Following on from other threads about cracked frames and warranty etc, it got me wondering about my next purchase and how a long warranty would be a factor.
So what frames have long/lifetime warranty?

Quite a few used to be lifetime (of and for original owner): Specialized IIRC?

As Al says Specialized and Trek seem good, probably as a result of being so big and a replacement frame/ back end costing them very little.

Mondraker are lifetime warranty. A major factor in the choice of my new DH bike.

Specialized
Trek
Mondraker

Nicolai – 5 years??

It’s always worth checking the small print on ‘lifetime’ warrantys – there are some that consider the lifetime of a frame to be 5 years or even less…

Trek warranty is lifetime cover for the original owner, a mate had a frame break and sent it to Trek, because they had stopped making his particular model they sent him an upgrade frame instead. Can’t say fairer than that.

nicolai is 5 years and transferable. V good. http://www.nicolai-uk.com/index.php/technical/nicolai-warranty/

Cannondale used to be lifetime for the original owner, I had a 12 year old frame replaced and know a couple of friends who also had old frames replaced foc under warranty.

Not had one of the latest frames manufactured outside the US so not sure of their current warranty

Pretty sure Devinci also do a lifetime warranty.

Orbea has a lifetime warranty.

Klein are life time.

Giant are 5 years

Marin is 3 years – but lifetime if you register for platinum care.

I considered Specialized and Mondraker this year when buying a new DH frame too for the warranty reason but ended up going for Transition (2 year warranty and lifetime crash replacement policy). So not a lifetime warranty by any stretch but I also considered the likelihood of the transition actually requiring the warranty (which was very low, in my estimation).

Had my fingers burned on my previous frame which was an Evil Revolt. Have to say, so far Evil have been great to deal with and would appear to be sending me a new carbon Undead frame some time this year as a replacement for the Revolt (!) but on the flip side the downtime without the frame is a major bummer which necessitated the new transition purchase.

neallyman – I made the same decision, have a 2011 tr450 and a 2011 covert.

are Turners not a lifetime and transferable?

have a 2011 tr450 and a 2011 covert

Good choices, lucky boy!

Tandems have a long frame warranty, 😆

Klein are life time.

Which is ironic really because the last thing you’d want to replace a modern Klein with is another Klein!

Which is ironic really because the last thing you’d want to replace a modern Klein with is another Klein!

😆

DeVinci have a lifetime warranty.

I’ve googled the devicni lifetime warranty and isn’t it restricted to buying a whole bike?

Cannondale used to offer a life time warranty and was good peace of mind when buying an expensive bike. Since CSG have taken over they are starting to question what the expected life time of a frame is. They are not being specific on the age that they would consider to be the end of the life of the frame but they are starting to get much more selective with what they warranty. I’ve not read the warranty small print for other makes but suggest that if it refers to the bike life time, not yours, then it does bring doubt into the real length or warranty available.

Toys I don’t know – i got the frame from Freeborn and was told I had a lifetime warranty.

Trek warranty isn’t quite lifetime – I checked into the Remedy before I decided not to buy one, and the swingarms on their full suspension models aren’t covered – they only get two years. Also, the DH & Jump bikes aren’t covered either.

http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/support/limited_warranty/

It’s not just the warranty, it’s the time it takes top get it repaired or replaced.
Lynskey have a lifetime warranty for the original owner, but it took 6 weeks to get mine back. Meanwhile I missed using it for Bristol Bike Fest, Mountain Mayhem and TwentyFour12.
Nicolai quote 7 weeks delivery time on a new frame, so I suspect it would be about the same for a repair.
Gary fisher took several weeks to replace a cracked frame too.

So, to add to the original question;

Is there any frame where you can walk in to a dealers with a broken frame and walk straight back out with a new one, or at least a promise of next day delivery ?
It’s normal practice with car dealers to supply a courtesy car so you can continue your journey if your new car breaks down.
It seems to be normal practice with bike dealers to just leave you without a bike for a couple of months.
Any exceptions ?

are Turners not a lifetime and transferable?

2 years transferable

When I cracked the main frame on my 2005 Spesh Enduro, I rang them up directly, took the frame round myself (I only live about 20 miles from them) and they replaced the frame there and then.

Is there any frame where you can walk in to a dealers with a broken frame and walk straight back out with a new one, or at least a promise of next day delivery ?

99% sure Specialized are the only people who do this.

specialized are not lifetime either on FS frames

On full-suspension (FSR) frames, the main triangle carries a lifetime warranty & the “moving parts” (chain-stay, seat-stay, shock-link, bearing, bolts) have a one year warranty on workmanship & materials on all bikes produced before 2010, FSR bikes produced in 2010 going forward will carry a 5 year warranty on the “moving parts”.

And a couple of others
Yeti – 5 years
Liteville – 5 years + another 5 at (50% cost)

5 years on Lapierre, swingarms included.

I found out the Yeti 5 year warranty was worthless, this is their response after the aluminum dropout snapped on the back of my carbon 575. Certainly will not be giving Yeti anymore of my cash.

A harsh reality of our sport is that mountain bikes break, and as a manufacturer we try to support our product as best as possible, but we cannot be responsible for every failure. Aluminum does fatigue, and after several years of normal riding it’s not unheard of to see stress related failures.

sorry to bang on about nicolai but i think their 5 yr warranty is valid even if bikes are used for racing…..do others offer this?

toys19 – Member

I’ve googled the devicni lifetime warranty and isn’t it restricted to buying a whole bike?

No don’t think so. I got mine frame only and it had an enormous ‘lifetime warranty’ tag on it.

sorry to bang on about nicolai but i think their 5 yr warranty is valid even if bikes are used for racing…..do others offer this?

I hear this remark about racing a fair bit too and I’m interested in this as, how would the manufacturer ever actually know if the damage ocurred in a race or if you had raced on the frame at all? Genuine question.

Yeti replaced the rear triangle of my 3yr old 575 earlier this year after the carbon and alloy de-bonded

took them about a week to turn it around

Roo – is the dropout a bolt on one?

If it is then I can see it being viewed as a ‘consumable’ that’s done it’s job by failing and protecting the frame?

sorry to bang on about nicolai but i think their 5 yr warranty is valid even if bikes are used for racing…..do others offer this?

I hear this remark about racing a fair bit too and I’m interested in this as, how would the manufacturer ever actually know if the damage ocurred in a race or if you had raced on the frame at all? Genuine question.

After you buy the frame, someone from Nicolai then follows you round for life so they can see what you get up to with it.

It’s included in the price.

Scott (on the carbon mtb’s) are 3 years but extendable to 5 years if the bike is serviced annually at a Scott dealer.

As for turnaround, my local dealer put in a claim on Scott’s online dealer application on a Monday evening, it was approved by 9am on Tuesday and a replacement arrived on Friday!