Snapped frames

pugaltitude

When going from bike shop to bike shop most say that the bikes they sell are the best because blah blah blah but they never give you the bad news as that would never bring sales (maybe the tyres).
So what full sus frames are the most common for snapping and cracking in riders experience?
What kind of riding made them snap.
Or is it just the norm that these bikes are under a lot of stress that the inevitable will happen and some will snap?
The reason behind it is im still looking to buy one at 2k but cant decide.

cooldad

I ride with loads of people, riding everything from cheap bikes to rather fancy. Including Lapierre.
Don't know anyone who has broken a frame. Lot's of components through crashing though.
You hear about the few that do break, but not of the thousands that don't.

Lowride

I would`nt worry about it too much mate. I had a Specialized FSR XC and one of the welds came away from the frame after a trip to Afan. Specialized give their bikes a lifetime frame warranty. I took my bike back to Leisure Lakes, Daventry where I bought it, they sent it to Specialized and then it got rebuilt, they gave me an FSR XC Pro which is a better frame and in chrome instead of the original red, it looked SWEET..

My Dad had a frame snap on a Carrera years ago and again it had a warranty. Don`t know of anymore examples and I ride with about 15-20 ppl

cooldad

Decide what you want, Google for problems and then change your mind as you read all the horror stories.

pugaltitude

You hear about snapped frames like everyone and their dog has had one but when it comes to it not many considering the amount of bikes sold.
I would still rather buy local so if I did have a problem I can go back.
I put this thread on to see if many have had snapped frames but feels as though there isnt.

supersonic

I have seen just about every brand have snapped frames.

Daz555

At least one of every frame ever built has snapped. I would not worry about it.

cooldad

supersonic wrote:

I have seen just about every brand have snapped frames.

Too many pies.

Biffz0id

I only worry about snapped frames when buying second hand. It's usually more cracks than snaps and if you make sure you've got a good warranty you'll have no worries.

Northwind

I've seen more broken Orange Fives than anything else, funnilly enough, even though they're considered tough. Reputations are a strange thing. But it's just sample sizes really, if you see 2 or 3 of a particular model broken that's not really what you could call statistically significant

Oh and I own a genuinely snappy Cotic Hemlock, which true to form broke in half a little bit, but was fixed for free despite not being under warranty, with an improved part that feels like it belongs in a motorbike. Sometimes it's not so much whether it breaks, as what happens next. (Lapierre suffered badly from this because they didn't have the stock to honour their warranty claims quickly enough- so they didn't just have broken frames, they had pissed off owners unhappy at the wait)

Obviously I'd prefer if it hadn't broken, but they turned it around.

supersonic

Reputations are a strange thing.

Indeed! Have seen more broken Hope hubs and Thomson stems than any other!

Northwind

Now Supersonic, that was just a bad batch of Pro 2s

MountainMonster

Always keep in mind, for every unhappy customer of everywhere, there are 1000 really happy customers. Take some things with a grain, especially with the crakced frames.

iwearshorts

Go to Mega if you want to see some snapped frames.

captainfly

I've got a mate who bent a cromo BMX and was under 10stone at the time :shock: Some people can kill a frame without trying though some are better than others, if it is a manufacturing fault then it wil happen quite quickly and will be covered by warranty so don't worry just get what you want.

pugaltitude

So what happens if I was to buy a brand new bike from somewhere other than a LBS and had problems with frames, would my LBS that was a dealer cover my warranty?
Or do I have to go back to original seller?

supersonic

Always original seller. A warranty is in addition to your statutory rights and may allow your LBS to service it.

97th choice

Commencal.

Greggors

I have a Commencal that is currently having the swingarm replaced under warranty.

Have seen someone else on here with a break in exactly the same place.

Most brands might have had failures but if you go for one of the big brands (Spesh, trek etc.) then getting a replacement will be alot easier. Im having to wait until the end of october for my new swingarm as Commencal themselves dont have any in stock and its a 2011 frame.

Northwind

Not always though... We had that case on here a while back where someone was getting pissed around by Trek for a replacement frame. Whereas Cotic got me the replacement part couriered up the same day I called them to say "Ooops" even though it wasn't under warranty. Sometimes smaller companies can mean better service

(Commencal are pretty big though, as these things go)

NorthernRock

I part sheared the headtube off a 1994 GT RTS.....
Natural pair of doubles coming down Skiddaw, and hit the up slope of the second at about 20mph, but it was square edged, so the bike went sort of down and backwards on impact, rather than it riding it out.
I suspect that a modern all mountain bike would have shrugged it off (as well as shrugging me off as well)

domcom55

Hi I've had a broken meta frame my bro 2 super4 frames brokenin the last year . did have cannondale f700 break many years ago too.