Hi

Following a fairly innocuous off caused by a pedal-strike last weekend there is a crack in my frame running from the across the top of the bottom bracket around the base of the weld of the joint for the seat post part of the frame. Have taken this to my LBS and they said that only the rear triangle is covered under warrantee. I’ve checked paperwork and this is correct under their T&C’s.

They have suggested two options:
1 the can investigate if a repair is possible but can’t guarantee that the crack won’t open up again
2 they can send the frame back to Specialized to check for factory defect. But I will have to pay shipping charges both ways and there’s no guarantee that it can be fixed or that a replacement frame will be provided

The crack across the bottom bracket has a gap of about 3mm at worst and there may be damage to the crank and barings, etc, which may be a cost inducing replacement.

I’m a bit snookered as to what to do next????

Would the frame be trust worthy again if repaired? Should Specialized replace it anyway?

If it gets posted off I’m looking at minimum 3-4 weeks before I hear anything back.

Replacement bike is feasible but not sure I want to go down that route unless I have to.

Thoughts please

LBS and they said that only the rear triangle is covered under warrantee

What’s the point in having a frame warranty that only covers the back of the frame? I wouldn’t have thought that was correct.

I wouldn’t have thought that was correct.

It’s not AFAIK. The front triangle will be covered by the limited lifetime warranty but…

Following a fairly innocuous off

Damaged caused by crashing isn’t warranty.

what simon says 😉

Probably not worth throwing good money after bad, so new frame and build up with your parts?

The front triangle will be covered by the limited lifetime warranty

Yes, but the op said the bike shop told him only the swing arm is covered.

Yes, but the op said the bike shop told him only the swing arm is covered.

But they are incorrect

That’s what i don’t get. Must be me being thick. So, if you crash, the swing arm is covered but not the main frame?

So, if you crash, the swing arm is covered but not the main frame?

No, if you crash you are not covered by warranty for any damaged caused. You may be able to get crash replacement price.

Trek covered the front triangle on my mates ex for lifetime and the rear bits for a number of years. They still replaced the rear end for him FOC, which was great, although a white bike with a silver back end looks a bit funky, was free. As for Spesh, a pedal strike shouldn’t break a frame. I had 4 FSR M4 frames from Spesh and their BB were really low also with pedal striking. Kept breaking them (cracks and rear end fell off !!) and Spesh were spot on with warranty and new frames within 24hrs. Ask them direct, that’s what I did , as the shop I got the frame from was 100 mile round trip, so they would deliver to my nearest shop. They were very helpful to me. Just be honest with them about what happened.

Well he has crashed and has been told that only the swing arm is covered by the warranty.

Following a fairly innocuous off caused by a pedal-strike last weekend. Have taken this to my LBS and they said that only the rear triangle is covered under warrantee

Surely the shop should have said that nothing is warranteed after a crash, no?

Well he has crashed and has been told that only the swing arm is covered by the warranty.

Yes, I realised that. Have you not read what I’ve written? They are wrong.

Of course I have. I said the same thing in my first post :

What’s the point in having a frame warranty that only covers the back of the frame? I wouldn’t have thought that was correct.

Of course I have. I said the same thing in my first post :

FFS, I agreed with you in my first post you blind **** 😀

Wow. What a pleasant forum this is.

I don’t understand why you’re trying to argue? We both pointed out what the shop has told him is incorrect, we’re singing from the same hymn book!

Email specialized direct and tell them what happened, but they will probably refuse a new frame as you damaged the old one, bit like asking for a new tube when you get a puncture.

Claim off your home insurance under accidental breakages

Neil, I reckon you’re not listening.

attention at the back please 😛

Anyway, if someone brought a bike to me as in the OP, I would…

Take a photo of the crack and send it to Specialized along with any other relevant info. I would expect one of the following responses…

Yes, we’ll warranty it. Box frame up with proof of purchase and we’ll collect it and sort out a replacement

No, we won’t warranty it, the damage is clearly crash damage. We can offer xyz as a crash replacement deal

We can’t tell if it’s warranty from the photo(s). Box frame up with proof of purchase, we’ll collect it and have a look at the damage. Once we’ve done this we will advise whether it’s a valid warranty case or if we can offer a crash replacement deal.

Pics required.

Thanks all for the responses (quite colourful

Pics not possible as bike still with LBS, sorry

Thanks all for the responses (quite colourful

I’ll email Spesh and see what comes back.

The T&C’s seem to imply that that the frame is covered by a 5year warrantee but in the event of accidental damage where a manufacturing fault is suspected then the frame gets sent back to them for review and decision.

Bottom line, bike is knackered so I guess it depends upon how deep my pockets are when it comes to replacement or sending it off for inspection.

Appreciate all your responses

I can’t see how a

a fairly innocuous off caused by a pedal-strike last weekend

Would cause a crack like this, must have been developing for a while.

Shame you told them about it!

Specialized have a crash assist policy if you are the original owner. I would ring Specialized UK and discuss it with them, they are very helpful. You will then need to go through a Specialized dealer and have proof of purchase to get it all sorted.

So spoke with Specialized today.

They said that as it was effectively an accident they could not do a straight frame swap. But the did agree that the crack along the top of the bottom bracket was unusual as that part of the frame is a constructed from a single piece of Alu. The crack on the weld could have been secondary as a result of the bottom bracket failing but it’s still a bit chicken and egg situation.

The plan is to go back to LBS and get bike then send pics to Spesh for review. The fact that the bottom bracket itself has failed may indicate a manufacturing fault. They did agree that under normal circumstances a pedal strike shouldn’t cause such damage. They have also confirmed that due to the location of the damage an effective and long term repair isn’t really an option. Once the pics are reviewed they will then advise me and LBS if they want to see the frame or if LBS can just replace it.

Only downside is that all this could still take a few weeks if LBS are advised to swap the frame out as the damaged frame will need to be sent back anyway before a new one can be supplied.

Could still be a warranty claim as the minor bump has just provided enough load to cause a defect to fail or it has lead you to detect it.

A mountain bike frame should be built to take a fair amount of impact. If you ploughed into the side of a car or did a 20ft drop then fair enough it’s going to break but it should take the day to day stuff, ignoring freak/unfortunate stuff were it lands badly or on something.

I remember some students crashed a carbon bike into a tree and it split across the head tube. It turned out they had messed up the layup and not put enough fibres round the head tube. It was a crash but it failed due to a manufacturing defect.

Our damaged frames were sent back after all the parts had been swapped over. I was told that the bike shop are charged by Specialized if they dont send them back..