[ustemuf]

Only had it for 3 months was my very first mountain bike.

it cracked on a weld on the end of a gusset bracing the downtube to headtube. looks like a bad weld job/manufacturing defect there is no damage anywhere else on the bike.

i only weigh 155lbs.

i bought the bike 2nd hand off of a doctor who maybe put 2 miles on it, so i have no warranty to get a replacement frame. cannondale brushed me off even though the bike isn't even a year old.

i bought another cannondale even after this. i have a perp frame coming my way to build up, hopefully it lasts longer than this one.. otherwise i'll be kicking myself in the ass for not getting another brand.

 

[CdaleTony]

is there a brand that will honor a frame warranty beyond original purchaser?

 

[nicholasc2]

3 months - go back to the doctor, offer him some cash and ask him to warranty it for you?

Out of interest - did it feel like it cracked all of a sudden or did it just happen and you didn't immediately notice?

Another option - find a good welder.

 

[nicholasc2]

3 months - go back to the doctor, offer him some cash and ask him to warranty it for you?

Out of interest - did it feel like it cracked all of a sudden or did it just happen and you didn't immediately notice?

Another option - find a good welder.

 

[myself369]

welder = bad idea, no matter how good

whenever aluminum is welded it needs to be heat treated to retain any type of strength. Welding that tube back together would be a very dangerous proposition, and getting it done properly (strip paint, weld, heat treat) would not be cost effective

 

[Guest]

If I remember correctly C-dale does have a crash replacement policy that will at least get you a discount on a new frame.

 

[ustemuf]

i dont think any brand offers warranty beyond original purchase... but sheesh.. you would think a 1 year warranty would apply no matter what? for it to break on a weld just shows it was a manufacturer defect and the weld wasn't done properly. made in the usa eh? on a friday? like i said... my very first mountain bike doesn't even last over 3 months? i thought cannondale was one of the best brands which is what swayed my decision.

it must have happened sometime during my ride... i had flipped the bike over for some other reason and then all the sudden i noticed the crack. it wasnt there before the day started, so sometime during my descent down the rocky part it must have cracked. nothing else on my bike is damaged/cracked.

i tried all of the options above.. . doctor doesnt have the info saved/whatever.

i emailed cannondale they said it looked like the crack has a wrinkle from frontal impact.. umm not what happened here..

i tried going to the local bike shop that deals cannondales for a warranty.. not original owner so no go..

i tried to see if i could get crash replacement policy and that only applies to original owner too.

already stripped the bike down, time to chuck the frame. what a waste... i really hope the perp is built up to ride the mountain.

the moto is more suited for fire road trails from what i can gather now.

 

[DSFA]

Ok, gotta throw this in.
I managed a LBS for three years and got to do all the warranty issues.
First, yep, (most) manufacturers only warranty to original owners just because of the fact you'd get a bike on it's 15th owner saying "I was just riding along and the frame snapped in two!" Never mind it had been hucked off thirty foot cliffs under the ten previous guys.
Ya want a bike you can return no matter what...go buy it at Walmart, and save your receipt

Secondly, and this is only going off the one picture above, looks like you came up short on a jump and "choppered" the front end. In your case the forks were stronger than the frame and the frame gave out.
I realize there is a weld on the other side of the frame but your pic is of the downtube, probably were the tubing is butted and thins out and no weld shown, so how did the weld fail?

BTW, what you weigh means next to nothing compared with how you ride. A big smooth rider puts less stress on his/her bike than a 50lb kid dropping off a curb like a bag of bricks. An example, I had an S&M Warpig BMX frame that was a tank and at 230lbs+ I never worried once about breaking it while beating the crap out of it. Also rode with Troy McMurray (the bmx pro whose signature frame was the Warpig) and that boy KILLS it and never saw him have frame problems. But I did meet a 90lb kid who snapped the head tube off one. Manufacturing defect or the fact he cased a 20ft double? Gee, I wonder!

I'm not meaning to be a jerk or whatever but you bought a used bike, you did something on it while riding that caused it to break and now you're pissed that the manufacturer won't give you a new frame?

 

[RoyDean]

Could you post a few more pictures from different angles?

the moto is more suited for fire road trails from what i can gather now.

The moto was marketed as a heavy duty trail / light duty freeride bike, so it should be able to handle some pretty nasty stuff. My rize is a step "tamer" and I've scared myself a few times on it.

 

[Guest]

OK since you have a Perp frame on order don't forget that at a Min you need a new rear wheel or at least a hub as the Perp is 150mm by 12 and the BB width is 83mm so you will probably need new cranks too and probably a bigger fork two.

http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=264874

 

[ustemuf]

OK since you have a Perp frame on order don't forget that at a Min you need a new rear wheel or at least a hub as the Perp is 150mm by 12 and the BB width is 83mm so you will probably need new cranks too and probably a bigger fork two.

https://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=264874

i already got all the parts needed, thanks for the heads up though. totem coil up front, new saint 83 cranks, and some mavic 729's laced to dt swiss fr hubs.

Ok, gotta throw this in.
I managed a LBS for three years and got to do all the warranty issues.
First, yep, (most) manufacturers only warranty to original owners just because of the fact you'd get a bike on it's 15th owner saying "I was just riding along and the frame snapped in two!" Never mind it had been hucked off thirty foot cliffs under the ten previous guys.
Ya want a bike you can return no matter what...go buy it at Walmart, and save your receipt

Secondly, and this is only going off the one picture above, looks like you came up short on a jump and "choppered" the front end. In your case the forks were stronger than the frame and the frame gave out.
I realize there is a weld on the other side of the frame but your pic is of the downtube, probably were the tubing is butted and thins out and no weld shown, so how did the weld fail?

BTW, what you weigh means next to nothing compared with how you ride. A big smooth rider puts less stress on his/her bike than a 50lb kid dropping off a curb like a bag of bricks. An example, I had an S&M Warpig BMX frame that was a tank and at 230lbs+ I never worried once about breaking it while beating the crap out of it. Also rode with Troy McMurray (the bmx pro whose signature frame was the Warpig) and that boy KILLS it and never saw him have frame problems. But I did meet a 90lb kid who snapped the head tube off one. Manufacturing defect or the fact he cased a 20ft double? Gee, I wonder!

I'm not meaning to be a jerk or whatever but you bought a used bike, you did something on it while riding that caused it to break and now you're pissed that the manufacturer won't give you a new frame?

i understand the warranty issue and the original owner, no beef there. i'm just upset that it didn't even last a year.

i didn't come up short on any jump. if anything i sometimes overclear my landings a little bit which is rough on the bike, but shouldn't be anything the bike can't handle. most of the time i land front wheel first with the rear at the same time. i told you before, there was no damage anywhere else on my bike. ASSUMING your assumption is right, dont you think my front wheel would have bent? my forks would have snapped? neither of those happened..

i honestly think it was a fatigue/stress crack from bombing down rocky trails at pretty fast speeds. pile on top the times that i have crashed the bike, it makes sense.

do you know what a gusset is? it's a brace for strength. well, they have to weld that onto the downtube .. and guess what, at the end of where the gusset is welded on is where it cracked. unless they used super glue, i'm assuming they welded it on. they welded a little too much and cut out too much material there and voila, weak spot on the frame that is susceptible to cracking.

like i said i'm not pissed at the manufacturer, just bummed that i bought a cannondale because of the good name brand.... made in the usa.. and the frame failed when i definately think it had plenty of life left.

 

[gemini6]

I may very well be mistaken on this, but is that a gusset welded to the frame, or just the shape of the tube? (I've never seen a moto in real life so I can't say for sure)

 

[Dan Gerous]

Your front wheel being fine doesn't mean much. Otherwise, every frame failure would mean automatically wheels and fork failures too. Every part starting with the tires absorb the shock/impact, then transfers a varying percentage of the force to the next component.

Taking your word (and the previous owner's), it looks like there was indeed a weakness in your frame (manufacturing issue or other cause, I can't say) and it's nice to see you assume the fact that the warranty doesn't apply to you but... If I were in your shoes though, I'd consider springing the money and get a new frame so if it ever happens again, you would have a warranty. Costs more, but it's not for nothing. I have a friend who always try to get the cheapest price whatever the way, he often ends up regretting it but apparently never learns.

 

[Guest]

I have a friend that is just like that Dan and refuses to buy a new frame and he has been through 2 frames and is on his third one in three years. He doesn't always take the best lines and get a little over aggressive. On his last bike he broke the chain stay in half. LOL His last bike was a freeride bike and he still managed to brake it.

 

[gemini6]

I think we all know the same guy!! Lol It seems to cost more in the end for my buddy. I hate to laugh at him, but like Dan said, they never seem to learn...

 

[ustemuf]

well considering i got the bike for 1/3rd of what it cost new and it had over $1500 in upgraded parts, i'd have to crack 3 more frames before the warranty was worth it..

i get your point, it makes sense...but i just want to warn anyone who thinks the moto is capable of taking hits like the ram they say it is - or any of the marketing on the webpage, they should be looking for a burlier bike cause i don't think the moto is it. it was an awesome bike no doubt, i hope the perp is what i'm looking for. the frame comes on tuesday.

 

[Jay04cobra]

IMO if he cased or shorted a jump it would have broiken from the top side down, not the bottom side up. Sometimes it is who you know, if you are a very good customer of the LBS they may be able to help you out on stuff like this. May not seem right to some, but to good customers it is worth the little extra out of pocket when something like this happens.

As a side note, I believe Turner has a warranty for 2 years that is transferable to secondary owners.

 

[dypeterc]

the original owner's info should be in cannondale's warranty database. and the bike shop that it was purchased at should also have a copy of the receipt that they can give the original owner. if the guy that sold this frame to you has any conscience he'll help you out...

 

[JaySC]

most of the time i land front wheel first with the rear at the same time.

How exactly is that possible?

I definitely agree with dypeterc here. If you can track down the original owner here, that would be the best way to approach getting the frame replaced. A good LBS would be willing to help you out, but if your LBS isn't a Cannondale shop then obviously you're out of luck there.

I know if I ever sold my 'Dale (as I'm the original owner) I would have no problem giving up the time for a phone call or two to ensure that the buyer didn't get screwed.

Good luck! Being out of a bike can really get ya down!

 

[88 rex]

the original owner's info should be in cannondale's warranty database. and the bike shop that it was purchased at should also have a copy of the receipt that they can give the original owner. if the guy that sold this frame to you has any conscience he'll help you out...

x2

I would definitely pursue this a little more. Even if you get a replacement frame that you no longer need, you can turn around and sell it. But I would most certainly ask the original owner to get on the phone with the shop he purchased the bike from. Maybe at the very minimum get a crash replacement at cost?