Hey guys, just would like some thought and discussion on my dilemma.
I bought a bike last year, a 2008 Giant OCR Alliance Comp from a local bike shop - TBE Belmont, in Perth, Western Australia.
About a month ago, I had a minor spill on the way to uni and came off at just under 30km/h. I hit the ground quite hard and got some road rash and a chipped tooth. Apart from that everything was okay. I then got up to check the bike, and was absolutely amazed that the front fork had completely sheared in half, halfway down the fork blade. The top of the fork is still attached to the headtube and steerer, whilst the bottom half is still connected to the dropouts on the front wheel. I have taken a few pictures and they are shown as below.
I know that warranty does not cover crashes or accidental damage. But what does this mean EXACTLY? This phrase is very vague. Does it mean if i'm rolling down my driveway at 10km/h and fall out because I was unable to clip out my pedals and snap a fork, that this would this void the warranty? Surely there must be some baseline margin in which bicycle manufacturer's must meet, even if the consumer (like myself) crashes his/her bike.
In this case I believe my bike/fork was no where near up to the strength it should have been. Falling off the side at less than 30km/h on a dry day without hitting anything that led to a structural failure of a fork is inexplicable.
I remember in the 07 Tour when Marcus Burghardt (also riding a Giant) hit a dog going downhill, which completely demolished his front wheel and drove his front fork into the ground, which came out fine - no failure, no nothing. Even though his wheel was bent like it was a piece of play-dough.
My question is, how can Giant expect me to believe that this fork was structurally sound when I didn't subject it to forces anywhere near racers/other riders would have subjected it to. I have only been riding for about a year, and i'm relatively light (65kg), and I don't put alot of force on the bike itself. The rest of the bike itself is fine - apart from a few scratches on the STI levers and bit of handlebar tape that's come off, its fine. I mean not a SINGLE spoke has been taken out of their housings at the rim or at the hub. The front wheel is still true and there isn't even a flat spot on the front tyre. Clearly there is a disproportionate amount of damage for the amount of force during the crash itself, which leads me to believe that the fork was structurally unsound in some way.
When I took the bike in straight after the crash, the mechanics at the shop were amazed at what had happened and one of the older guys there (I think the manager) said something along the lines of "In my 10 years working here, I have never seen or even heard of a fork failure like the one on yours". Afterwards I spoke to the head of service for the store and he said that he deals with hundreds of services a year, for racers and recreational riders alike, and that he'd never seen anything like it as well. So my question is, how can a recreational rider like myself rip a fork in half just by falling off, when these mechanics who have been dealing with bikes for 10 years + for racers never come across anything like it? After about a month of waiting, I contacted the shop again, and they said Giant would not be replacing my fork under warranty as it's my fault I crashed it, and that's the end of it. They didn't want anything about my story and the circumstances in which the crash occurred. They then said Giant would like to help me out by offering a replacement bike at a 'heavily discounted price' - and when i heard this, in my mind i LOLed. I mean COME ON, do you seriously expect me to fork (no pun intended) out another 2 grand for a bike which I don't trust, and more importantly on a bike built by a manufacturer I don't trust? What's going to happen if I do get a replacement Giant? I ride into a deep pothole and the front fork gives way on me?
Any thoughts/comments welcome, if you've been in a similar situation, please share your situation/comments and what occurred when you dealt with the manufacturer.
-Iceman
I bought a bike last year, a 2008 Giant OCR Alliance Comp from a local bike shop - TBE Belmont, in Perth, Western Australia.
About a month ago, I had a minor spill on the way to uni and came off at just under 30km/h. I hit the ground quite hard and got some road rash and a chipped tooth. Apart from that everything was okay. I then got up to check the bike, and was absolutely amazed that the front fork had completely sheared in half, halfway down the fork blade. The top of the fork is still attached to the headtube and steerer, whilst the bottom half is still connected to the dropouts on the front wheel. I have taken a few pictures and they are shown as below.
I know that warranty does not cover crashes or accidental damage. But what does this mean EXACTLY? This phrase is very vague. Does it mean if i'm rolling down my driveway at 10km/h and fall out because I was unable to clip out my pedals and snap a fork, that this would this void the warranty? Surely there must be some baseline margin in which bicycle manufacturer's must meet, even if the consumer (like myself) crashes his/her bike.
In this case I believe my bike/fork was no where near up to the strength it should have been. Falling off the side at less than 30km/h on a dry day without hitting anything that led to a structural failure of a fork is inexplicable.
I remember in the 07 Tour when Marcus Burghardt (also riding a Giant) hit a dog going downhill, which completely demolished his front wheel and drove his front fork into the ground, which came out fine - no failure, no nothing. Even though his wheel was bent like it was a piece of play-dough.
My question is, how can Giant expect me to believe that this fork was structurally sound when I didn't subject it to forces anywhere near racers/other riders would have subjected it to. I have only been riding for about a year, and i'm relatively light (65kg), and I don't put alot of force on the bike itself. The rest of the bike itself is fine - apart from a few scratches on the STI levers and bit of handlebar tape that's come off, its fine. I mean not a SINGLE spoke has been taken out of their housings at the rim or at the hub. The front wheel is still true and there isn't even a flat spot on the front tyre. Clearly there is a disproportionate amount of damage for the amount of force during the crash itself, which leads me to believe that the fork was structurally unsound in some way.
When I took the bike in straight after the crash, the mechanics at the shop were amazed at what had happened and one of the older guys there (I think the manager) said something along the lines of "In my 10 years working here, I have never seen or even heard of a fork failure like the one on yours". Afterwards I spoke to the head of service for the store and he said that he deals with hundreds of services a year, for racers and recreational riders alike, and that he'd never seen anything like it as well. So my question is, how can a recreational rider like myself rip a fork in half just by falling off, when these mechanics who have been dealing with bikes for 10 years + for racers never come across anything like it? After about a month of waiting, I contacted the shop again, and they said Giant would not be replacing my fork under warranty as it's my fault I crashed it, and that's the end of it. They didn't want anything about my story and the circumstances in which the crash occurred. They then said Giant would like to help me out by offering a replacement bike at a 'heavily discounted price' - and when i heard this, in my mind i LOLed. I mean COME ON, do you seriously expect me to fork (no pun intended) out another 2 grand for a bike which I don't trust, and more importantly on a bike built by a manufacturer I don't trust? What's going to happen if I do get a replacement Giant? I ride into a deep pothole and the front fork gives way on me?
Any thoughts/comments welcome, if you've been in a similar situation, please share your situation/comments and what occurred when you dealt with the manufacturer.
-Iceman
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