# I owned a Cannondale for 87 minutes then...



## bassethound (Nov 23, 2006)

a stick got caught in the derailure, thrown into the rear wheel, came around 
and broke the chain stay of my new SuperX cyclocross bike. Yes you did read that right,
the frame was broken by a stick! 

I was really psyched to be getting a modern day Cannondale as it's been since 1996 that I owned one. 

While frustrated, I thought C'dale would take care of me and warranty me a frame ASAP. Well, I thought wrong. They claimed the bike isn't designed to take those kind of impacts and refused the warrenty claim. (Umm, Guy's it was broken by a STICK!:skep: ).

Seems that since Cannondale has become a global distributor and part of a conglomerate they've really lost interest in pleasing each and every customer. Having one irate customer really doesn't seem to matter when your distribute your product all over the globe. Even if that customer lives Cannondale's hometown, races for a Cannondale sponsored club and always suggests that new cyclists start their search for their first good bike at Cannondale's web site. 

I will never throw my leg over one of their products again. Nor will I recommend them to anyone. 

If you are considering one, know that they do live up to the moniker, "Crack and Fail" and have a useless "Lifetime warrenty"

M


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## Tjbanf (Sep 9, 2010)

That is really disheartening considering it is a cyclocross bike.  

I hope you can get in-touch with someone to help you out though! Maybe get your LBS on your side when talking with c-dale. One of their distributors must have more pull in that sense?


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## Wicked2006 (Jul 9, 2005)

Sorry to hear that happened to you. Post up some pictures. Let us see that crack and fail.


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## AvantDale (Dec 26, 2008)

double post...


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## AvantDale (Dec 26, 2008)

Did you go to your LBS first? 

Is is a manufacturing defect?

Friend of mine had some chipped paint on his rear dropouts...took it to the LBS, and Spesh replaced his frame.


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## trauma-md (Feb 6, 2004)

Interestingly, I have had the opposite situation occur recently. I also have a new SuperX and was riding it on some of my local singletrack (stupidly, in retrospect) and picked up a pretty big stick (about the diameter of a baseball bat handle) and it slammed straight down and across both chainstays, whilst shearing two of my R-Sys spokes. The frame? Some tiny chips in the paint. 

Must be a mixture of bad luck and bad angles, as my impact was very significant with no frame damage. 

On a side note, the R Sys wheel stayed completely true, with no wobble, and survived the 2 mile trip out of the woods with not even a shimmy. I even had to race on it a few days later because Mavic didn't send the special tab removal tool with the replacement spokes. Still straight as an arrow....maybe I'm just lucky. Keep in mind that this was the REAR wheel with aluminum drive side spokes, I would have never attempted such a feat with the front.


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## ph0enix (Aug 12, 2009)

My 2010 Six Carbon (R.I.P.) recently met the pavement at 20-something miles an hour when the rear wheel was hit by a car. After the full impact of the front end hitting the asphalt, the bike flew over me (probably 40ft) or so before touch down. The funny thing is, aside from a bent shifter and the slightly out-of-true rear wheel, I couldn't even tell that it had been in an accident. It ended up being totalled because the headset absorbed the impact and did some damage inside the head tube but the point is that the frame held up really well. I was expecting to see it in at least 3 pieces after the ordeal. I certainly have more trust in Cannondale and their CF frames since. I don't know what exactly happened in your case since you have not provided any details but I'm wondering how big the stick actually was. Somehow, cyclocross or MTB-ing and a CF frame don't go together for me but what do I know.
I'm sorry to hear that this happened to you but are you sure Cannondale is at fault?

trauma-md, you raced on a wheel that was missing two spokes? Are you serious?


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## twinkles (Apr 23, 2007)

If you bought it with a credit card, you might be able to get it replaced through them.


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## roscoe (Mar 9, 2010)

bad luck but I really fail to see how it's cannondale's fault

bikes aren't designed to have sticks put through the spokes


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## Ventruck (Mar 9, 2009)

roscoe said:


> bad luck but I really fail to see how it's cannondale's fault
> 
> bikes aren't designed to have sticks put through the spokes


Well, assuming said "stick" was a tree branch, there is some fault in the manufacturing end. I mean, aren't chain stays expected to handle MUCH more than that?


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## -dustin (Jan 11, 2009)

high-force, concentrated impacts? eh...no, i don't think any carbon frame is designed to handle that, 'cept mtn bike downtubes, maybe. 

it's a purebred race bike.


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## trauma-md (Feb 6, 2004)

ph0enix said:


> trauma-md, you raced on a wheel that was missing two spokes? Are you serious?


I had no other option unfortunately. I weigh 60kg if that makes it easier to absorb


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## ph0enix (Aug 12, 2009)

trauma-md said:


> I had no other option unfortunately. I weigh 60kg if that makes it easier to absorb


I'm trying to figure out if you're brave or...., nevermind.  ....wasn't there another wheel that you could have borrowed?


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## Erion929 (Jun 10, 2010)

I hope you don't give up that easily? You need to go through other channels to get some other opinions and help. Check with your bike shop that sold you the bike, email some other Cannondale officials/regional managers and get them to review the claim...pursue the issue. Oftentimes the first contact is a denial of claim, but upon further review can be renegotiated. Just maybe there WAS a defect in the materials in that area....

At worst, I think some manufacturers even have "Crash Replacement" discounts, it can help.

**


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## neverfree (Sep 17, 2010)

You are on glue if you think that is a warranty issue.


Warranties don't cover rider error or acts of god. they cover defects in the frame, also bikes don't know how "old" they are. This could have happened 6 months down the road would you be less pissed?

interested to see pics of the damage and the "stick"

Here's some text from Cannondale's site... Its directed at freeriders and dirt jumpers but it applies here as well..

from http://www.cannondale.com/usa/usaeng/Safety


> Product Limitations
> Problems of pilot error aside, hard-core riding also beats the heck out of your equipment. Although we build and test our bikes to make them tough, there's no way that we can guarantee they'll survive your umpteenth six-foot drop. For starters, there is no industry "jumping" standard. The many circumstances of takeoff, landing, speed, rider technique, etc. are unique. The judgement, lack of judgement or insanity of a rider that may ride a Cannondale bicycle cannot be completely predicted, so it's flat-out impossible to predict how anyone's equipment is going to hold up.
> Let's get another thing straight. Buying a Freeride bike does not make you any better. Do not confuse the built-in capabilities of equipment with your own capabilities, which must be learned.
> Keeping your bike and all its components in good working order is critical, and it's up to you to maintain and inspect it. Even so, your sweet rig isn't going to last forever. Nothing does, particularly bikes and parts that are built to minimize weight and then subjected to abuse. Our frames carry a lifetime warranty, but that's to cover issues with workmanship and/or materials. See the Cannondale Warranties section of the Owner's Manual. It doesn't mean that they're going to last forever. They're not. It certainly doesn't mean that the bicycle will last forever or can in any way protect you from injury.


Cannondale owners manual





Now with that being said, I agree it sucks that your bike broke when it was brand new but at best Cannondale should offer crash replacement and maybe your shop will show some goodwill and give you a further price break....


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## xtrsmith (Mar 4, 2009)

I thought this expression was dead, "crack-n-fail" ha, that's what we used to call them at the shop I worked for. I have one now, it's my crit bike for that very reason.


Wicked2006 said:


> Sorry to hear that happened to you. Post up some pictures. Let us see that crack and fail.


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## stevie63 (Nov 10, 2010)

-dustin said:


> high-force, concentrated impacts? eh...no, i don't think any carbon frame is designed to handle that, 'cept mtn bike downtubes, maybe.
> 
> it's a purebred race bike.


I would be inclined to agree with you normally other than the fact that cannondale go to great lengths on their website bigging up how strong the SuperX frame is



> BALLISTEC CARBON FIBER:
> SuperX is crafted from BallisTec carbon fiber. Developed for ballistic armoring, this allows SuperX to shrug off rock impacts that would cripple other carbon frames.


So the frame can "shrug off rock impacts" but gets crippled by a branch. I think people may need to think twice before using CF for cyclocross.


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## bassethound (Nov 23, 2006)

I claimed it was a design flaw. The frame is supposed to be based on the Flash mtn bike. 
Not a road bike. If bike that is designed to be ridden off road and on grass can't handle a stick of ~5mm getting into the stays, then C'dale has pushed the weight limit too far. 

How much you want to bet next year the marketing monkeys are touting, "A dramatic improvement in rear triangle stiffness via a new design to be even more impact resistant" 

Gee... if the last design was bullet proof maybe this one will be "Scud Missile" proof. 
Just watch those sticks....


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## ph0enix (Aug 12, 2009)

bassethound said:


> I claimed it was a design flaw. The frame is supposed to be based on the Flash mtn bike.
> Not a road bike. If bike that is designed to be ridden off road and on grass *can't handle a stick of ~5mm getting into the stays*, then C'dale has pushed the weight limit too far.
> 
> How much you want to bet next year the marketing monkeys are touting, "A dramatic improvement in rear triangle stiffness via a new design to be even more impact resistant"
> ...


5mm what? Thickness? How exactly did it happen?


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## skyliner1004 (May 9, 2010)

we're obviously hearing only 1 side of the story.


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## Lazy Spinner (Aug 30, 2009)

Stick in the spokes.
Seven year old knocks it over in the garage.
Another racer steps on your frame trying to get up from a pile up.

All unfortunate events that can f*** up a bike. None can be blamed on the manufacturer's engineering staff.


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## T K (Feb 11, 2009)

Lazy Spinner said:


> Stick in the spokes.
> Seven year old knocks it over in the garage.
> Another racer steps on your frame trying to get up from a pile up.
> 
> All unfortunate events that can f*** up a bike. None can be blamed on the manufacturer's engineering staff.


Exactly. Which is why I don't understand people who spend big bucks on a CF bike to race on, unless you have big bucks of course and don't mind risking it. I have read too many of these threads about CF bikes breaking over silly stuff. Then a bunch of guys will chime in that CF is not more fragile than metal, prove it! "Tell the Millitary, they make planes out of the stuff." Blah blah.....
Aluminum for me on race day. I won't be heart broken if my caad 9 gets bent. Good excuse for a new 10. If I can swing it, some day I'll get a nice CF bike to putz around on on my own time, not while I'm trading paint with the other hammer heads. 
To the Op. I really do feel sorry for you. I know this really sucks. Try to get a crash replacement. Maybe they would give you an aluminum version for next to nothing. Good luck!


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## cbuchanan (Mar 6, 2006)

Sooooooo....how about those pictures?


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## LOUISSSSS (Dec 14, 2009)

pictures of the location where it happened too so we can see what kind of twigs u got there that can break carbon frames. carbon is harder than you guys think.


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## natedg200202 (Sep 2, 2008)

Did they at least offer a reduced price on a replacement frame? No help at all doesn't match my experiences with Cannondale


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## neverfree (Sep 17, 2010)

There's definitely more to this story than a "stick" broke my bike while I was JRA....


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## ph0enix (Aug 12, 2009)

natedg200202 said:


> Did they at least offer a reduced price on a replacement frame?


I'm sure they will. Cannondale has a crash replacement program and as far as I know they don't ask how or why you crashed. The dealer just has to send the old frame in as proof of damage.


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## mtbbmet (Apr 2, 2005)

If a 2X4 fell off a truck and slammed into your windshield would you expect the auto maker to warranty it?


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## Devastator (May 11, 2009)

This Thread Is Worthless Without Pictures!!!!


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