Lapierre Warranty issues

Have recently stripped my 2011 Spicy 516 to find 2 cracks, one in the front triangle and one in the seat stay.
The front tri is cracked below the top tube where it is welded to the down tube.
Contacted the LBS where purchased who have been really helpful. The problem lies with Lapierre who gave turned round and said the warranty will not be honoured, they say it is the putty used to smooth the weld.

Any thoughts, as you can imagine not happy and not prepared to use a frame which in my eyes is only worth scrap value now?

Anyone from Hotlines use this forum?

Is it actually cracked then, or just in the putty?

Is it cracked or not then?

They say crack in putty but not convinced or happy!
But how can they check without stripping down to bare alum?

It’s not a cracked frame then? Wouldn’t’ bother me if the putty was a bit shonky.

A friend of mine had a similar experience with ‘the peter’. He ended up just buy another frame and swapping the bits over.

Has it been back to Hotlines for inspection?
They have been very good with warranty issues with us (which is just as well,as there’s been bloody loads).

Chunky – all well and good but without further inspection how do they know?

Yes frame is currently away, images have been taken and sent to whom ever.

This is part of there response. “the crackline that has appeared on the front triangle is in the finishing
putty to smooth over the weld and not structural in their eyes”.
It is an opinion not fact that the frame is not cracked!

Rorschach – what issues you had and any to possibly support my argument please?

What about the seat stay, as you’ve not mentioned it I guess they are replacing the swingarm/rear triangle but saying main frame is OK?

This hasn’t been mentioned which is strange.

Gonna be a few phone calls tomorrow.

They will not acknowledge that there have ever been any other failures and even if there had been that they are of no relevance to your case (standard response from ALL manufacturers).
Mainly carbon ones and articulation bushes wearing the frame btw .

Not the best image.

That would be a very odd place for a crack to form.If you’re really concerned when it comes back carefully scratch the paint off in that area and you’ll soon know.

If you remove the paint you’ll still see a crack. You’d have to then remove the putty somehow to verify the weld wasnt cracked underneath.

Given the location, and the fact that the experts have already seen it, I’d just crack on (so to speak) and ride it

When i cracked my myst it wasn’t on a weld, although it was just above the main pivot and weld. It looked an awful lot like the image above though.

Again that’s all well and good but worst case the frame fails and it’s not just the frame that’s damaged but other components including myself, are Lapierre going to sort them? No they are not.
Also scrapping away the putty will leave the frame in a right shitty mess and If I choose to sell who is going to buy a frame with a visible crack wheat her it be in the putty or frame itself?

Looks like I have no choice but to ride but there’s one think I won’t be buying Lapierre again or encouraging others!

Well you have another choice, which is to remove all components to a new frame, then chase up Lapp through more official consumer affairs channels to get satisfaction.

Personally… I wouldn’t be happy riding it.

Looks like I have no choice but to ride

Er, and possibly hurt yourself, just to prove a point… 🙄

Putty? Thats a crack IN the weld IMO.

Question- why would you continue to ride that? I imagine remedial dental work would ruin your festive season 😉

Although they do have a reputation for being a bit fragile, that would be a very strange place to crack. Especially considering there is a big lump of putty in that area (I have stripped one in the past).

I’d ride that, and it wouldn’t bother me.

When people use the word ‘putty’ are they referring to the stuff that goes on to make the weld itself, or a secondary covering that has now strength at all ? I don’t know a lot about welding at all, but would have thought the ‘putty’ is an integral part of the weld ?

No, Lapierre (used to) cover the welds in putty/filler/whatever you want to call it to smooth them over prior to painting.

Then the OP should use abit of fine sandpaper to take it back abit to have a look at the weld itself?

A lot of the latest Boardman’s had cracked putty.

Thinking about this, i’d need to have a look and see if I have any pictures, but from memory, unless its a small frame, there isn’t actually a weld there.

You have a TT/ST and a separate DT/ST weld. The whole ‘cracked’ area in the picture is one big lump of putty. I remember this because it was a massive b*stard to remove prior to anodizing.

So if there’s no weld stitching the top tube and down tube together what is?

You can get Dye’s that you spray on that will soak thru the crack so if it is all the way through the frame it’ll appear on the inside.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dye_penetrant_inspection
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluorescent_penetrant_inspection

Mr Overshoot used something like this on my Turner 5 Spot to prove a crack was terminal (crack was that big the fluid went thru straight away)

So if there’s no weld stitching the top tube and down tube together what is?

Nothing (I think!)

Still need to check, but I seem to recall they both have a separate weld onto the steerer tube (there might be a small overlap on the actual weld). I’m just looking for an old picture now.

Is this putty designed to crack? No. Then it’s a warranty failure either way, but to me it looks cracked. Like every other lapierre. Lapierre are a joke. They are probably fobbing you off because they have no warranty replacement to give you (since they sell them all off) and would most likely have to give you a 2014 bike, although it looks like Hotlines are out of stock of 527s apart from xs and xl.

You’ll pretty much never actually get a crack on the weld bead itself. This is because that area is hugely re-enforced by the bead material into a thick fillet. Cracks occur NEXT to the weld bead, in the original material that is thinner than the bead next to it, and also has been “heat affected” by the welding process.

So, out you go, get back on it, and don’t come back till you’ve broken it properly this time…….. 😉

i can understand the guys concern TBF, it does indeed look like a crack, not everyone has the indepth knowledge of frame building, if i saw that on my bike id assume it was a crack

end of the day if they have said its safe, wait until you die on it and then haunt them 😐