[Curveball]

I put myself on a waitlist for a pre-order.. and got a frame in like two weeks.. in November

GG's site doesn't even have that option currently though.

I think they are back to offering frames now.

 

[dysfunction]

I think they are back to offering frames now.

Cool, last time I looked was last week

Yep, although the pistol and smash are sold out already.. wow!

 

[Curveball]

Cool, last time I looked was last week

Complete bikes are a challenge due to parts supply, but I got an e-mail that they are back to building frames with limited complete bikes available.

I have an old alloy Megatrail that's built so well that I may be riding it for a very long time.

 

[dysfunction]

Complete bikes are a challenge due to parts supply, but I got an e-mail that they are back to building frames with limited complete bikes available.

I have an old alloy Megatrail that's built so well that I may be riding it for a very long time.

Yea, I've been keeping a sort-of-eye on it as I'm kind of tempted for the next full sush.. I just finished the new hardtail build. My wife would just kill me if I bought another bike .. right now.

 

[aerius]

Um...perhaps you should google titanium frame and "crack"...Ti tends to crack a lot, since the welds are so difficult to do properly and it's a brittle material.

There's a ton of problems with titanium, brittleness ain't one of them. It begins with the tubing, there's a number of companies who use 6Al/4V Ti rather than 3Al/2.5V. Problem there is 6/4 comes in sheets and is rolled & seam welded into tubes, so you get a wonky strip all the way down the length of the tube that can be both a weak spot and a stress riser. Even 3/2.5 requires careful processing when drawing & rolling the tubes to the final dimensions, do it wrong and you end up with a bunch of residual stresses in the tube where it can start cracking apart. There's only a handful of mills that can make the tubes properly.

And finally, welding, which is a serious pain to do. Full internal inert gas purge, and you need enough gas flow and the right cup size on the torch to keep the external parts from getting contaminated. Oh yeah, and a good welder so you don't undercut the metal, get cold welds, or any other funny business. Did I mention proper cleaning & material handling prior to welding? That too. There was a factory tour video on youtube a while back where the manufacturer in question were cutting & machining tubes, dumping them in a box for temp storage, then taking them out and welding them after a quick wipe down. It's not a surprise that their frames were well known for cracking apart at the welds.

There's very few Ti brands that do everything right. I've seen a lot of factory tour videos of various boutique Ti brands and most of the time I'm like "NO".

 

[3blackbikes]

You averaged 22 miles per day, 7 days a week all year? On trails?

Yep, pretty much. I did 2x 24 Hour races (Old Pueblo in Feb, Frog Hollow in Nov), about 6 multi-day bikepacking trips, one was 300 miles over 3 days, another 200 miles, the others were shorter in the 100 plus mile range. Most weeks I averaged about 15-18 hours on the bike. Yeah. I have a problem. 🤷‍♀️

 

[kiotae]

Yep, pretty much. I did 2x 24 Hour races (Old Pueblo in Feb, Frog Hollow in Nov), about 6 multi-day bikepacking trips, one was 300 miles over 3 days, another 200 miles, the others were shorter in the 100 plus mile range. Most weeks I averaged about 15-18 hours on the bike. Yeah. I have a problem. 🤷‍♀️

Badass

 

[bingemtbr]

2 broken/cracked seat stays on 2 different bikes, in 2 years. What gives? Is this common? Bad luck? I'm a bad crasher?

3BB-you are not alone and you are not doing anything wrong. My resume of failed frames: 5 GT LTS (1996-1998 frames), 3 GT iDrives, 8 Ellsworth Jokers, 1 (2005) Bianchi SASS, a few Ventana El Chamuco's, a few more Ventana El Ciclon's, 2 SantaCruz Tallboy3's. My primary trail bike is currently a SantaCruz TB4 with 2k+ mi on it in 2020 and I just ordered a Cervelo Apsero. I usually ride outdoors 3k+ mi per year.

My notes:

1. Have a GREAT relationship with your LBS. The GT's were mostly warrantied within 10 business days. Riteway (GT dist in StL at the time) would ship the frame to my LBS, they'd do a frame over. Back on the bike QUICK. This meant and means a lot to me because at this time I only owned one bicycle.
2. Ellsworth was a nightmare to deal with. However, they warrantied all frames except the last one. The last one they said, I've exhausted my warranty and I sold it as NOS (new old stock) on Ebay.
3. Ventana. I LOVE VENTANA. There will never be a time when I do not own at least 2 Ventana's. The owner of Ventana listened, he said "warranties are one thing, but if you don't redesign the part that failed, then what good are they?". The service I received from Ventana is second to no others. They are wonderful. I rode my Ciclon (and refuse to retire it) right up until December of 2020 when I got the SC Tb4.
4. SantaCruz. My wife (5'8", 125lbs) failed the two Tallboy 3 (2012 & 2014) frames. One was warrantied, the other was a crash replacement. Both experiences were exemplary & awesome as possible. These experiences and the warranty are the reason's I chose the SantaCruz Tallboy4.

Summary-everything breaks eventually. "On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero" - Chuck Palaniuk (Fight Club). Moving forward, I only consider bikes with actual lifetime warranties and only do business with understanding LBS'.

Edited to add: I raced 24HOP in 2019...hoping to return in 2022...

 

[kiotae]

Anyone who ride as much as you do is going to expose themselves to more opportunities for bad luck, crashes, etc than the average. Sometimes crap luck come all at once.

 

[chomxxo]

+1 on Santa Cruz. I call them the Toyota of mountain bikes. Lifetime warranty. Try a Tallboy 4 and let me know if you can break that!

 

[BansheeRune]

2 broken/cracked seat stays on 2 different bikes, in 2 years. What gives? Is this common? Bad luck? I'm a bad crasher? I do ride quite a lot of miles and put my bikes through the wringer, but c'mon!!

Both bikes were high end carbon, same brand but different models. Both were seemingly minor crashes on the drive side, no injury to myself. Also, I'm a 120 lb female, not like I'm a big aggressive rider.

I don't really have a question here, I just wanted to vent. Thanks if you're reading this!!!

Are the landings and impacts taken up with elbows and knees locked or rather rigid? Rider weight becomes a side dish to the story of heavy riding style. Plastic frames can also have weakness due to deep gashes and gouges in the surface, call it an inherent stress riser installed by owner.
Now for the warranty claims.

 

[Crankout]

Time for an unobtanium frame.

 

[stripes]

So good, none are available.. oh, that's pretty much everywhere though

They are now. Take a look at ridegg.com.

 

[chomxxo]

I see a lot of nice bikes for sale and available now on the Pro's Closet, including 2020 models. Good experiences with them.