Joined
·
61 Posts
Ok…I wasn't going to come on here and post this, mostly because Scott and my LBS handled the issue so quickly and satisfactorily that I kinda feel bad about it. My reason for changing my mind is that I feel I owe it to MTB culture to do what I can to prevent someone else from having a similar experience.
Here's what you need to know :
Rider: 6'3"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Riding style: aggressive trail
Location: Arizona
Bike: Scott Ransom 20
I ride 6 days a week here in Arizona and average about 12 - 14 miles each day. I ride I guess what people are calling "aggressive trail" these days, used to just be called mountain biking. I don't venture off the trail for free riding at all, but when I see water bars or drops on the trail, I hit 'em with all I have.
The point? I have been through 3 carbon ransom 20 frames in as many months.
The first one…stress fractures developed about 2" above the BB on the down tube, I was told by my LBS and local Scott dealer (not at all familiar with the bike by the way) that the cracks were superficial and only on the surface. They told me to ride with confidence as did my Scott rep…
Well I did, and paid the price. While crossing from trail to trail at my local spot, I decided to gap the whopping 4' space in between 2 parking blocks with an 18" high bunny hop. Huge, I know…I told you I go big. I land it smooth…and POP! I thought the shock blew up…turns out it was the frame exploding underneath me. 1 down…
So Scott makes good and demos me a Ransom 10 while they work on replacing my 20. Sweet ride…and mighty nice of them to boot. 'cept for the part where they forgot the loc-tite on the pin that threads through the shock knuckle. The pin had backed out and under normal compression, rebounded …tearing a 1 1/2" x 1" hole in the interior of the carbon frame. 2 down…
Now, I'm kinda pissed. But I play it cool and just call 'em up, tell them what happened and that I was beginning to lose confidence in their product. I'm told by Scott these two incidents are the result of me being a "very unlucky person" and I go along with it because I do have really bad luck. They again tell me to ride with confidence and that their products are meant to withstand anything an aggressive trail rider can throw at them. LBS and Scott rep told me the 1st frame was sent to the engineers in Switzerland for inspection. LBS and Scott rep also told me that no carbon frames have failed in this manner on any of their U.S. bikes, but that the Swiss engineers have seen it a few times in Europe. They said that they were sending back a European version of the 20 frame, supposedly beefed up around the down tube where the break occurred.
I got my 20 back and I'm so happy…back to riding what is (when in one piece) on the surface, a very formidable and fun point & shoot AM rig. But, given my recent history with the bike, I'm checking the down tube before every ride to make sure no stress fractures are developing…there aren't any. I'm gearing up at the trailhead and a rider pulls up next to me and asks if I can show him around because he just moved to Arizona. I said yeah and we headed off to the best part of the loops…a decent that boasts about 40 2' - 3' water bars. I wanted to show him a good time so we were blasting off every one we could. Its worth mentioning that blasting off for me (and him) was pretty moderate jumping to slightly sloped landings. I'd say tires no more than 4' off the ground and traveling about 15' - 20' down trail on the really big ones. And it was one of the big ones that claimed the last carbon bike I will ever ride…at least one made by Scott. This one completely snapped in half at the same down tube spot. I tweaked my wrist pretty bad, but again…kept it rubber side down. The guy I was riding with is the nicest guy in the world, he gets off his bike and hikes the 4 miles we had back to the car. Even gave me his name and number to contact him if Scott gave me any flack about the kind of riding I was doing when it broke…he was pretty amazed that what we were doing was all it took to break a frame like that. 3 down...
All in all the LBS and Scott worked together to fully credit my account for the full purchase price of the bike and did it rather quickly (about a week). Also worth mentioning is that my Dad is an attorney and helped me put together a "letter of encouragement"…that helped as well, I'm sure. Scott's customer service is great…and my LBS hung in there and made it right in the end. I just don't think Scott's carbon is up to snuff…and it has led me to believe that carbon in general may not quite be ready for aggressive riders…I could be way off, and maybe better technology is out there on other rigs…I just won't ever find out about it.
Here's what you need to know :
Rider: 6'3"
Weight: 180 lbs.
Riding style: aggressive trail
Location: Arizona
Bike: Scott Ransom 20
I ride 6 days a week here in Arizona and average about 12 - 14 miles each day. I ride I guess what people are calling "aggressive trail" these days, used to just be called mountain biking. I don't venture off the trail for free riding at all, but when I see water bars or drops on the trail, I hit 'em with all I have.
The point? I have been through 3 carbon ransom 20 frames in as many months.
The first one…stress fractures developed about 2" above the BB on the down tube, I was told by my LBS and local Scott dealer (not at all familiar with the bike by the way) that the cracks were superficial and only on the surface. They told me to ride with confidence as did my Scott rep…
Well I did, and paid the price. While crossing from trail to trail at my local spot, I decided to gap the whopping 4' space in between 2 parking blocks with an 18" high bunny hop. Huge, I know…I told you I go big. I land it smooth…and POP! I thought the shock blew up…turns out it was the frame exploding underneath me. 1 down…

So Scott makes good and demos me a Ransom 10 while they work on replacing my 20. Sweet ride…and mighty nice of them to boot. 'cept for the part where they forgot the loc-tite on the pin that threads through the shock knuckle. The pin had backed out and under normal compression, rebounded …tearing a 1 1/2" x 1" hole in the interior of the carbon frame. 2 down…


Now, I'm kinda pissed. But I play it cool and just call 'em up, tell them what happened and that I was beginning to lose confidence in their product. I'm told by Scott these two incidents are the result of me being a "very unlucky person" and I go along with it because I do have really bad luck. They again tell me to ride with confidence and that their products are meant to withstand anything an aggressive trail rider can throw at them. LBS and Scott rep told me the 1st frame was sent to the engineers in Switzerland for inspection. LBS and Scott rep also told me that no carbon frames have failed in this manner on any of their U.S. bikes, but that the Swiss engineers have seen it a few times in Europe. They said that they were sending back a European version of the 20 frame, supposedly beefed up around the down tube where the break occurred.
I got my 20 back and I'm so happy…back to riding what is (when in one piece) on the surface, a very formidable and fun point & shoot AM rig. But, given my recent history with the bike, I'm checking the down tube before every ride to make sure no stress fractures are developing…there aren't any. I'm gearing up at the trailhead and a rider pulls up next to me and asks if I can show him around because he just moved to Arizona. I said yeah and we headed off to the best part of the loops…a decent that boasts about 40 2' - 3' water bars. I wanted to show him a good time so we were blasting off every one we could. Its worth mentioning that blasting off for me (and him) was pretty moderate jumping to slightly sloped landings. I'd say tires no more than 4' off the ground and traveling about 15' - 20' down trail on the really big ones. And it was one of the big ones that claimed the last carbon bike I will ever ride…at least one made by Scott. This one completely snapped in half at the same down tube spot. I tweaked my wrist pretty bad, but again…kept it rubber side down. The guy I was riding with is the nicest guy in the world, he gets off his bike and hikes the 4 miles we had back to the car. Even gave me his name and number to contact him if Scott gave me any flack about the kind of riding I was doing when it broke…he was pretty amazed that what we were doing was all it took to break a frame like that. 3 down...


All in all the LBS and Scott worked together to fully credit my account for the full purchase price of the bike and did it rather quickly (about a week). Also worth mentioning is that my Dad is an attorney and helped me put together a "letter of encouragement"…that helped as well, I'm sure. Scott's customer service is great…and my LBS hung in there and made it right in the end. I just don't think Scott's carbon is up to snuff…and it has led me to believe that carbon in general may not quite be ready for aggressive riders…I could be way off, and maybe better technology is out there on other rigs…I just won't ever find out about it.