Trek Madone 5.9 cracked Frame

adamhartigan

Hi all, im looking for some advice on an issue I have.

I purchased a Trek Madone 5.9 last August. I absolutely love the bike, however.

As i was leaving for a ride last week, cycling up a short hill, the gears slipped (Di2).

Because of the slow speed and pressure I was putting down, this caused the rear hanger derailleur to snap off.

Unfortunately the rear mech then went in to the wheel spun round and shearerd/cracked the carbon.

Taking it back to the bike shop I have made a claim with Trek Warrenty Services who have come back advising that this can not be claimed because (exact words) the rear hanger is made of a softer metal and this can happen"

Surely this is a mechanical fault that should be covered?
Has anyone else had any experience of this before?
Does anyone have any advise on how I can pursue?

Any help at all would be greatly received.

Thanks in advance

ElectronShepherd

It sounds a bit like the old "consequential damage" get-out to me. I've read http://www.trekbikes.com/uk/en/support/warranty/ and it says

"This warranty is expressly limited to the repair or replacement of a defective item"

and

"Trek Bicycle Corporation is not responsible for incidental or consequential damages"

The damage to the frame was the consequence of another failure, and so isn't covered.

My approach would be to ignore the warranty route, although my guess is that it's a standard "deny the claim first" approach taken by all insurance companies. Bear in mind that probably Trek have offloaded all the risks associated with the warranty to an underwriting firm, so in one sense, it probably isn't Trek who are refusing the claim.

I would go down the Sale of Goods Act route. It is not reasonable to expect a bicycle to fail in that way after 9 months, and you would probably be entitled to repair or replacement under that, rather than the warranty.

Semantik

adamhartigan wrote:

Hi all, im looking for some advice on an issue I have.

the gears slipped (Di2).

Because of the slow speed and pressure I was putting down, this caused the rear hanger derailleur to snap off.

I think a lot is going to hinge on what caused the derailleur to go into the rear wheel in the first place. From your explanation it is not clear to me and I think you will have to be careful in your choice of words if pursuing this. Rear derailleurs usually find their way into a back wheel through incorrect adjustment of the derailleur NOT because you are putting pressure on the pedals when climbing. Were you happy with the low gear limit screw adjustment and cable tension before the incident?
Also, it needs explaining what you mean by 'the gears slipped''- on a properly adjusted derailleur system the 'gears' should only slip if the chain or the cassette is badly worn. The derailleur adjustment may not have been touched since new but 9 months after purchase it will be difficult to prove the fault lay with the bike's set-up from new. The suspicion would be that, at the time of the incident, everything was not as it was when the bike first left the shop from new. Maybe you have fitted a different cassette since then or a new rear wheel and this has altered the adjustment settings?

Sympathy with your predicament and hope they resolve to your satisfaction.

adamhartigan

Hi - does anyone have a contact email address for Nigel Roberts at Trek - or anyone else in a senior position?
Im getting no responses to any of my questions posted on their contact us page.