# Trek owners: Red Shield experience?



## SlowMover (Jun 6, 2010)

Not looking for people's opinions on what it *might* be like.....I can guess

Would be great to know from people who have made a claim and had either success or no success.

On the surface it seems like a home run. I ride 10K + a year and go through at least 1 cassette and chain annually. That would be a break even right there.

Experiences? Thanks!


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## Doodlespeed (Aug 13, 2011)

I have it on my ex 8 mountain bike and 2 of my friends have it. Its a great thing to have, basically 4 extra years of coverage and anything, I mean anything that breaks is covered. Plus they reimburse the shop for fixing it. Brakes fail, they will fix it. Their products are designed to last but if they break they fix it. But its not going to cover natural wear and tear. Nothing lasts forever so if you ride 10,000 miles a year and expect them to replace your cassette and chain, good luck cus I dont think they will. Its not an upgrade warranty program, something has to prematurely break or fail. What the plan basically does is guarantee that your bike will last at least 5 years with the plan and if anything breaks it will be replaced with a new part.


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## Sentinel54 (Apr 27, 2010)

SlowMover said:


> Not looking for people's opinions on what it *might* be like.....I can guess
> 
> Would be great to know from people who have made a claim and had either success or no success.
> 
> ...


I think it depends a lot on the LBS. At mine, they clearly have very little experience with people that have actually purchased it. They have tried to weasel out of fixing certain things, but eventually ended up just doing it for free. They tried to tell me that a spoke replacement wasn't covered because "spokes don't break from wear and tear". While I've gotten a lot of **** for trying to use it, in the end it's been awesome. I don't know if it's inherent Red Shield, but my shop does free flat exchange with the plan as well. Considering I had probably about 30 flats last season at $6 a pop, the plan just pays for itself. In the first two years, I've easily gotten more back in parts and service than I paid, with three years to go. Overall, I'd recommend it but it's not as carefree "everything's covered" as they might lead you to believe.


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## Sentinel54 (Apr 27, 2010)

Doodlespeed said:


> But its not going to cover natural wear and tear. Nothing lasts forever so if you ride 10,000 miles a year and expect them to replace your cassette and chain, good luck cus I dont think they will. Its not an upgrade warranty program, something has to prematurely break or fail.


In my experience, and in the way in which it's explicitly marketed, it is in fact a "wear and tear" coverage program. Whether or not they honor it is another story. Like with any sort of insurance, they will always try to find some way that it could be your fault and not covered under the plan.


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## SlowMover (Jun 6, 2010)

Sentinel54 said:


> In my experience, and in the way in which it's explicitly marketed, it is in fact a "wear and tear" coverage program. Whether or not they honor it is another story. Like with any sort of insurance, they will always try to find some way that it could be your fault and not covered under the plan.


My understanding of the RS program was that it covered these items as well, seemed too good to be true. I posed the following questions to the Trek Store yesterday: 

"Let's say my STI shifter blows up during my RS plan...what happens?"
"We replace it with the same model, no more, no less"

"Ok how about chain/cassette wear"
"The first year is warrantied by the manufacturer, but at day 366 Red Shield kicks in and if it/they are out of spec we replace them with the exact part"

Sounded too good to be true, hence my thread here. I like to take people at their word, but having been burned hard on an extended warranty for a digital camera and a plasma TV over the years I wanted to investigate.


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## khat (Sep 22, 2009)

I have had the chain, hub releases, and both rims replace via Red Shield. It worked for me and I have a 5 year plan.

I would agree it going to depend on the LBS.


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## phs (Apr 19, 2011)

What is the cost of this Red Shield program? Assuming it depends on the bike model and is a % of the retail price I'm guessing?


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## SlowMover (Jun 6, 2010)

phs said:


> What is the cost of this Red Shield program? Assuming it depends on the bike model and is a % of the retail price I'm guessing?


Exactly correct in your estimate. Mine was $200 for a 5700 equipped 2.1 over 5 years. It's so cheap you can't NOT do it if you actually ride a fair amount. I will be good for at least 5 cassettes and 5 chains, easily burn up the wheelset and having never had a rear STI shifter last more than 20,000 miles will go through at least one of those as well. That's almost $1,000 right there. The Red Shield stops covering once you hit the total cost of the bike which I'm probably going to do over 5 years of wear and tear parts.


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## cxwrench (Nov 9, 2004)

SlowMover said:


> My understanding of the RS program was that it covered these items as well, seemed too good to be true. I posed the following questions to the Trek Store yesterday:
> 
> "Let's say my STI shifter blows up during my RS plan...what happens?"
> "We replace it with the same model, no more, no less"
> ...



this is an odd thing to hear. shimano doesn't warranty chains and cassettes against 'wear'. also, it depends on which level of parts you are talking about...dura ace/xtr have a 3yr warranty, all other groups are 2yr. wheels/shoes/computers are 1yr. so really, there aren't any shimano parts w/ a 1yr warranty.


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## 202cycle (Sep 13, 2011)

I don't have Red Shield personally, but I have filed numerous claims for my customers who have it. One is a 2010 Madone 6.9 project one with Campy Record 11. After the first year, Red Shield replaced his chain, cassette, chainrings and cables. No questions asked. Year two, same thing. This has been my experience with the other three customers smart enough to purchase Red Shield

If you look at the relatively low cost of the plan, you can see how quickly it pays for itself.


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## phs (Apr 19, 2011)

This was not even offered to me when I bought my Madone or my Superfly mtn bike. Not even sure if this is offered on mtn bikes anyhow.


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## 202cycle (Sep 13, 2011)

Your dealer must be set up with Red Shield in order to sell and process claims. I believe you have up to 90 days after your purchase to get coverage. I would check with the dealer, or another Trek dealer in your area. Some shops don't see the benefit in it, as they can sell you replacement parts for full mark up instead of the lower compensation they receive from Red Shield. For our shop it makes sense, because it keeps our more frugal customers from buying parts online and installing them at home. We do get some mark up and a little compensation for labor costs. Not to mention our customers love it.


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