them 14 days then small claim court them.

Or be nice, reasonable and HONEST and you will probably find people are more willing to help….? Just a thought.

The customer is not always king….

I agree – be nice first, but if that fails the law is very much on his side.

I have to say Marin/ATB have always had a great reputation for warrenty work, my experience with them is they can’t be helpful enough.
Though it does sound like they’ve run out of spare Attack Trail frames. Which puts you in a rubbish position, as they are rightly offering you a replacement frame (as per the warranty), just not the same type as you had…
If they don’t have a frame to give you, what can they do?
I’m not suggesting you accept the MV frame off-hand, but try and be a little more understanding of their position. It maybe you could get a AT frame when the 2012 bikes come through, but that not going to happen overnight.
I’d be speaking in earnest to them & your LBS rather than moaning about it on here (slackalice +1).

Not sure about the law being on his side, if as per the warranty, they have offered a ‘similar’ replacement frame. If you tried to go to small claims would the 10mm travel difference & different angles mean anything at all to a “judge”? I’d suggest maybe not…

First up – Marin have been superb sorting out any problems I had with my frames. The shame is that I had problems in the first place. derailleur hangers made of cheese, cracked 06 alpine trail frame and 2 cracked quake frames. the alpine trail was ridden at FoD which is where i think it struggled but a 6″ bike shouldn’t have problems there. And the quakes probably had trouble in the alps. I’m sub 12 stone without kit and have ridden much bigger terrain on a demo 7 and my last herb FR and they’ve just shrugged them off. But I say again, marin were great helping out. Even met pat alexander (ians brother?) on the local hill once and he’d explained the problem with the quakes and how drilling a small hole to relieve stress would have helped.
hey-ho, probably wouldn’t buy another but would recommend for the right rider.

z1ppy – Member

If they don’t have a frame to give you, what can they do?

Accept that it’s their problem not his, and either sort him with a suitable frame or a refund.

As above, ATB have an excellent reputation with warranty. I know from first hand experience.

Have you had the bike from new?

mine bust at the same spot after ~4 months…..

did a child throw some Lego at it? (LCD TV thread)

The crack in the second photo appears to be the most serious as it has the potential to increase in size in a very short period of time.

Sell the replacement frame if they give you one and buy a good quality used frame, get the shock tuned to your weight etc.

Northwind – Member

Accept that it’s their problem not his, and either sort him with a suitable frame or a refund.

As already said they offered him a “similar” frame, in the eye of the law this is all the have to do, is it not? So the warranty has been fulfilled.
Hense my comment about talking to them in earnest to try to resolve the issue, because as per Chay, I wouldn’t be happy about this “offer”.

It’s not a similar frame: it’s not compatible with the Wolf Ridge components – that’s not his fault, it’s theirs.

If they cannot provide a suitable replacement frame, demand cash.

“it’s not compatible with the Wolf Ridge components”

Why will a 140mm frame not take a 150mm forks?.. that the original components, whether he’s put a 160mm fork on it is irrelevant to the manufacturer.
As a say again, it’s about talking to them to resolve it, not getting up on a soap box and shouting “this is unjust!”, as is a theme on posts within this thread.

z1ppy – Member

that the original components, whether he’s put a 160mm fork on it is irrelevant to the manufacturer.

No, it isn’t. He previously had a frame that was compatible with a 160mm fork, so replacing it with one that isn’t obviously isn’t suitable, and also shows an obvious difference in spec which throws out “similiar”.

Aluminium, not a good material for MTB. Should have gone for carbon. Yes!

Hi,

Can you send some more pics to my mail please, I have the same bike and will be making some checks. Mine has been stored and not used, as I have been out with an injury since May last year. The last thing I want is to start using it and it cracks after a year and no warranty left. Gutted as I thought these bikes/frames were built for the big stuff?.
Best of luck getting sorted.

Steve

Will do steve, how do I get your email address?

Pauly, had a 2008 attack trail for 3 years from new and cracked the frame ,then got given a 2010 attack trail 6.7 through warranty . This frame is only 10 months old and registered to me.

Hi,

My e-mail is swiftmk2(at)hotmail(dot)co(dot)uk.
Thanks, pics will be great.

All the best,

Steve

You are entitled to a (maybe partial) refund under SOGA ( maybe partial as yo have had some use) You might have to show the frame has a manufacturing fault / is not fit for purpose.

You certainly do not have to accept a frame that your components will not fit on

Your contract is with the shop not the manufacturer / importer – go after them using SOGA

Sounds like shit to me….keep bugging them. Keep saying politely…NO I want a like for like replacement.

Maybe they’ve been taking frame construction lessons from Lapierre or Gary Fisher.