Specialized Roubaix warranty issue

bigbramble

Heya,

Just wanted to get some thoughts of an issue I have, as much as anything I want to vent about it!

During the second half of 2012 I started looking into buying a new bike to replace my tried and trusted Specialized Rockhopper from around the 2004/5 vintage. The bike had done 1000's of miles and was working well but frankly for my commute it's heavy and too small. I am 6'4" and god knows why (too long ago to remember) but I bought a 19" frame.

First of all I decided to look at Mountain bikes, in particular 29ers as I wanted something very durable. After a bit of talking the guy in my local bike shop persuaded me to go the road bike route. "Are you sure it is up to me?" I asked and was told convincingly, YES.

In December my very kind parents bought me a 2012 Specialized Roubaix carbon elite in the largest frame size sold which is 61cm. I am 33 with 3 young kids and a secondary school teacher, frankly I didn't dream I could afford a bike like this, so I was super grateful to my parents. I rode it once and was in love. I got the bike for Christmas and have happily used it since.

My commute is a 22-25 mile (depending on route) round trip and I normally carry it out on bike 2-3 days per week. I also use the bike for fun and a work out at the weekends. I guess that if I averaged my mileage over the 6 months I have had the bike I would be looking at around 50 miles per week, so I have done just over 1000 miles on the bike.

I cleaned the bike every week or two depending on use and re greased the chain with the oil recommended by (and purchased from) the shop I bought the bicycle from. In early march (IIRC) I took the bike in for it's free service and no problems were reported, no comments were made about the condition of the bike.

A couple of weeks ago I started to notice a slight click from the bike when pedalling. I plan to do the London to Brighton ride in mid June so I booked the bike in for a service (at the place I purchased it from) this week.
Yesterday I received a phone call from the technician working on my bike. He told me that the chain ring and part of the cassette were completely WORN OUT. I was pretty speechless frankly. I was then told it was likely to cost around £150 to replace. I told the guy the bike was just 6 months old and around 1000 miles and he called Specialized to claim on the warranty which was rejected due to 'wear and tear'. He offered to replace the parts at cost - around £90 but I decided at that point I needed to check my rights as I was starting to feel that something was seriously wrong.

I called my solicitor and he confirmed that due to the mileage and age, this should be carried out under warranty - no questions asked. I also spoke to my mother who is a lawyer and she told me it was 'not fit for purpose' and should be repaired. Both stated if my bike was not repaired I would need to contact trading standards and probably make a claim to the small claims court.
I called the shop back and informed them that I would like it repaired but do not expect to be charged, I was very calm and kept my cool - I don't want to make enemies here I just want good service and my bike back on the road. The guy said he would have to pass the issue on to the senior management and they would get back to me.

Another day has passed and I have not heard a single thing from them. I am uncomfortable that this may drag on for months and months and cost me a fortune when I just want my bike back on the road to do the London to Brighton run which I have been working towards for over a year now.

I used to run a garage so I understand about wear and tear, but this just seems completely unreasonable to me and I am just a bit stuck as where to go next, sure I WILL take legal action if I have to but I just want the bike back on the road in condition fitting for a 6 month old Bicycle.

Monty Dog

I think you'll find things like cassettes, chains and such will be excluded from any warranty, or are you going to claim for wearing out the tyres too? 1000miles / 6 months following a very wet winter can result in a completely worn-out drivetrain if it hasn't been maintained correctly and a big guy grinding the gears.

Good luck with your claim but I know the guys at Specialized and they are the most reasonable people in the business.

antfly

There was an awful lot of salt on the roads this winter and that wears the drivetrain out quickly if it isn't cleaned and maintained properly, your chain probably wore out so then the rings and cassette went too. You should accept the offer of replacement at cost and have your bike back and check your chain for wear regularly next time.

bigbramble

Monty Dog wrote:

I think you'll find things like cassettes, chains and such will be excluded from any warranty, or are you going to claim for wearing out the tyres too? 1000miles / 6 months following a very wet winter can result in a completely worn-out drivetrain if it hasn't been maintained correctly and a big guy grinding the gears.

Good luck with your claim but I know the guys at Specialized and they are the most reasonable people in the business.

If you bought a car would you be happy if the gearbox failed after 6 months? If you bought a motorbike would you be happy if the sprockets were knackered after 6 months and 1000 miles? Why should a bicycle be any different? It seems to me that many bicycle owners are very quick to roll over and accept poor service. Tyres fine, brake pads fine but where do you draw the line between consumable and badly made? If a brake calliper gets dirt in it and fails within 1000 miles is that then a consumable? No, it should be made to withstand the climate the bicycle is sold in for at least the duration of the warranty or it is not fit for purpose.

kentphil

A slight click when peddling does not equate to a worn drivechain; more likely in need of adjustment I would of thought.

wishitwasallflat

What shop are you dealing with - I bought my Sectuer from a Spesh Concept Store and have had exceptionally good service from them beyond anything that would be strictly within warrenty - if its not a Concept store you are dealing with I would contact your nearest one and/or contact Specialized directly yourself. As Montydog says Spesh CS is the best.

Also get the bike back and check it yourself or get a 2nd opinion (for an lbs you trust or from a Spesh Concept Store) as KentPhil says what you describe doesn't sound like completelyu (or even) partially worn drivetrain symptoms. A worn drivetrain would mean skipping gears and poor shifting not a clicking noise. I smell BS in the air :evil:

nferrar

1000 miles is much shorter than you should reasonably expect to get from a cassette/chainring/chain, regardless of the weather conditions however I can also see why Spesh are refusing to warranty it as there's no proof you've only done 1000 miles (and in the 6 month period it took you to many of us would have done 3000+ miles which is enough to at least need a new cassette/chain). It's a wear & tear item hence the warranty exclusion, if it wasn't then lots of people would try it on after 6-12 months to get them replaced free claiming they hardly rode the bike.
No clue why it wore so fast either, it's not like Shimano would have accidentally used a softer alloy for a batch of cassettes. I'd be inclined to agree with one of the posters above that it's probably not as worn as the LBS are claiming (that's just an easy to explain and lucrative problem to fix to pin it to). I'd get a second opinion personally and either way give up on trying to get a warranty resolution from Specialized.

keef66

I'm coming up for 5000 miles on the original 105 cassette, but I think it's probably needing replacement now. Never really thought about the chainrings. In that time it's had 3 or possibly 4 chains . I clean and lube my chain frequently, and use a chain wear checker. I replace the chain at 0.75% wear. I also run proper SKS chromoplastic mudguards in the wet (they never came off last year!) which greatly reduces the amount of cack thrown up onto the chain.

My guess is you definitely need a new chain, and if it's worn beyond 1%, a new cassette too. These things are consumables on a bike, and modern 10 speed stuff seems to wear out faster than the heftier 8 speed gear used to. It's not the same as a car with a broken gearbox.

Wearing out a chainring in 1000 miles would be quite an achievement though!

dgunthor

my experience of commuting on a road bike with lots of gears - bike gets ridden when drivetrain dirty and this accelerates the wear - my chain snapped after 3 months of 20 mile/day commute.

i now use a single gear, single brake bike and it's hassle free (you'd want a relatively flat commute for this)

sounds to me like normal wear and tear, only thing the shop maybe missed was a change of chain when your bike was in originally for a service. I'd expect a 1000 mile commuter to have a battered drivetrain.

same with car warranty - brakes, tyres, clutch etc not covered by warranty - normal wear items

i'd ask the shop to replace the chain and cassette at cost of parts to them, no labour, i think this is all you can expect. buy a chain wear tool (park tool do a good one) and replace your chain early

wishitwasallflat

I can easily see a chain and cassette possibly being worn as argued above but not the chainrings at that mileage - that I would doubt. Also worn chain and cassette while perfectly possible do not produce a slight clicking they cause poor shifting and chain skipping - so I could buy that they found the chain and cassette problem when checking for the cause of the click but it can't have been causing the clicking can it?

rubbernekker

If you bought a car would you be happy if the gearbox failed after 6 months? If you bought a motorbike would you be happy if the sprockets were knackered after 6 months and 1000 miles? Why should a bicycle be any different?

Because you aren't driving a saloon car, you are buying a facsimile of a racing bike, which, to stretch your analogy is like a F1 or WRX car. They need more servicing than that, especially from an inexperienced rider who doesn't have the knowledge to care for a bike like that properly, or ride conservatively. In all honestly if the bike shop sold you a Roubaix to commute on then you were a bit badly advised. They should have sold you an 8 Speed Secteur, where the cost of a drivetrain is reasonable, then they should have sold you mudguards and a chain cleaner. Depending on your commute, a hub gear or single speed would be better for longevity.

I ran a bike shop in Chelsea for a year, those commuters who travelled from Fulham to the City(8-10 miles) had to replace their drivetrains every six to eight months, the stop-start, racing off the lights in all weathers killed the shimano gear very effectively.That was 8 speed kit.
Finally 25mile x 2(weekly Mileage) x 4.3( monthly) x 6 is 1290 miles (2064km). Sometimes you rode three times you say. I would say you are underestimating your mileage buy up to 40%, either way- sorry mate it isn't a warranty. This will be proved next winter, when- given the same conditions the same thing happens again. I would suggest to the bike shop that they think about the realities of commuting on a 10 speed machine, take the drivetrain at cost and save up for a Sirrus or a Secteur.

bernithebiker

As a secondary school teacher would it not be beyond the realms of imagination to hope that you might be able to diagnose and fix it yourself?

desweller

1. Your bike shop might be trying it on
2. Give us some photos of your chainrings and we'll tell you if they're worn out or not
3. A click is unlikely to be chain or chainrings - more likely to be BB (which are notoriously fickle these days) or something really daft like a cable snagging your foot

TBH though, if I were you I'd have a shot at diagnosing and repairing it myself. If any of the kids are old enough they could help; I have happy memories of washing cup-and-cone bearings in petrol with my dad aged 6!

hstiles

If chainset and cassette were worn, you'd feel the chain slipping, especially when pedalling hard. If you can hear a click when pedalling, 9/10 it's the bottom bracket, especially in light of the awful winter we've had - I got through a BB in 6 months.

unixnerd

You could probably carry on with it "as-is" for 1000s of miles. I ran the Sora drivetrain on my tourer for 8000 miles without even a new chain in my pre-internet state of ignorance and it was fine.

The shop knows that if he just replaces the chain it may skip on the cassette and you'd be unhappy with their work. But I can't understand how the front chainrings could wear so quickly.

I bought a Roubaix with Ultegra last year and it's done about 2k miles with no noticeable wear, but it's the "nice weather" bike on the fleet.