Fissure in titanium frame
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I have a Titanium Seven Alta frame built in 2003 with a crack at the level of the seat tube top tube junction. Can it be repaired and by whom? The bike is second hand and the company does not allow transfer of warranty and only suggest that I buy a new frame at $3495.00 :confused:
I have a Titanium Seven Alta frame built in 2003 with a crack at the level of the seat tube top tube junction. Can it be repaired and by whom? The bike is second hand and the company does not allow transfer of warranty and only suggest that I buy a new frame at $3495.00 :confused::eek: :( That royally sucks man. Ouch. Any way to contact the original owner? Any good fellow cyclist would be sure to help you out. I know I would.
I work in a medium sized welding shop, and that is definitely something we would be able to repair. The most important thing is filler rod material they use, and they'll definitely want to Tig that.
You might try looking up welding shops in the yellow pages for your area (guessing you're in the US). Stop by with the frame in hand, and ask. Be sure they know it's titanium. If it's repaired correctly, it might be a bit ugly, but would last longer. Probably not forever though. They'll want to re-weld well past the end of the crack.
Wait a minute, they want you to buy a new frame?
OK, so it's not in warranty, did you offer to pay them to repair it? At this point do they still suggest you buy a new frame?
If so, that is absolutely no way for a company to act or stand behind a product. Regardless of you being a second hand owner, they should repair the frame and you pay the bill at the very worst.
If this is the way the company does business, then there is no way I would buy a new frame from them. For $3,500+ you can get a really nice CF frame.
I would give them one more opportunity and if they don't offer to do a repair, move on and don't ever buy one of their products.
Having been on the manufacturing end of retailing, I can sympathize with the manufacturer on the standpoint of a transfer of warranty. There are too many variables when an item is sold. We have given second and third owners a great deal on the repairs. Usually do it at cost and maybe pick up some or all of the freight, depending upon the circumstances of the situation. I agree, however, that the "fix" that the bike's manufacturer has suggested is totally unacceptable and I would not do business with them.
I'm in the market for a Ti frame so I am interested to see where this thread goes. The company rep who decided that he wouldn't support your case has now got our undivided attention. The fair thing would be for them to do the repair, you pay for the repair but it's understandable for them to not guaruntee the repair due to it's unknown history. That should be a minimum. All companies should be proud of their products and stand by the name at any cost.
I thought "Seven" was a fairly high end manufcaturer.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
This is a copy of their answer. I send them another message asking for direct replacement and the fact that I am ready to pay for it if it is reasonnable...
Thanks for contacting Seven Cycles. I went over the pictures with the production manager and unfortunately you will need to replace the frame. The cost of a new frame is $3595. We do have a retailer in Montreal: Cycles Performance and our Seven contact is Yorick Caron if you have any questions. I hope this helps and am sorry for the bad news but if there is anything I could help with or answer any more questions please let me know.
Regards.
Stevan
I have a Titanium Seven Alta frame built in 2003 with a crack at the level of the seat tube top tube junction. Can it be repaired and by whom? The bike is second hand and the company does not allow transfer of warranty and only suggest that I buy a new frame at $3495.00 :confused:You've certainly managed to dispel the notion of the indestructibility of a Titanium bike frame!
Did you receive the frame that way OR (as I presume, but you didn't state explicitly) did it occur after you rode on the bike?
If you do find a local welder who is capable of "fixing" the split in the tubing -- does SEVEN seam their Titanium tubing AND (if so) is that the natural seam? -- have him/her add a "gusset" on BOTH sides ... turn the repair into a cosmetic customization.
Now, FWIW, the only way I can imagine the damage (speculation on MY part which you can fully discount if you choose) is if your seatpost was not inserted beyond the minimum insertion line. Is that right? If so, I will elaborate (later) as to why you MUST do so in the future ... if not, well, it's gotta be really BAD luck on your part.
REGARDLESS, I agree that SEVEN should be willing to "repair" the frame for a fee ...
Consequently, don't get another SEVEN ... the options in that price range are almost endless and there is no reason to suffer with dubious customer service, even if you are not the original owner. BTW, for one third that amount, you could get a Habenaro.
Considering that the crack is in two tubes (seat tube and top tube) a repair will be fairly expensive if done properly (replacing the damaged tubes).
I wouldn't want to ride that frame if the cracks are just filled in.
Really shocked at this answer. No explaination at all just "Buy a new frame from us". Yea like that's going to happen. If they are after publicity, they are certainly getting it here. I suggest you send them the link to this thread or better still get the to join the forum and we can all have a debate on the customer service.
If you want 'me and the boys' to pay them a visit with my trusty 4x2 ( or as you say in the States 2x4 ), just let me know.
http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2004/01/21/duggan_hacksaw.jpg
I have a Titanium Seven Alta frame built in 2003 with a crack at the level of the seat tube top tube junction. Can it be repaired and by whom? The bike is second hand and the company does not allow transfer of warranty and only suggest that I buy a new frame at $3495.00 :confused:
Too bad about that cracked frame. I will dissent from the Seven attackers here and say that I see little wrong in their response.
1. They have an explicit non-transferrable warranty. This is actually the industry standard. Few bicycle manufacturers allow transfer of warranty.
2. Seven should know their repair capabilities, and if they don't think they can repair (or are unwilling), then that's their call to make.
3. $3595 is their retail price. They are among the most expensive of brands. Personally, I would never pay that much and I would also have bought a used Ti frame. But what you experienced is the trade off of not having paid $3K+ for the frame in the first place.
I would solicit other opinions on repair though. I am not a welder or framebuilder, but I hope that you can get that frame safely back on the road.
Something isn't right here. I suspect the story we're getting isn't complete. I'd like to know how a crack could propagate from one tube, through a weld, and then into another tube, all the while remaining continuous.
Something has happened to this frame.
Something isn't right here. I suspect the story we're getting isn't complete. I'd like to know how a crack could propagate from one tube, through a weld, and then into another tube, all the while remaining continuous.
Something has happened to this frame.
Looking at the pic you can see the top tube is clamped into a repair stand, that can cause a longitudinal split in a tube.
Another theory is the bike was on a roof-rack and driven into a garage / overhang.
Looking at the pic you can see the top tube is clamped into a repair stand, that can cause a longitudinal split in a tube.
Another theory is the bike was on a roof-rack and driven into a garage / overhang.Seriously though, we're talking about TITANIUM here. I'm sure we've all seen the video on YouTube where they drive a truck over a carbon, aluminum, and titanium tube, and the titanium is the only one that doesn't fail. There must have been some impurity in the material, or a void, or some irregularity from which this grew (like what we see in the Liberty Bell).
Seriously though, we're talking about TITANIUM here. I'm sure we've all seen the video on YouTube where they drive a truck over a carbon, aluminum, and titanium tube, and the titanium is the only one that doesn't fail. There must have been some impurity in the material, or a void, or some irregularity from which this grew (like what we see in the Liberty Bell).
That doesn't explain how the crack is continuous throught the weld and then into a different tube. Likewise, clamping the top tube wouldn't do that.
To the OP, you ought to post this at Weight Weenies. There are some people over there that are pretty sharp with metalurgy. You could also try RoadBikeReview, but you'll probably get more noise than useful information there.
FWIW, I'll bet that Seven looked at that crack and wondered exactly what I wondered about the crack. I can't see any way that crack would fall under warranty. It can't be a manufacturing defect.
OP, we need more info about the history of this frame.
Seriously though, we're talking about TITANIUM here. I'm sure we've all seen the video on YouTube where they drive a truck over a carbon, aluminum, and titanium tube, and the titanium is the only one that doesn't fail. There must have been some impurity in the material, or a void, or some irregularity from which this grew (like what we see in the Liberty Bell).
Call litespeed and ask them how many frames cracked last year ;)
I don't understand why many people think of Ti as indestructible :rolleyes:
I have a Titanium Seven Alta frame built in 2003 with a crack at the level of the seat tube top tube junction. Can it be repaired and by whom? The bike is second hand and the company does not allow transfer of warranty and only suggest that I buy a new frame at $3495.00 :confused:
You should write tham back and ask why they don't want to repair the frame. From the picture the frame has a serious crack running through two major tubes. And just so everyone knows my friend has a Seven MTB found a crack on his chainstay and they repaired it in 48 hours and sent it back. However he was the original owner. Can anybody tell me what company transfers warranties?
>>Can anybody tell me what company transfers warranties???>>
Stupid ones!
Didn't Airborne have a fee structure for transferring warranties?
Something isn't right here. I suspect the story we're getting isn't complete. I'd like to know how a crack could propagate from one tube, through a weld, and then into another tube, all the while remaining continuous.
Something has happened to this frame.I have absolutly nothing to add to this discussion, knowing nothing about Ti. But while this thread drags on, I have to wonder the same thing as Alienator (a rare instance). What happened to this frame? Car, garage door, front end loader hit??
That is one nasty crack... to dispell the Ti = indestructible myth a little more a team mate of mine irrepairably damaged a ti frame this spring in a bike race crash. I'm sure she was the first owner, but I do not know whether or not racing voided the warranty. It wasn't a Seven.
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