So I am out doing my last 100+ ride before Ironman Wisconsin today and just having a very hard time biking. Kept looking at my rear tire thinking it was flat, just no go and could only average 17 MPH. At 60 miles in I look again as I am working way too hard to keep a 20 MPH pace when I see that my frame is cracked at the weld of the seat stay and the chain stay on the drive side.
So now I don’t have a bike, no money for a new bike, and even if I did have big $$$ hanging around I need a bike within 3 weeks. So it looks like I will be riding a bike I have never trained on for IM Moo and will have to blow off my race next weekend! This sucks…
Anyone know if Specialized will warranty this? The bike is about 7 years old and is alum A1…
Is there any place you can rent a bike for the race?
You might try a local tri club and see if they have a bike they could loan you, or maybe your LBS could work something out for you if you know them well enough. I borrowed a set of wheels from an lbs before a race last year.
My guess is Specialized will warranty the frame for you. If you bought it local, take it to the shop and they should get in touch with Specialized for you. You can also probably call them directly and see what they want you to do. If you’re lucky, they’ll have to upgrade you to a newer model and you can probably even get a different type of frame for a small fee!
In the meantime, try to take all of your measurements from your old bike and set up the borrowed one the exact same way. It might not handle the same, but at least you’ll be using the same muscles.
I would find it very unlikely that a 7 year old ali frame is still under warranty. Ali bikes are generally expected to be used for 3-5 years. Some last longer, but the racier ali bikes do have limited lives.
Specialized Rocks. They not only warranteed the frame (they have a lifetime warrantee) they upgraded my frame so I now have a carbon seat stay and a new carbon fork. Now I just need to get some miles on the bike since it is a little different set up. Did a nice 70 miles in the hills today and I am looking forward to IMMOO…
Eric: I am from East Grand Rapids and work with Corey at Village Bike. He has been great to work with for many years. I am also on the village Bike Tri-team. Don’t you also live in EGR?