Boardman Mountain Bikes Great Value But ?

foy

Why does chris boardman only give a 2 year warranty on his frames as this seems very poor compared to the likes of specialized trek and cannondale who give a lifetime warranty on their frames.

mattv

Because that's the length of time their business plan allows. A ratio of cost to manufacture frames, andprojections of failure rates and associated replacement costs, compared to total selling price.
You get what you pay for.

rockmonkeysc

It's a lot better than the 6 months warranty on a £4k Commencal Supreme DH or the 2 year warranty on a Norco Aurum downhill bike which doesn't cover the bike if used for downhill or freeride.
The warranty covers the frame against manufacturing or material defects which will most likely fail within the first year anyway.
The Specialized warranty is a bit vague. It's the lifetime of the frame and they don't define what the lifetime of the frame is.
I have heard of quite a few Boardman FS frame failures but they are extremely popular bikes so as a ratio they probably aren't any worse than other manufacturers.

mattv

Spesh basically replace whatever if you are first owner and it's not obviously been crashed, from what I've seen.

rockmonkeysc

mattv wrote:

Spesh basically replace whatever if you are first owner and it's not obviously been crashed, from what I've seen.

It's up to the discretion of the shop and that can vary a lot.

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

The warranty covers the frame against manufacturing or material defects which will most likely fail within the first year anyway.

True. If you plot a graph of failures due to manufacturing/material defects against time then you'll get an inverse bell-shaped curve- failures due to manufacturing faults/inherent materials defects will probably happen relatively quickly, while failures due to stress/fatigue will be at the other end of the curve, with few failures inbetween. If it's going to break due to a manufacturing defect then chances are that it will happen well within your two year warranty. If you want a lifetime warranty then you have to be prepared to pay more for that. To be fair, Boardmans are mostly bought as entry level bikes anyway, so the owner may well have moved on to something more expensive before the warranty expires anyway, and very few manufacturers' warranties (in any consumer product sector) are transferrable to a new owner.

I have heard of quite a few Boardman FS frame failures but they are extremely popular bikes so as a ratio they probably aren't any worse than other manufacturers.

CAWT either. Fords (or VW, or whatever) aren't inherently unreliable, but you're going to hear a lot more owners complaining of faults than you do with (for example) Lamborghini owners, simply becaue there's so many more of them.

The Rookie

Besides if the failure is due to a manufacturing defect then SOGA applies anyway....a warranty just makes it less painful!

Kowalski675

The Rookie wrote:

Besides if the failure is due to a manufacturing defect then SOGA applies anyway

But if it's more than 6 months old you then have to prove the defect was inherent at point of sale (up to 6 months the vendor has to prove it wasn't).

97th choice

foy wrote:

Why does chris boardman only give a 2 year warranty on his frames as this seems very poor compared to the likes of specialized trek and cannondale who give a lifetime warranty on their frames.

Another reason why boardman bikes are so competitively priced. Pay extra for a spec, giant, trek etc. if it's that much of a big deal to you.

The Rookie

Kowalski675 wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

Besides if the failure is due to a manufacturing defect then SOGA applies anyway

But if it's more than 6 months old you then have to prove the defect was inherent at point of sale (up to 6 months the vendor has to prove it wasn't).

If it's a manufacturing fault then it must have been there at point of sale surely?

rockmonkeysc

I guess it means that you have to prove that a crack has been caused by a manufacturing fault rather than abuse. This is possible but very difficult.

97th choice

Reminds me of an old thread where some kid destroyed a giant carbon frame at hadleigh? giant said it was abuse rather than defect, dunno how that one ended up.....

rockmonkeysc

I know a lad who repeatedly rode his Cube Acid off a 20 foot road gap with a 6 foot drop. Obviously the head tube eventually snapped. Cube replaced the whole bike without question!

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I guess it means that you have to prove that a crack has been caused by a manufacturing fault rather than abuse. This is possible but very difficult.

Exactly. Within the first 6 months the vendor has to prove that the fault wasn't present at point of sale (very difficult), but after 6 months you have to prove that it was, which is also very difficult, and is going to involve getting an engineer's report or similar. If you can't prove the failure was caused by a fault present at point of sale then the vendor has no obligation to replace it under SOGA, and then it all depends how good your warranty actually is.

Kowalski675

The Rookie wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

The Rookie wrote:

Besides if the failure is due to a manufacturing defect then SOGA applies anyway

But if it's more than 6 months old you then have to prove the defect was inherent at point of sale (up to 6 months the vendor has to prove it wasn't).

If it's a manufacturing fault then it must have been there at point of sale surely?

But you have to prove that the failure was due to a manufacturing fault.

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I know a lad who repeatedly rode his Cube Acid off a 20 foot road gap with a 6 foot drop. Obviously the head tube eventually snapped.

Did any of his bones snap too?

MTBUK

Boardman Mountain Bikes are great value but ......................... They're Halfords, and all things Halfords should burn!

97th choice

er, no

cooldad

MTBUK wrote:

Boardman Mountain Bikes are great value but ......................... They're Halfords, and all things Halfords should burn!

Oh dear, and this from an Orange rider.

MTBUK

Yes it is........

Chunkers1980

Yes what is?

cooldad

Chunkers1980 wrote:

Yes what is?

I would ignore him, I remember his previous posts. I assume Halfords molested his kitten or something.

rockmonkeysc

Kowalski675 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I know a lad who repeatedly rode his Cube Acid off a 20 foot road gap with a 6 foot drop. Obviously the head tube eventually snapped.

Did any of his bones snap too?

Cuts and bruises but no broken bones.

mattrixdesign2

I would hope any worthy bike company would replace a frame (along with original proof of purpose) within at least 5 years of ownership. A frame should not fail if used for it purpose.

I know Specialized offer a good replacement service, and at the budget end even Decathlon are now offering lifetime frame warranty.

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Kowalski675 wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I know a lad who repeatedly rode his Cube Acid off a 20 foot road gap with a 6 foot drop. Obviously the head tube eventually snapped.

Did any of his bones snap too?

Cuts and bruises but no broken bones.

Could've been worse then.

rockmonkeysc

mattrixdesign2 wrote:

I would hope any worthy bike company would replace a frame (along with original proof of purpose) within at least 5 years of ownership. A frame should not fail if used for it purpose.

I know Specialized offer a good replacement service, and at the budget end even Decathlon are now offering lifetime frame warranty.

Most wont replace out of warranty. Lifetime warranties are a bit too vague, when the frame breaks is that the end of its life?
The problem is proving you were riding within the designed use of the bike and not hucking your xc race bike off a cliff when it broke.

Angus Young

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Lifetime warranties are a bit too vague, when the frame breaks is that the end of its life?

I've always wondered about the term 'lifetime' warranty. As you say, a catastrophic break surely heralds the end of the frame's 'lifetime' and, so, the end of the warranty. Isn't a 'lifetime' warranty a Catch-22 of sorts and therefore worthless?

Kowalski675

RockmonkeySC wrote:

mattrixdesign2 wrote:

I would hope any worthy bike company would replace a frame (along with original proof of purpose) within at least 5 years of ownership. A frame should not fail if used for it purpose.

I know Specialized offer a good replacement service, and at the budget end even Decathlon are now offering lifetime frame warranty.

Most wont replace out of warranty.

And why would they (unless it was a goodwill gesture due to a known design fault)? My last job was working in a warranty department, and, as we often had to point out, when the warranty's over, it's over - if you extend it day then next time they''ll want a week, then a month etc - you have to have a cut off point, and that's the day the warranty expires.

Kowalski675

Angus Young wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Lifetime warranties are a bit too vague, when the frame breaks is that the end of its life?

I've always wondered about the term 'lifetime' warranty. As you say, a catastrophic break surely heralds the end of the frame's 'lifetime' and, so, the end of the warranty. Isn't a 'lifetime' warranty a Catch-22 of sorts and therefore worthless?

A lot of warranties are pretty worthless - it's only when you try to claim on them that you find out how good (or otherwise) they are.

The Rookie

The GF life time frame warranty is very good, I know people on their third frame, but then knowing someone who has contacts in the Trek Warranty department in MK helps a bit!