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Crank Brothers no longer honoring warranty requests

3475 Views 11 Replies 11 Participants Last post by willtsmith_nwi, Sep 17, 2009

sjsielen

Discussion Starter · Jun 16, 2009

As a Crank Brothers customer for well over 5 years, I have generally been very pleased with their products and services. I have owned 2 pairs of Mallets, 2 pairs of Candies, 1 pair of Egg Beaters, and 1 pair of 50/50s (XX), in addition to their 17 piece multi-tool and alloy mini pump with gauge.

Originally, I used to rebuild the pedals myself - order the rebuild kit, dissamble, clean, replace bushings/bearings, grease, and reassemble. Not that difficult. Found I had to do this rather frequently (riding everyday of the year - both commuting and trails). Eventually I noticed a loss of spring tension in some of the pedals. Called them up, got an RA #, sent them in, and a couple weeks later, springs back to normal, and new bushings and bearings, too (as they were within the 2-year warranty period.)

The last time I called, I explained I had two pairs of pedals with loose spring tension and that I was unable to remove the plates from the mallets. They said no problem, gave me an RA # and said I could send the two pairs in together.

Sent them in and several weeks later, received an email saying that the springs will cost $10 a pair and the rebuild will cost $20 a pair. Here are their words, "Got your pedals here and wanted to let you know that we no longer rebuild pedals for free and do it as a service with a great price! "

Asked them when they started this new policy and they said within the last three months. Could they not have told me this on the phone?

So what does their warranty cover? The fact that they will service them for a great price of$30?

Don't get me wrong I like their pedals - just wish their springs would last at least a year and this new warranty policy seems quite obsurd.

Noticed a lot of shops having trouble selling their headsets and skewers and heard about a lot of issues with their headsets - wonder if they are having financial trouble from their "less-successful" products. I mean they released a crazy expensive ISIS crankset and bottom brackets after the success of external setups.

Anyone else encounter this recently?

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Jerk_Chicken

· #2 · Jun 16, 2009

They were giving people services as a courtesy, so now they're finally enforcing the charges because their repairs and warranty is probably 60% of their activity. I don't see a big deal about it, BUT now if this is true, at least we won't have those "My Crank X product broke, but they have great customer service!" posts anymore.

So basically, they changed their policy or enforced the official policy they had all along.

As far as the springs not lasting, it's Crank. What do you expect? Myself and my gf have been on Times since 06 and they have lasted without any attention.

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andy85

· #3 · Jun 17, 2009

man that sucks!!I
i hate it when companies do this. Its plan dirty. They should've told you over the phone. Bastards

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Junkyard

· #4 · Jun 17, 2009

Back in the early days of mountain bike racing you would always see a few guys with broken bits at every race. Stems, frames, forks, bars, wheels, chains etc...

These days the the gear is that good it's pretty rare to see busted stuff.

Oh.... except for the guy missing half is Crackbros pedal. There's at least one of them at every race without fail.

I don't know.... I look at a lot of their designs and think it's 100% bling fashion and 0% engineering. Those 2 piece hollow cranks they made.... lol.... those ugly wheels... urrrgh...

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sjsielen

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 19, 2009

After finally getting a hold of a live person at Crank Brothers (never remember it being difficult before) and explaining my scenario, they tell me that they will replace the springs and send them back to me at no charge, though they are going to reuse the bearings, bushings, and nuts, unless I pay the full rebuild fee. Fair enough - though REUSE? parts that their instructions direct you to discard upon dissambly?

Its a shame - I really like the mudshedding design of CB's pedals - just not worth it to keep having to send them in because the springs wear out. Will need to research alternative pedals, especially after hearing what others had to say about CB. I mean, I know pros use them, though they are able to have parts replaced a lot more frequently than everyone else. Probably just stick with flats for now - better for progressive riding anyways.

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shiggy

· #6 · Jun 19, 2009

sjsielen said:
After finally getting a hold of a live person at Crank Brothers (never remember it being difficult before) and explaining my scenario, they tell me that they will replace the springs and send them back to me at no charge, though they are going to reuse the bearings, bushings, and nuts, unless I pay the full rebuild fee. Fair enough - though REUSE? parts that their instructions direct you to discard upon dissambly?

Its a shame - I really like the mudshedding design of CB's pedals - just not worth it to keep having to send them in because the springs wear out. Will need to research alternative pedals, especially after hearing what others had to say about CB. I mean, I know pros use them, though they are able to have parts replaced a lot more frequently than everyone else. Probably just stick with flats for now - better for progressive riding anyways.

hmmm...I have been using CB pedals since year one of production. Never had spring issues. Have had a few bearing problems (Acids) and one broken spindle end (1st generation EB).

CB has sent me the bearings I needed at N/C. CS answers to phone first time, every time, too.

In the past they have been very generous with warranty of pedals even outside of the 2 year time frame. You did not mention if the last pedals you sent in were older than that or not. Of course the policy change should have been mentioned and they need to start asking for proof of purchase and/or start an on-line product registration for warranty work.

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queevil

· #7 · Jun 19, 2009

I'm not all that impressed with their mini pump w/pressure guage. It's not a warranty issue because it works but it doesn't work well. It's hard to hold a good seal on the presta valve. However, I love their CB17 multi-tool. It's small, light ,simple and just plain works well. The chain tool is kinda hard to use but it still works.

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albatrosnh

· #8 · Jun 20, 2009

Sorry about the $$ to get them back. I know a few people with Crank pedals, and never heard of them wearing so fast. Have heard of them breaking though!

I have a pair of Speedplay frogs for over 12 years now and have only replaced the cleats once. Only did that because when I was moving them to a new pair fo shoes I lost the bushing mounted clip. (New cleats are nicer too, IMHO.)

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bigjp

· #9 · Jun 21, 2009

I guess I have been lucky with my egg beater sl's that I have used for 2.5 years of riding 4-5 days per week spring - fall, I have regressed them a few times, and am on my second pair of cleats but that's it

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Dgage

· #10 · Jun 22, 2009

Same here. Love my Eggbeaters too, in fact so much that a bunch of my friends went out and got them for their bikes. I've had them three years, never rebuilt them and they still work fine. Of course I only put about 1500 kms on my bike per year so maybe thats why. (all trail riding)

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scooter916

· #11 · Jun 22, 2009

I have been running my 4 ti's for 5 years now, I have regreased them once, replaced cleats a few times and they are running just as good as day one. this past year I gained a bit of weight and have been am over the weight limit by 30lbs and they are still running strong

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willtsmith_nwi

· #12 · Sep 17, 2009

A Crank Brothers rebuild is pretty easy. I was shocked when they tried to charge me $30 for the job. I said no, just replace the broken axel and I would grease the pedals myself. I don't like that spray on lithium grease they use anyway. It leaks away and dries up pretty quickly given the poor seals.

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