New User - with carbon frame issue

Triathlon Forum
1

Hi There !

I am a long time reader of this forum (and learned a lot doing that) and new to post here.

Small introduction to myself:

Based in Copenhagen,Denmark, Scandivavia, Europe, and a triathlete during 10 years on-and-off. Finally getting into shape and loosing weight to get faster and aiming to maybe even quality for Hawaii on Lanzarote Ironman this year. As i have learned that you need 10 years to get good in the sport as reported by many athletes and coaches. So this year should be mine !

Anyway i have been following the various debates around safety and cracking of carbonframes and now find myself in that situation.

I finally bought a monobloc carbon frame with TT angles for my coming Ironman. Received it in January, looked at it with love and affection until the snow and salt cleared away and started riding it 3 weeks ago.

Then this Friday I noticed a small bulge at the side of the aero seatpost, which now has turned into a bulge with a sharp edge, contacted the local wholesaler and the company warrenty department. It turns out that they shipped me a frame with a slightly too small seatpost which is the reason that the bulge shows.

When the seatpost screw are not tightend the bulge flattens out again but you can now see a thin grey line when the outer layer carbon folded at approx 4-5mm in lenght.

The warranty dept. reports that this is not dangerous to ride and they will just ship me a new seatpost that fits.

I have demanded that they ship me a new frame as due to a fault of theirs i now have a 2nd rate frame with a damage, which is perhaps not dangerous to ride. But i sort of payed for a new fault free frame and now i will have problems to sell it in future as the entire triclub knows of my frame problem now.

I have screamed and shouted and claimed the EU consumer law, which actually gives me the right to return the frame. But to no result. And i dont have the cash or energy to start a lawsuit.

I will just get a new seatpost and that is it !

My question to you guys would be : is this normal ? Is this how it should be.

The wholesaler manager called me a annoying difficult customer and that i just got unlucky and should live with it.

Nice to get a new bike frame. Dont you think

It is even the most expensive bikepurchase i have ever made and it now takes some of the enjoyment away.

Ride safely out there and be carefull what you buy.

J. Jeberg

Carbon sucks, next time i will get a good old steel or aluminium frame.

2

What frame is this? I agree with you, sounds like someone made mistake and now you get a frame that isn’t right.

3

Impossible. Carbon fiber is the material from which God fabricates His bicycles. It can never be bad. It can only be good. If you’re not riding carbon fiber you might as well be riding a turd with wheels.

Sorry to hear about your problem. Who was the bike manufactured by? This is the kind of stuff consumers should know about - I know I’d like to know who gives top-rate warranty service (and who doesn’t) before dropping thousands of dollars on a product. Perhaps someone from the manufacturer watches the board and can help you out.

4

Hello Sharad

Yes, i definetely got screwed with this.

Not here to bash the name of the manufacturer, allthough it would be appropriate.

I will try to post a picture here for you guys to see if i manage to get it on here.

Small bulge/chip issue i know, but sort of not what i wanted to get included in the purchase.

I think that you americans have a better sort of customerservice than we do in Europe

However this is the normal type of customer service that we get in Europe.

5

Excuse me if I don’t understand, but is the bulge on your seatpost or seat tube? If it’s on your seatpost, then why is the frame faulty?

6

The bulge is on the frame - but it was caused by a too small seatpost being shipped with the frame and thereby the screws on the seatcollar tightned more than they should to hold the seatpost tight. They bulge then appeared on the frame at the bottom of a cutout made for the seatcollar.

I get a new seatpost that fits the frame, but the damage to the frame remains…

Cosmetic only, perhaps but even so i am unhappy.