All…I recently bought a used Trek Speed Concept and found a hairline crack on the rear dropout. Unfortunately a repair would entail lots of carbon working and Calfee said this is something they would not take on. Additionally the local trek dealer said that I could not use the frame warranty as this only applies to the original buyer and that this was “crash damage”. While browsing other SC frames for sale on ebay I noticed another with the same exact problem. Then found more threads on the web regarding similar issues. So my question is how widespread this problem was and if it’s still an issue with the 2013/2014 frames?
Maybe you can get the original owner to use the frame warranty for you?
Early on in the original SC production we did change some things in the region of the chainstay joints (and a couple other places) to deal with cosmetic paint cracks. Wonder if that’s the problem you found other references to. We’re always looking for ways to improve the bike and the 2014 SC is no different, so while I can say cosmetic paint cracks shouldn’t occur on the 2014 version to the degree we might’ve seen them on older models, it’s impossible for us (or any other manufacturer) to guarantee it’ll never ever happen. And that’s dealt with in our paint warranty policy.
As carl said - are you sure it’s a frame crack and not a paint crack?
Post some pictures.
The old TTX was notorious for paint cracks, and I had some issues with my first SC frame on paint cracks.
Post some pictures.
+1. And put your camera or phone in macro mode first. The icon looks like this:
Oh, no this is not cosmetic. In fact it’s so misshaped now that I can’t get the rear wheel in the drop out.
I am not at home at the moment but here’s a link to a similar issue on ebay- this one has broken off at the fracture
So…not a broken chainstay, but a damaged rear derailleur hanger and driveside rear dropout. That’s what’s pictured in the eBay ad, anyway.
If that’s what you’re seeing, yes there were reports of damage to that area of the bike…you can find some in this forum…and there were a variety of scenarios (crashes, poor packaging techniques, etc) which could cause it. As in the paint crack case there have been improvements made to that region of the bike to reduce the risk of occurrence. Some changes were made during the original models’ production run, and the 2014 bike has a different hanger mounting design altogether.
Unfortunately, the bonded-in dropout portion is not replaceable or repairable. I can see why Calfee declined to take it on, because it’s an aluminum part…not a carbon repair.
Have you been on a trip recently where you boxed your bike?
Carl…Duh. I knew it was the dropout, just had a brain fart with terminology. I have no idea what happened, as I mentioned I bought the bike on ebay and did not notice the crack upon initial inspection. The dropout is aluminum and bonded to the carbon so I imagine that no one will want to take this on- which sucks because I would really like to buy a replacement but worry about experiencing the same issue and having Trek refuse to warranty it claiming “failure due to crash”.
Thanks
I just bought the bike so yes it was shipped. I’d like to think that’s what caused it but my mechanic pointed out that the bike had a brand new derailleur hanger on it without any sign of ever having a wheel mounted
I just bought the bike so yes it was shipped. I’d like to think that’s what caused it but my mechanic pointed out that the bike had a brand new derailleur hanger on it without any sign of ever having a wheel mounted
Sounds like you might have been sold a broken bike. I’d be contacting the seller/paypal if you purchased it through those channels.
Why would you even think of paying to have it repaired?
You should be working with the ebay seller, ebay, and paypal to get your money back.
What’s the probability that you would end up “experiencing the same issue”? Neither one of us can answer that because there are too many unknowns…including the history of the used bike you bought. At the very least, you’d know there was no such history with a new bike/frame.
It’s a common problem on all bikes after certain kinds of crashes.
Carl…Duh. I knew it was the dropout, just had a brain fart with terminology. I have no idea what happened, as I mentioned I bought the bike on ebay and did not notice the crack upon initial inspection. The dropout is aluminum and bonded to the carbon so I imagine that no one will want to take this on- which sucks because I would really like to buy a replacement but worry about experiencing the same issue and having Trek refuse to warranty it claiming “failure due to crash”.
Thanks
It’s not bonded to the carbon. The hanger actually unscrew from the frame. The small Allen wrench screw is painted over so it doesn’t look like it’s removable but it is.
Never mind. I see we are talking about the companion part.
I am working it through Paypal but I want to cover all my options.
Really? I don’t know of anyone that this has happened to. I realize that ~100 bikes is a small sample size but no one in my circle has ever heard of this happening. Not on road bikes, TT bikes, mountain bikes, cross bikes, etc. However I don’t know of anyone that rides for a living- their experiences may be very different.
I don’t know what to say other that, yes really. If you’ve never seen it you haven’t seen many crashes. It’s very common and nothing special about the SC. It’s so common that rear dropout design typically takes the problem into account, either by trying to minimize the potential damage in a crash or in some cases by being designed to be replaceable.
I know of two (me being one) folks that have had the derailleur hanger ripped from the bike in such a fashion as to render it irreparable - short of a donor frame.