# My frame cracked....



## cbags101 (May 23, 2008)

I have a 2006 Felt F65. I was riding, climbing up a hill and the back end felt like it came loose a bit. Kind of like when you get a flat in the rear. Only the tire wasnt flat, the frame had cracked right where the chain stay tube is welded to the drop out on the drive side.

I was going to call Felt and ask about getting it replaced because they are supposed to have a lifetime warranty, but I looked online and it says the warranty doesnt transfer to the 2nd owner. Also, I purchased the bike online, again voiding the warranty. There are also no Felt dealers in town that could help me on the matter.

My question is this: has anyone here dealt with Felt's customer service? What are the chances of me getting this frame replaced? Any tactical tips?

(On a side note, I have a perfectly good stem, handlebars, carbon seatpost, and carbon fork that I may want to get rid of....)


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## tomacita (May 7, 2007)

*try this...*

you could try to contact the original owner and see if they can provide the original receipt. Get that and you're golden. Otherwise you can try to go to a Felt dealer and see if they can work something out with Felt. The same failure just happened to me, but I was a little more fortunate. The crash replacement cost $195, not too bad. If all else fails, find a custom frame shop or old classic bike shop who can weld it back. Before I heard back from Felt, I was quoted 75-$100 to have the weld repaired on the drive side chainstay right in front of the derrailer hanger. I hope this might help you and I wish you luck. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles. I doubt it helps to consider that I can empathize with you, as this same failure occured with my frame as well. I think Felt needs to figure out why this keeps happening. Anyhow, I'm sorry and good luck!


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## pfleming (May 29, 2008)

This could be put under a thread "Felt design flaws". I had a Felt DA 700 and the seatpost restraint bolt bound in the frame, leaving it unadjustable and almost useless since it is now too low for me (especially after changing pedals). Felt said they'd try to fix it (a ~common problem with that design) in email, but when the LBS tried to get formal direction from them, they were given the silent treatment for months. Really bad customer service. I ended up just buying a new Felt B2 Pro and the collar for the seatpost restraint broke after a week and a half and all of 4 rides. Very disappointing they are still having similar problems with top-end bikes. Felt may not be paying enough attention to fixing recurring design flaws. However, the weld could be a workmanship flaw.


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## terbennett (Apr 1, 2006)

Hey that happened to a 2005 Felt F80 I used to own last year. I was climbing a hill and it cracked in the same spot. I took it to an LBS that specializes in Felt. The shop owner called Felt and left a message about the frame cracking that Monday. Felt never returned his call. Tuesday, my new frame shows up. No questions asked. They didn't even check to see if I was the original owner eventhough I had my purchase receipt with me. The shop owner just said, "This is Tim at Switchback Cyclery in Orange, California. I have a customer with an '05 Felt F80 come in with 58 frame that has a crack in his chainstay at the rear drop out. If you could, please contact me as soon as possible so we can get a replacement frame for him right away. Thanks." Then he hung up. I was there when he made the call. Later that day, he called me and said that he hadn't heard back from them yet. Next morning, 10 minutes after opening his shop, my new frame arrives. No questions asked. How's that for customer service? They didn't even ask for the original receipt or anything. They just sent me a new F85 frame. Of course, I couldn't put the old Tiagra/105 stuff on it so I opted for Ultegra 10.


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## tomacita (May 7, 2007)

*another testament...*

...to excellent customer service. Felt's integrity is superior. They really stand by their product. If catastrophic failure ensues, no sweat. They assume 90% of the responsibility, let the customer pick up the rest, and make sure their valued customer is back on their wheels hammering away in very short order. Congratulations on your excellent experience!

Anyone else???


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## quickfeet18 (Mar 2, 2007)

I had a felt f75 as my first road bike and I sheared the bb in half (sending me over the bars and straight to the hospital. Once I got that fixed the next week the crank arm broke in half too (no hospital though). The LBS called up felt and even though it wasn't their product they replaced the stock square taper fsa with a ti isis bb and a new gossamer crank. It took a week but tat could have been a slow moving bike shop but it was nice to get a upgrade out of the deal. I really enjoyed that bike and it served me well for around 4500 miles and still resold well...


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## z rocks (Sep 9, 2007)

Good tohear about good customer service. Just left my f3 at the lbs. It has what appears to me to be a crack on the seat tube about 8" above the bb. Its not a scratch or blemish. Your fingernail catches on this hairline. I'm bummed but still gotta wait for the shop owner to come in tomorrow and inspect. I hope this story gets a happy ending....


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