Frame Repair or Replacement?

DarCom

Hi Everyone,

Recently, I have broken my frame at the chainwheel area. Never did I hit it there, and I was surprised to see that it was completely hollow inside tube and it felt like edges were made out of plastic.

First I have noticed that chaniwheel started to wobbling right and left, then, whilst I was accelerating standing, it broke.

Has anybody ever had same issue? Is this possible to repair or should I purchase new frame?

P.S - My Merida Matts 40d is only 3 years old. Although I've been using it every other day, I hoped that it would serve me for longer. Link for images; http://imgur.com/a/ACO9N

Matthewfalle

errrr - you won't be repairing that my son.

What's the warranty period?

bendertherobot

Merida has a lifetime warranty (in the UK) for the first owner with evidence of ownership.

Which is a start

dinyull

That'll polish out man.

DarCom

Matthewfalle wrote:

errrr - you won't be repairing that my son.

What's the warranty period?

Well, it's obvious that conventional repairing is futile, hence I was wondering if I could get someone to welder/perform re-union via soldering?

I bought it of treadz whilst I was in UK, not sure about the warranty. I'm currently in residing in a different country so no way I can perform an exchange outside of UK

jgsi

This is an entry level MTB?
Used and abused everyday, rain or shine? ( it dont look particularly loved is what I mean) , you may have had your money's worth out of it.

apreading

That looks like a weld failure - never seen antyhing like it but there are a couple of similar pics on the internet: http://i461.photobucket.com/albums/qq33 ... ey_ti2.jpg

In my opinion its clearly a manufacturing defect for the weld to just come apart all the way around like that. No matter how old or how much abuse it may (or may not) have suffered, that should not happen.

DarCom

JGSI wrote:

This is an entry level MTB?
Used and abused everyday, rain or shine? ( it dont look particularly loved is what I mean) , you may have had your money's worth out of it.

Not aware of levels, it cost me 500GBP. About loving part, I never abused it in terms of damaging or being uncomfortable, just normal riding in different weather conditions (but mostly road).

I mean, I know people who have bikes which have frames lasting up to a decade if not more. I doubt that 2-3 years is a life-span of a good frame, but I'm no expert so I won't argue

jgsi

Well if you have the paperwork then start the process of a claim with Merida.
You are correct, frames can last a 'lifetime' as it were.

DarCom

JGSI wrote:

Well if you have the paperwork then start the process of a claim with Merida.
You are correct, frames can last a 'lifetime' as it were.

I'll check with paperwork, hopefully I do have some sort of document stating my ownership.

Thanks for info, I feel really unlucky now as I don't know anybody else who ever got a faulty frame

fenix

worth attempting a claim.

Matthewfalle

DarCom wrote:

JGSI wrote:

Well if you have the paperwork then start the process of a claim with Merida.
You are correct, frames can last a 'lifetime' as it were.

I'll check with paperwork, hopefully I do have some sort of document stating my ownership.

Thanks for info, I feel really unlucky now as I don't know anybody else who ever got a faulty frame

Don't feel unlucky - stuff like this happens all the time - just do a search on here.

You just managed to do it brilliantly.

bendertherobot

bendertherobot wrote:

Merida has a lifetime warranty (in the UK) for the first owner with evidence of ownership.

Which is a start

Cough

The Rookie

I've just sold my old 2005 Merida made Carrera Gryphon frame, was bought used in 2009 and I did over 6000miles on it, that would seem a sensible life.

trailflow

DarCom wrote:

I was wondering if I could get someone to welder/perform re-union via soldering?

It cannot re-welded because it wouldn't be anywhere near as strong as the original welds. It will fail again.

How heavy are you ? out of interest.

jeremy1

Dinyull wrote:

That'll polish out man.

do some people post for no reason than pointless posting, no interest to me or use to anyone

DarCom

trailflow wrote:

DarCom wrote:

I was wondering if I could get someone to welder/perform re-union via soldering?

It cannot re-welded because it wouldn't be anywhere near as strong as the original welds. It will fail again.

How heavy are you ? out of interest.

I'm 5'6, 174lbs

I was thinking about this issue for some time now, and while this may be result of bad weld, it could have been further escalated via me riding standing and having my tires always pumped to max pressure (meaning that they do not absorb punch from ground, resulting in frame taking pressure from my body weight and it might have just broken at it's weakest point.

andcp

jeremy1 wrote:

do some people post for no reason than pointless posting, no interest to me or use to anyone

do some people post for no reason than pointless posting, no interest to me or use to anyone

pinno

jeremy1 wrote:

Dinyull wrote:

That'll polish out man.

do some people post for no reason than pointless posting, no interest to me or use to anyone

It was funny and inoffensive.

My C40 is at least 20 years old. God help me if that starts to crack up due to that damn Galvanic reaction.

Though I realise you are not in the UK, they may come to a deal. Why don't you contact them? It would be interesting to see what they say. There was a thread on here where a guy had to get his frame x-rayed to prove it wasn't a fault caused by a non usage impact (shut in a car boot for example). In the same thread, some guy had a Specialized MTB, it was 7 years old and was abused to death. The frame failed but Specialized replaced it, free of charge.
There's big differences in companies honouring warranties and I have heard nothing bad about Merida.

dinyull

jeremy1 wrote:

Dinyull wrote:

That'll polish out man.

do some people post for no reason than pointless posting, no interest to me or use to anyone

You tell me.

veronese68

Pinno wrote:

jeremy1 wrote:

Dinyull wrote:

That'll polish out man.

do some people post for no reason than pointless posting, no interest to me or use to anyone

It was funny and inoffensive.

The person reading it would have to have a sense of humour to find it funny, something obviously lacking in some.
To the OP, that really shouldn't have happened so find some proof of purchase and try to claim. The fact that it was a £500 bike should have no bearing, it shouldn't have failed like that.

DarCom

Veronese68 wrote:

Pinno wrote:

jeremy1 wrote:

Dinyull wrote:

That'll polish out man.

do some people post for no reason than pointless posting, no interest to me or use to anyone

It was funny and inoffensive.

The person reading it would have to have a sense of humour to find it funny, something obviously lacking in some.
To the OP, that really shouldn't have happened so find some proof of purchase and try to claim. The fact that it was a £500 bike should have no bearing, it shouldn't have failed like that.

Yeah I figured that by now, no way would frame only last 2-3 years.

Unfortunately, I have not managed to find anything yet, I've checked all my emails but somehow tredz has disappeared. No replies, nothing.

Hopefully I may find something at home, what came with a parcel 3 years ago, but likelihood of that is low.

Matthewfalle

Nothing on Tredz's computer system?

Credit card receipts?

DarCom

Matthewfalle wrote:

Nothing on Tredz's computer system?

Credit card receipts?

I don't think I ever registered an account with them (I tried to reset password for 3 mails, no mails were received, therefore such emails were never registered and I don't have any others).

Card Receipt, you mean check the history of payments? May be there is chance it an be found in history of purchases, but will that suffice as a proof of ownership?

pinno

DarCom wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Nothing on Tredz's computer system?

Credit card receipts?

I don't think I ever registered an account with them (I tried to reset password for 3 mails, no mails were received, therefore such emails were never registered and I don't have any others).

Card Receipt, you mean check the history of payments? May be there is chance it an be found in history of purchases, but will that suffice as a proof of ownership?

Pretty sure that would.

Forget the emails, go direct:

01792 799508

or

info@tredz.co.uk

DarCom

Pinno wrote:

DarCom wrote:

Matthewfalle wrote:

Nothing on Tredz's computer system?

Credit card receipts?

I don't think I ever registered an account with them (I tried to reset password for 3 mails, no mails were received, therefore such emails were never registered and I don't have any others).

Card Receipt, you mean check the history of payments? May be there is chance it an be found in history of purchases, but will that suffice as a proof of ownership?

Pretty sure that would.

Forget the emails, go direct:

01792 799508

or

info@tredz.co.uk

Lucky me, I've managed to track down the last email I've had back then, I went onto tredz to reset password via that email and it a link actually came (I've checked every other email address but it didn't send anything, hence no account was registered with any of those).

I have found PayPal Transaction Note that shows my relative buying this bike from Tredz directly.

Should I file the claim directly to Tredz then, or Merida UK itself?

Thank you

pinno

As far as I am aware, the supplier who supplied it to you directly.

Remember, they have a reputation to maintain so be polite and be firm. Let us know how you get on. Paypal transactions are insured so you may have an independent 3rd party if they put up resistance.

DarCom

Pinno wrote:

As far as I am aware, the supplier who supplied it to you directly.

Remember, they have a reputation to maintain so be polite and be firm. Let us know how you get on. Paypal transactions are insured so you may have an independent 3rd party if they put up resistance.

Thanks for your help.

I will surely try my best to be polite and firm with them, I really wish to sort this whole thing out and everyone has happy ending.

In my opinion, to put this into perspective, I think it is easier for them to replace one entry level bike with a clear bad weld defect as opposed to risking me going on, ranting about bad customer service and them selling unreliable bikes (which I hope not to!)

Also, should I first re-take the images I've posted earlier, take couple of more shots where the weld is more apparent?

I'll address Tredz Today and will inform you guys about the outcome as soon as possible.

apreading

I think the images you have show the problem perfectly well enough. Dont see why you would need more. However, personally I would retake those images, having made the bike look all shiny and extremely well cared for. Nothing wrong with them as they are but someones initial perception can sometimes make a difference that might be small but could tip the balance in your favour.

And contact should be with the shop first - your contract is with them. They should act on your behalf with Merida, who have a contract with them and not with you. Only go to Merida directly if the shop wont play ball, on the basis that their appointed retailer has defaulted on their responsibility. Hopefully Tredz will see you right though.

DarCom

apreading wrote:

I think the images you have show the problem perfectly well enough. Dont see why you would need more. However, personally I would retake those images, having made the bike look all shiny and extremely well cared for. Nothing wrong with them as they are but someones initial perception can sometimes make a difference that might be small but could tip the balance in your favour.

And contact should be with the shop first - your contract is with them. They should act on your behalf with Merida, who have a contract with them and not with you. Only go to Merida directly if the shop wont play ball, on the basis that their appointed retailer has defaulted on their responsibility. Hopefully Tredz will see you right though.

That's a good advice, I have cleaned the bike as much as possible, can't polish it any better.

New Images Link; http://www.evernote.com/l/Ah-JymSohM1Fl ... aINXBsVWc/

Also, prior to sending letter, I wanted to ask if you may suggest favorable approach manner? I want to make sure that I express myself well. Maybe there are certain points which I should emphasize on?

As of now, I'm planning to say that I was cycling, weld went off, can it be replaced etc.

Thanks for your help

DarCom

BUMP BUMP BUMP,

Hi there guys!

So it's been a month as I've been in contact with Tredz regarding my frame replacement.

So far I'm quite positive about tredz effort/feedback, so I'll make couple of points of what has happened so far;

- Tredz contacted Merida, who have provided them my frame with seat-post along with some extras (seat post, bottom bracket, head set)
- Tredz is sending directly to my location (in Latvia) and are happy to cover any costs involved with placement/substitution of new frame into my bike. (very nice move from them as I was worried about this).

My perspective on this;

- Merida has not been able to provide me with the same colour (link https://1drv.ms/i/s!Av79DOtHTqYfgm3kbE1PPq7xaU94)
- Consecutively, I'm disappointed that since colour is different, although they've seen images of my bike, they have not provided me with fork to match colour(not sure if they are obligated to, someone please advise me on this).
- It seems like Merida has stripped a bike and sent me a frame with some extra parts. sort of greedy, but didn't mind to send me the whole bike(not sure if obligated in current case scenario), but due to the above, would have made sense as now I'll be riding like a rainbow (a bit of exaggeration there won't hurt :])

Please share your thoughts on this guys, the process has taken quite some time (a month and a half since my query submission to tredz) and it points to that it's possible Merida may have not been happy with my ability to look after bike, therefore stripped a bike but didn't send a new one already (wouldn't have thought about this if colour was same) which tells me they aren't very eager to provide best outcome,(intentionally didn't send fork but rather send bracket which isn't as important in such context).

Is there anything I'm in rightful stance to claim,or should I welcome this opportunity? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that I'm at least getting a frame, as it could have been way worse (could have found a way to get around this), but just want to maximize my potential for claim here.

I appreciate any feedback!

Thank you