Options for damaged frame

shmooster

Seasons Greetings everyone.
I've noticed recently that my 2012 Roubaix Elite has a damaged seat tube. There's a crack in the middle of it that looks like it might have been squashed, not sure when it happened. Bikes 18 months old and I've done about 8000 miles on it.

I'm taking it to the Specialized store later in the week, but if they don't replace it under the warranty what are my best options for a new frame, any good deals out there?

I'm also going to look at the Spesh crash replacement option but the guy I spoke to on the phone thought that might have been discontinued. Anyone heard anything?

Cheers,

ugo.santalucia

They will replace it, Specialized frames have a lifetime warranty. They will give you whatever is considered the equivalent... ask for no less than the current equivalent and bike rebuild free of charge

DiscoBoy

ugo.santalucia wrote:

They will replace it, Specialized frames have a lifetime warranty. They will give you whatever is considered the equivalent... ask for no less than the current equivalent and bike rebuild free of charge

I don't think they will necessarily replace it if it is damage caused by the OP...

If they do, they will replace it with the same or current equivalent. So if they have any 2012 elite frames left then that's what you'll get. More likely you'll get a 2013 or 2014. The 2013 may be the same as a 2012, I'm not sure, but fingers crossed for the 2014 because the 2014 is an an SL4 frame, which is a fair bit better (internal cabling etc.)

shmooster

I can't see how they'd give me a new frame if it's not a manufacturing defect, but I certainly won't say no if they offer and I've heard good things about their customer service so here's hoping.

A newer 2013 or 2014 frame would be nice. Current one already has internal cable routing but I expect newer frames will be Di2 compatible as well as the 19% extra stiffness that keeps being quoted.

Will post back with what happens....

DiscoBoy

shmooster wrote:

I can't see how they'd give me a new frame if it's not a manufacturing defect, but I certainly won't say no if they offer and I've heard good things about their customer service so here's hoping.

A newer 2013 or 2014 frame would be nice. Current one already has internal cable routing but I expect newer frames will be Di2 compatible as well as the 19% extra stiffness that keeps being quoted.

Will post back with what happens....

Play dumb about it being your fault etc. Hopefully you bought it from the shop you're taking it to? You might get lucky.

I don't know about the 2012, but the 2013 Elite doesn't have fully internal routed cables (only the rear brake IIRC). The 2014 has internal cables, and is an SL4 frame (whereas the 2013 isn't an SL3).

As for the crash replacement, they do one now and I don't think they have stopped at any point. What level of discount you get off a frame, however, I don't recall.

shmooster

DiscoBoy wrote:

Play dumb about it being your fault etc. Hopefully you bought it from the shop you're taking it to? You might get lucky.

I don't know about the 2012, but the 2013 Elite doesn't have fully internal routed cables (only the rear brake IIRC). The 2014 has internal cables, and is an SL4 frame (whereas the 2013 isn't an SL3).

As for the crash replacement, they do one now and I don't think they have stopped at any point. What level of discount you get off a frame, however, I don't recall.

Cheers for the good advice, I don't need to play dumb as I genuinely don't know how it happened :-)

You're right about the cables, it's only the rear brake, though the front derailleur cable passes through the frame.

Unfortunately I didn't buy it from the Spesh shop, was an insurance replacement from Wheelies after my last bike got stolen. I have emailed Wheelies but not heard back yet, figured a local dealer was a better option but will see what they say.

ugo.santalucia

shmooster wrote:

Unfortunately I didn't buy it from the Spesh shop, was an insurance replacement from Wheelies after my last bike got stolen. I have emailed Wheelies but not heard back yet, figured a local dealer was a better option but will see what they say.

Getting more difficult then... the warranty is a contract between yourself and the dealer, the LBS can take pity or help you if you are a good customer, otherwise they will (rightly) tell you to contact the dealer or offer you something new

DiscoBoy

ugo.santalucia wrote:

shmooster wrote:

Unfortunately I didn't buy it from the Spesh shop, was an insurance replacement from Wheelies after my last bike got stolen. I have emailed Wheelies but not heard back yet, figured a local dealer was a better option but will see what they say.

Getting more difficult then... the warranty is a contract between yourself and the dealer, the LBS can take pity or help you if you are a good customer, otherwise they will (rightly) tell you to contact the dealer or offer you something new

Normally the vendor of a product will pass you on to a manufacturer after a certain period of time, hence "manufacturer warranty".

The specialized warranty has these as the only applicable caveats, as far as I can see during my quick look:

"This warranty is void if the bicycle or frameset was not purchased new or not properly assembled by an authorized Specialized dealer."

"This Limited Warranty is made only to the original owner of this new Specialized bicycle or frameset purchased from an authorized Specialized dealer, and it shall remain in force only as long as the original owner retains ownership of the Specialized bicycle. This Limited Warranty is not transferable. In order to exercise your rights under this limited warranty, the bicycle or frameset must be presented to an authorized Specialized dealer, together with a receipt, bill of sale, or other appropriate written proof of purchase which identifies the bicycle or frameset by serial number. Should this bicycle, frameset or any part be determined by Specialized to
be covered by this warranty, it will be repaired or replaced, at Specializedʼs sole option, which will be conclusive and binding. The original owner shall pay all labor charges connected with the repair or replacement of all parts."

Source: http://cdn.specialized.com/OA_MEDIA/pdf ... rranty.pdf

ugo.santalucia

When I took a Specialized frame back to Harry Hall in Manchester, they only dealt with it after checking I had purchased it there... I had to produce the original receipt which I did have... it was about 5-6 years old

For what it's worth...

DiscoBoy

ugo.santalucia wrote:

When I took a Specialized frame back to Harry Hall in Manchester, they only dealt with it after checking I had purchased it there... I had to produce the original receipt which I did have... it was about 5-6 years old

For what it's worth...

The fact that he's taking it to a Specialized concept store may make things easier than simply an LBS (I do realise that they are franchised though). But I can see the fact that it is an insurance replacement as a possible source of headache.

I think that specialized are able to find the provenance of all of their framesets from their serial number, so hopefully the insurance company didn't buy it on the grey market (I somehow doubt it).

shmooster

I did discuss this with the guy in the shop over the phone. They'll handle the replacement if Specialized agree to do it under warranty, but as it's not bought from them I'd have to pay the labour part of the rebuild, which seems fair enough.

shmooster

Follow up on this...
Well, understandably Spesh say it's not covered under warranty, which is fair enough. I have the option of a 2013 Roubaix comp frame for £850, which is I think the same as a Roubaix Elite frame except a different colour. I'll have to pay to have it rebuilt, £100 or so, unless I do it myself.

Not sure if it's worth it over having the frame repaired (up to £300 including paint, £200 for a basic fix without paint) and adding the difference to my bike to work voucher to get a better new bike. Still chewing it over.

rolf_f

shmooster wrote:

Follow up on this...
Well, understandably Spesh say it's not covered under warranty, which is fair enough. I have the option of a 2013 Roubaix comp frame for £850, which is I think the same as a Roubaix Elite frame except a different colour. I'll have to pay to have it rebuilt, £100 or so, unless I do it myself.

Not sure if it's worth it over having the frame repaired (up to £300 including paint, £200 for a basic fix without paint) and adding the difference to my bike to work voucher to get a better new bike. Still chewing it over.

Doesn't seem to be much to chew over here.

1) The repair isn't too expensive. That's the cheapest way to get you where you were before.
2) Were you happy with the bike otherwise? Talking about getting a better new bike implies not so much.
3) Paying £850 for a new frame for a bike that you regard as not as good as something you could get on C2W doesn't seem to make sense.

So, either you get the frame repaired and carry on as before or you get the frame repaired and get a new bike on C2W as well. But in that case, the new bike is a side issue and not dependant on the frame repair.

So get the frame repaired!

shmooster

Yes, I'll probably do that. It's not that I don't like the Roubaix, I just want another bike because 1 clearly isn't enough (for practical reasons as well as N+1). I'm discounting my old 32lb Ridgeback here as a bike, as having commuted on it all this week I've realised its a cross between a tractor and an instrument of torture.