Nobody here likes to read that, I am sure. I'll alleviate your concerns right now - it's not a $7k jetski hull.
It's a bicycle, quite a bit less than $7k.
Pic of said bike:
See those seat stays? Pretty skinny, eh? The whole thing weighs 21 lbs with the heavy leather saddle.
I bought it in the last days of August and have put on about 2,050 miles on it so far. Not a single problem. I babied it - cleaned and serviced once a week, looked over daily. This is my main transportation, so it needs to be reliable and in top shape. Certain things wear out faster when dirty or in winter, problems are typically much cheaper to solve if caught early.
So yesterday I parked the bike in an unused office space at work. When I geared up to go home, I found the big crack in the top tube that definitely had not been there hours earlier.
Pics of crack:
And then there is a smaller crack on one of those skinny seat stays. Pics:
So here's the neat thing about a composite bicycle frame from the big names: it should be a free warranty replacement without hassles or trying to get some guy in a garage on his phone (no offense to budding hull builders). The warranty just says to immediately stop riding and take it to a Giant dealer for inspection. ANY crack at all is a problem.
Dropped it off at a local shop this afternoon and the Giant rep for the region should be looking at it today or tomorrow. (If it was today, I haven't heard back yet)
Giant has a lifetime warranty on frame and fork for the original owner. They won't fix damaged frames - they only replace them. If it's within 60 days, labor is covered, too. I am just outside that window, so I am curious how that will be handled. I can easily do the swapover myself, but I'd prefer not to and I'd like to have another factory warranty.
TL, DR: New carbon bike frame broke but I am only a little sad because I'll get a new one for free.
It's a bicycle, quite a bit less than $7k.
Pic of said bike:
See those seat stays? Pretty skinny, eh? The whole thing weighs 21 lbs with the heavy leather saddle.
I bought it in the last days of August and have put on about 2,050 miles on it so far. Not a single problem. I babied it - cleaned and serviced once a week, looked over daily. This is my main transportation, so it needs to be reliable and in top shape. Certain things wear out faster when dirty or in winter, problems are typically much cheaper to solve if caught early.
So yesterday I parked the bike in an unused office space at work. When I geared up to go home, I found the big crack in the top tube that definitely had not been there hours earlier.
Pics of crack:
And then there is a smaller crack on one of those skinny seat stays. Pics:
So here's the neat thing about a composite bicycle frame from the big names: it should be a free warranty replacement without hassles or trying to get some guy in a garage on his phone (no offense to budding hull builders). The warranty just says to immediately stop riding and take it to a Giant dealer for inspection. ANY crack at all is a problem.
Dropped it off at a local shop this afternoon and the Giant rep for the region should be looking at it today or tomorrow. (If it was today, I haven't heard back yet)
Giant has a lifetime warranty on frame and fork for the original owner. They won't fix damaged frames - they only replace them. If it's within 60 days, labor is covered, too. I am just outside that window, so I am curious how that will be handled. I can easily do the swapover myself, but I'd prefer not to and I'd like to have another factory warranty.
TL, DR: New carbon bike frame broke but I am only a little sad because I'll get a new one for free.