Mr. Beanz

Not sure if I'd call it a crack. looks like a snap!....Riding up a steep climb I felt a pop. I thought it was the BB spindle or a chairing bolt. As I looked down my legs were pedaling out of line so I figured a chinring bolt snapped. It was geting dark so I soft pedaled home. Upon further investigation, I have come to the conclusion that my frame is toast!

Good thing it was on the way up. Just a heads up. if you feel something pop, check it out immediately, take no chances!

solveg

That is such a sad sight. I'm glad you weren't hurt...

Tom Stormcrowe

Your LeMond Ouch, sorry to see that! Bet you're glad it didn't happen on a high speed descent!

redneckwes

That sucks!

I'd send those pictures to Trek, no way it should have done that!

DieselDan

There is a joke here about USA made quality, but I'll leave that alone. Heck, I ride a Cannondale with cantilevered dropouts.

If you are the original owner, and the bike has never been raced or wrecked, Lemond/Trek owes you a new frame.

Mr. Beanz

Yup, the Lemond! I love the fit so not yet sure if I'll go for a warranty replacement or something totally different. Depends on fees. If it's too much, I just might throw in another hundred or two and check into a steel frame since I still have another aluminum bike.

Have a bud checking into it for me!

Thanks Solveg, only thing hurt is my love for the bike!

solveg

OH! I didn't realize it was the LeMond! That is even worse!!!!! How many miles did you have on that frame? Let's see a photo of it in its younger days, so we can mourn it properly.

Mr. Beanz

Thanx to bikejournal. I know the bike had zactly 11,000.9 miles. 2 1/2 years old.


Color in the cracked pics is closer to the actual color. Flash in these pics affected it's color.

solveg

It was very, very beautiful.

DanteB

I love my "steel frame" Waterford. Sorry to hear about your bike, you had such high hopes for this year. Oh well, an excuse to buy a new bike!

Mr. Beanz

Oh but that is my beater bike. This is my ride bike! Big fat oversized BB tubes, it's a stiffy. I use it on rides like The Bear and Breathless Agony!

alanbikehouston

That is the nature of aluminum tubes...when they are over-stressed, they don't bend, they break. Trek tests the heck out of its frames and forks. The sorts of stresses that would occur when a 200 pound guy rides a bike off a five foot high loading dock are within the norm for stress tests.

So....it would be very unusual for a Trek frame to suffer that sort of failure from just normal riding. I was in the woods at a park one day, and saw some young guys attempting to ride down a trail at high speed and jump over a ten foot wide and thirty foot deep gully. Many of them failed to make it. Frames and forks were snapping like stale prezels.

Halthane

Oddly enough the nature of the crack there makes me think that it was a failed tube not failed workmanship. As the crack went through both tubes and the weld line without significant redirection. Means that the weld was done very well. Shoddy welding would have likely cracked around the tube rather than through the weld into another tube.

Either way I'd definitely get a dealer to look at it for warranty purposes.

Air

*sniff*

tpelle

Go steel! I'm a big guy (or else I wouldn't be posting here) at 6' - 2" and 260 lbs. When I decided to buy a road bike, I decided to stay away from aluminum/carbon-fiber and go all steel. I bought a Surly Long Haul Trucker set up as a road bike with 700c x 28 tires. I LOVE THAT BIKE!

I was a little concerned about the weight when I decided on the LHT, but I did some research - looked at the published weights of frame/fork combos from Surly as well as other make's aluminum/carbon-fiber frame/forks, and I satisfied myself that the weight difference in the frame/fork (assuming that all of the other components would weigh the same no matter which frame they were on) was only about 2 pounds. Heck, two pounds is probably less than what one of my shoes weigh!

This summer I'm kind of thinking about having my LBS build up a Surly Traveller's-Check for me with a triple chainring and bar-end shifters. I do a lot of job-related traveling, and would like to get an easy-to-pack road bike to take along on trips.

Skewer

Too bad to lose an old friend, but on the bright side it is a wonderful opportunity to try out a classic steel Lemond---very smooth, nice riding bikes imho.

Caincando1

You're an animal to be able to break that!

john bono

The BB couldn't stand up to Mr Beanz' guads of doom.

Mr. Beanz

Quads of doom! Hehehehe!

Funny but I actually babied the bike. I did some hills and mtns. Some fast flats but never really stood up to HUMP!. I was worried cause it felt flexy compared to my Canni. I think that if I hadn't babied it, might not have lasted a year!

Wogster

Well, your fortunate that this didn't result in a wreck, no matter how bad it seems, as long as nobody is hurt or worse, it's not that big a deal.

You need to contact the manufacturer, about a warranty claim. However, and this depends on the manufacturer, most will replace the frame, however many do not cover the labour of having all the components moved over. With very expensive bikes it can be worth it, say you have a $5,000 bike, then the $400 cost of moving components over can be well worth it, however if you have a $500 bike, then probably not. Depending on the dealer though, sometimes the dealer will credit the new frame from you, so you can get a $500 bike for say $300. Sometimes a dealer, if your a regular customer and spend lots of money there, they will cover the labour costs. Especially if they are in a Northern climate, where often they have almost no business this time of year.

If not, then consider this, get the frame, get the dealer to install a new BB, headset and chain, then do the rest of the work of moving components over yourself. I say go with new components in these cases, as installing an old BB in a new frame, can simply mean in 6 months, your back replacing it again. You learn a lot about bicycle repair building one.

Daveyboy

Can I lend you my bike (I want a new one too)?

jaxgtr

What a bummer. Very lucky your were not hurt. Good luck on the warranty

Mr. Beanz

Yup, really happy it happened the way it did without incident. I contacted the dealer where I purchased the bike. He said to take it in for inspection. If they decide it's under warranty, they will give me the frame and no problems with the do it yourself thing. I built the wheels and have done eveything but the BB, so shouldn't be a problem. Also have a local that has offered to help me if needed. Great thing about the Socal/dotnet forums. I've ridden with about 40 other BF'ers. Always a few willing to help!

jaxgtr

Yea, you folks in the SoCal area seem to have a pretty tight group.

werewolf

Damn! I just saw this and I just ordered an aluminum frame bike for the first time ever (Swift folder)! And, yes, you're lucky you weren't hurt. What if it happened going downhill fast and say you hit a bump and the whole thing came apart?