Cracked Frame

bdave262000

I bought a new commuter bike 15months ago, being on the larger size (6ft3 / 17St) I went for something that could handle the additional weight and plunged for a Marin Point Reyes which is marketed as a commuter bike with off-road capabilities.

Whilst fixing a puncture yesterday evening I noticed a crack in the frame along the chain stay at the bottom of the seat post (along the line of a weld).

Is there any chance of a replacement or repair if the bike is out of warranty? I would have thought a frame would last more than 15months of commuting use.

rolf_f

I would have thought that the frame will be warrantied for a lot longer than 15 months.

gtvlusso

Sad days!

At least you have noticed it now as opposed to when you are lying on your face in the dirt....would not want that to happen!

http://www.marinbikes.com/2011/bike_pag ... d-Warranty

Suggests you should be in Warranty, this is the USA only warranty - although I expect that Marin have delegated this to their distributors.

So, first off;

Go back to where you bought the frame and complain - if no joy;
Phone UK distributor and complain about the shop and the frame - if no joy
Contact Marin directly and complain about distro, shop and frame - if no joy
Write about your experience on here and in the cycling press

Personally, I think Marin are a good company and will stand by their product and want to know about this failure

Good luck!

bdave262000

gtvlusso wrote:

Sad days!

At least you have noticed it now as opposed to when you are lying on your face in the dirt....would not want that to happen!

http://www.marinbikes.com/2011/bike_pag ... d-Warranty

Suggests you should be in Warranty, this is the USA only warranty - although I expect that Marin have delegated this to their distributors.

So, first off;

Go back to where you bought the frame and complain - if no joy;
Phone UK distributor and complain about the shop and the frame - if no joy
Contact Marin directly and complain about distro, shop and frame - if no joy
Write about your experience on here and in the cycling press

Personally, I think Marin are a good company and will stand by their product and want to know about this failure

Good luck!

Thanks for the reply. Some sound advise.

gtvlusso

Only thing I would add is; Don't get mad! It can be frustrating, but stay cool and be reasonable but firm. Getting mad will get you nowhere fast.

**Don't want to teach you to suck eggs!

estampida

and the replacement??

been here before

viewtopic.php?p=15959932

cyclingprop

http://www.marin.co.uk/downloads/Warran ... 0Bikes.pdf

Frames = 3 year warranty minimum (and actually it may be lifetime depending on the frame material).

Google is your friend.

bdave262000

Thanks guys, frame is covered for three years. Should have googled warranty first.

bdave262000

Thanks all. The bike shop has also confirmed the frame is covered by a lifetime warranty so will be replaced free of charge although there will be a fee for swapping over all components.

cyclingprop

Ask the bike shop to challenge Marin to cover the labour.

When my Trek got replaced they just sent a whole new bike, and gave me the old components.

optimisticbiker

bdave262000 wrote:

Thanks all. The bike shop has also confirmed the frame is covered by a lifetime warranty so will be replaced free of charge although there will be a fee for swapping over all components.

Quote Sale of goods act at them. Tell them you are rejecting the whole bike as it was bought as such, not the frame alone and therefore you expect a rideable bike back at no cost to you. If they complain or argue that that only applies to the first 6 months (if they know their SoG act) then state this was a latent manufacturing defect and your stautory right is to have it repaired it replaced to the state it was in when bought allowing for wear and tear... i.e. you are happy to accept the existing parts...fitted to the new frame. Else you'll take it to trading standards..

You wouldn't take a car back to the dealer for a warranty gearbox replacement and expect to pay for it to be fitted where the manufacturer had agreed the fault was covered by the warranty would you?

supersonic

A warranty is in addition to you rights. If the warranty says they will replace the frame, and frame only, then that is all they are required to do. They don't even have to offer a warranty, it is not a right.

If you want to claim using your legal rights, you must prove that the frame was reasonably expected to last longer than 15 months. You must make it clear you are not invoking the warranty (which is a contract in itself), but your basic rights.

meanredspider

Yup - after 6 months though you have to demonstrate that it was a latent defect. I was reminded of this recently by a laptop retailer who required an independent report (at my cost) to show it was a latent defect.

ETA - I didn't do much for my humour that the web is absolutely stuffed with reports of exactly the same failure on exactly the same model - so much so that it's the first thing that Google suggests... Fortunately Acer have agreed to have it back FOC and, if it's a manufacturing defect, they'll fix it FOC.

rolf_f

One thing to note - when you get a new frame, the warranty and basic rights on the frame start again. It is a new frame so will be more likely to fail than an older frame that has proved no latent defects.

A warranty or guarantee or basic right isn't that your frame will last eg exactly two years before it breaks - it is a warranty, guarantee or basic right that if there are any latent defects in the object that they will have shown themselves in two years.

The expectation is that the object itself will actually last far longer than that.

I once bought a table lamp from Argos. Roughly every six months one of the two bulb connections would fail and there was nothing that could be done to fix it. I must have got through at least half a dozen over 3 years or so (on an item with a one year warranty) before I got one that actually lasted and it still works probably 8 years later (not that that is exactly a glowing recommendation of longevity).

supersonic

One thing to note - when you get a new frame, the warranty and basic rights on the frame start again.

It does depend on the terms of the warranty - with some it does not start again. In fact most I'd say.

As for your rights, you still have the 'should last a reasonable time for intended use'.

optimisticbiker

supersonic wrote:

A warranty is in addition to you rights. If the warranty says they will replace the frame, and frame only, then that is all they are required to do. They don't even have to offer a warranty, it is not a right.

If you want to claim using your legal rights, you must prove that the frame was reasonably expected to last longer than 15 months. You must make it clear you are not invoking the warranty (which is a contract in itself), but your basic rights.

This is true and I should have made that clearer in my post. However you dont have to prove such if it would be 'reasonably expected'. So if you bought the bike to commute on, and the shop sold it as suitable for that, then it would be 'reasonably expected' to last more than 15months. If you said you were buying it for commuting and actually you used it for BMX racing (and they could show that was the case) then 'reasonable expectation' might not apply.

rolf_f

supersonic wrote:

One thing to note - when you get a new frame, the warranty and basic rights on the frame start again.

It does depend on the terms of the warranty - with some it does not start again. In fact most I'd say.

As for your rights, you still have the 'should last a reasonable time for intended use'.

I doubt that the terms of the warranty would matter very much if you pushed it. If you have a two year warranty on a frame and it cracks on the last day of that warranty, I would say that no reasonable person would consider it acceptable for the company to supply you with a new frame and tell you that the warranty has run out on it.

Ultimately, warranties are really there to cover for latent defects and consumer rights isn't going to have any truck with a manufacturer that reckons it can supply an expensive item with no warranty - which is effectively what it would be doing in the circumstance of my first paragraph - and particularly if it has already shown that the warranty is clearly needed by having supplied a defective item in the first place.

Incidentally, I just had my Ribble frame replaced after about 18 months and they did confirm that the frame warranty begins again.

supersonic

Warranties are there to try an increase consumer confidence - they don't have to be offered at all.

Sounds like Ribble have a very good system! Sadly many others do not, the terms and conditions can be quite specific.

bdave262000

Thanks Guys, all good advice.

bdave262000

Turns out the frame has been discontinued. So Marin gave me a credit note for the full value of the bike to spend at the bike shop. Yippee.

Went to the shop at lunctime with the mindset of buying another hybrid, took four bikes out for a test ride and ended up with a Specialised Secteur Sport. I haven't ridden a road bike since I was 15, what have I done!

walkingbootweather

bdave262000 wrote:

what have I done!

Seen the light. Result - well done.

UndercoverElephant

walkingbootweather wrote:

bdave262000 wrote:

what have I done!

Seen the light. Result - well done.

+1, welcome to the cool kids' club.

EKE_38BPM

walkingbootweather wrote:

bdave262000 wrote:

what have I done!

Seen the light. Result - well done.

+1

How long until you start a thread saying how much faster and/or easier your commute is on a road bike?

mudcow007

bdave262000 wrote:

Went to the shop at lunctime with the mindset of buying another hybrid, took four bikes out for a test ride and ended up with a Specialised Secteur Sport. I haven't ridden a road bike since I was 15, what have I done!

ive got one of them



just watch out with the brake adjuster on the front, if for what ever reason the handle bars turn too much the adjuster will take paint of your down tube

sounds like a great service by Marin!

gabriel959

you have done the only possible thing that could be done. Bought a proper bike.

Well done.

Very good service by Marin too.

iclestu

mudcow007 wrote:

ive got one of them

What are those white things on your spokes?

EKE_38BPM

iclestu wrote:

mudcow007 wrote:

ive got one of them

What are those white things on your spokes?

Spoke straws. I like 'em, I use 'em.

mudcow007

EKE_38BPM wrote:

iclestu wrote:

mudcow007 wrote:

ive got one of them

What are those white things on your spokes?

Spoke straws. I like 'em, I use 'em.

aye what he said

basically reflectors for on your spokes they show up really well

i just cut the straw in half as i think its looks way cooler

cyclingprop

mudcow007 wrote:

EKE_38BPM wrote:

iclestu wrote:

mudcow007 wrote:

ive got one of them

What are those white things on your spokes?

Spoke straws. I like 'em, I use 'em.

aye what he said

basically reflectors for on your spokes they show up really well

i just cut the straw in half as i think its looks way cooler

Do they fit bladed spokes?

mudcow007

i dont know to be honest, send me your wheel an i will try

could be a worth a trip to halfords an try a few out - they last forever

veronese68

More importantly. Do you get to keep the old Marin so you can buy an old frame and have your n+1?