Sorry for your troubles. It sounds like you're taking the nice and reasonable approach, but now you need to dig in and be more aggressive.

First, what EXACTLY does the warranty say? Study the literal language. Then figure out where you problem fits within that language. People read "lifetime" and just assume everything is covered. That definitely is not the case. You need to be able to articulate exactly how your issue falls within the warranty.

Also, can you explain more about why the stuck cable requires a new frame? And how that problem falls on the bike company? The bike company could say that the cable is a maintenance problem / lack of care and put the blame back on you or your bike shop. I'm not trying to put any blame on you whatsoever, but you have to also view it from the bike company's standpoint. They might say the frame is perfectly fine and structurally intact.

Who and how did you contact the bike company? Phone, email? I would escalate the issue and try to contact as many people as you can at the bike company until you reach a real decision maker. Even try their Facebook page. Don't take a simple NO as an answer. Have them explain precisely why the frame warranty is being denied.

Where are you located and how old is the bike? Assuming time limits have not expired and the UCC (or some semblance thereof) is followed you should have a claim against the retailer e.g. the LBS. That is the way to put pressure on the situation to get something done (if you have a good relationship I'm surprised that they haven't already stepped up - my LBS would). There is a good chance that the dollar amount is within the jurisdiction of your state's version of small claims court (close to "people's court), which you could file and pursue on your own. Hope thsi gets you started.

Best wishes,

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

 
I'd guess this might be their out

warrants the structural integrity of the frame or frameset

is the frame still structurally sound? is it unsafe to ride because of the cable issue?


not saying its right but id think they worded their warranty very carefully to have to replace as few bikes as possible

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Boots
Fleet Feet Rochester, NY
Fleet Feet Buffalo, NY
YellowJacket Racing, Rochester, NY

Not a lawyer here, but for an 11 year old bike and no real 'damage' to the frame, I'm skeptical about getting a whole new bike for free out of this.

I have an annoyingly internal-cable routed Cervelo p2c that has seriously annoyingly small exit holes, to the point it would literallly be a design flaw today (you can't even fit a cable route kit head through it.) It would be easy to lose a cable liner or even a shortened cable within the frame if you're not careful, but I doubt that would fall under a real frame failure.

A good lbs should be able to fish that thing out. Might take freaking' forever, but I don't see how a cable in there can't be removed after getting them routed through my teensy tiny frame holes quite a few times.

This is exactly what I expected before even seeing the warranty language. Even if the bike is unusable, or at least un-shiftable, the frame itself is still intact and not defective from a structural standpoint. I don't see where the OP's issue falls within the language that is quoted. Perhaps there is other warranty language that will work, but the language posted above is much more in the bike company's favor.

I had an issue with Brand X and similar continued push back to the LBS (who was 90 mins away) by the Bike company - what i did discover is their definition of life time coverage and my definition was miles apart - they suggested that it meant something like for the life time of that particular model which they determined in my case as 6 years....my stance was to get the frame repaired and never darken their door with any purchase again - despite it being my 7th bike from that brand....

Is the cause of the cable sticking the opinion of the LBS?

Do you or the LBS have records of all service performed on the bike over it's lifetime? Does that follow any prescribed maintenance schedules advised by the OEM?

Lifetime unfortunately does not mean lifetime for everything. It's more like lifetime limited to the very specific things the warranty says are covered. As I mentioned above, you need to articulate exactly where the issue falls within the specific warranty language. I don't see that based on what you've shared so far.

What exactly do you want the bike company to do? They can't give you a replacement of your current frame because I doubt they make it any more, which is why they offered the discount.

Thanks for this. My LBS told me that a retention section of the frame snapped inside. I'd love for them to fix it. Backup plan, replace with an equal level frame.

I tend to agree, but if this was a high value litigation, or if I were in small claims court, I would argue the plain meaning of structural integrity is simply that the frame doesn't fail in any way - if an internal router has failed, then the structural integrity has failed. This isn't a slam dunk, but not much else to go on.

Given that this is 11 years old, I think you likely lose on most consumer protection legislation as well.

If it were me, I would just a huge PIA and fight every step to get a new frame (if I knew the problem was internal breakage - no matter how small). But in the end, I think it is more practical to keep chasing a solution, and at worst, write off an 11 year old frame and buy a new one at a discount.

Just my thoughts (don't take as legal advice...).

Again, very sorry to hear about the frame. I think your best bet is to pursue a practical solution with the bike company, hopefully with the LBS help. This doesn’t sound like a situation where the law is in your favor.

I don’t think the bike company is going to give you a new frame, but I would press for the biggest discount on a replacement frame or bike that you can get. Good luck, and hopefully the feedback here has helped.

I think lifetime warranties on bikes is like a typical battery warranty. It's prorated based on how old the bike is.

What is a "retention section"?

Maybe it's a good time to consider AXS...

How was it stored for the five years? Was it working before you stored it? Does not riding a bike for five years satisfy a 'regular use'?

It's 11 years old. Sell it as-is and buy a new bike.

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There’s no way he wins this, I would take the discount because compared to the bikes out there now there is no reason to keep using the one he has. When he copied the whole warranty it was easy to figure out the bike.

Or 1X :)

Any chance that the bike is an S-Works Transition and it is the FD cable the is stuck down by where it exits the frame?? If so, that was a common and known issue.... they molded the cable in place (opps)... the solution was to send the frame in and they added an external stop while drilling out the hole.

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Team Zoot

Update: The bike co and I came to a very fair resolution. I've restored my faith in this company. You'll see above that I removed my overview and comments. Thanks everyone!