Warranty Experiences

The best experience is no Warranty experience.... 100%.
Im a firm believer Bike QC is terrible and us as a community MUST do better to reject these bikes - I pointed out to 3 guys at skyline QT their bikes were bad and they had no idea.

My 4 canyons, all had multiple frame replacements... they just kept throwing frames at me to get 'lucky' wtf is that.

My current one is that the bike was built with a part from one of their other bikes, quickly identified and replaced overnight(overnight shipping)
 

My most recent was on a Santa Cruz frame and Willy did right by me. My first ever was on a set of OG Race Face cranks. They were the supposedly "Forged." ones. After two sets cracked within the first month I said send me anything else. I got a BB and a t-shirt. The BB exploded on the first ride and I have never bought another Race Face product. I gave the shirt away.

How raceface old we talking here? Not had any issues with my stuff but They produce OEM stuff(especially cranks) that you are not able to buy aftermarket

My warranty experience was not to recent, but it was great. It was during the pandemic 2021. I had  a SC 2018 Nomad that had a small crack in the inside of the rear triangle that i found when i was cleaning it. no idea how it happened. I think it was a rock strike, anyhow SC asked for proof of purchased and a lot of pictures. After a couple of days they approved warranty, because they no longer had any 2017 V4 Nomads rear Triangles; they offer a 2022 V5 Nomad which I was very happy to get. Over all I think they back up their reputation as one of the best or the best warranties, I guess the warraty program is included in the price, In my opinion worth because you never know when you are going to need it.

Back in the 90’s, I cracked a Specialized M2 frame. Sent it back to Spesh, and they sent me a new frame…I did have to pay shipping: $4.

 I cracked a couple aluminum Intense frames, many years ago. The first one was warrantied several times, then I had to go thru a dealer for warranty…not good; I ended up with a crash replacement; fair enough…then that frame cracked, and I got the cold shoulder from the dealer and Intense. A little time went by and I contacted Intense again; this time I got ahold of Sam Wilson, he took care of me!

I also cracked a couple Santa Cruz carbon triangles, and a frame…Willy took care of me. SC has the best warranty dept that I’ve dealt with. 😁

As a dealer, Sam was great to deal with. When everything else was going wrong, he'd come through for the customer

Don't wanna hijack the thread but do wanna mention how often I hear a shop is the ultimate problem in the chain of goings ons in these situations. It's a bummer to hear there are so many shops in that bad effort territory. Took me a while to find the solid shops in this area. Nowadays I simply drive all the way to Orange County to find a real MTB shop so I don't have to deal with shops that seem to spend most of their time selling kids bikes and overcharging roadies for repairs. Meh

I had the issue of the local shop being really good but they only sold Scott stuff and i didnt want that rubbish, finally convinced them to explore brands, now they sell trek, marin & merida... they are selling 3 x the bikes, And for the help I get the 'family discount' ... had a small warranty thing as i mentioned above and he got them to hurry TF up and sent overnight to get me out riding.

Only selling Scott, brutal. Ya I don't have very MTB-oriented shops nearby so it's all the big S and T and Giant if you're lucky. Basically have to head far out of town to get a shop with some real brands. But I know there's a lot that goes on under the hood and how the big brands want to keep it that way and do right by the shop if they keep it that way.

Would love to see Marin and Kona at more shops. Though I can hardly blame shops for not wanting to get in with Kona since covid and all that.

My most recent warranty dealing with Transition was great last summer. Noticed a crack in my aluminum spire frame getting ready for a ride on a weekend. Emailed them over the weekend and in just under 2 weeks had a new frame in my hands being built, and this was getting the frame shipped to the east coast of Canada. I used the opportunity to upgrade to the carbon spire frame which slowed the process. Had I wanted another alu frame they were ready to ship that to me 3 days after the claim started. I couldn't be happier with the carbon frame and have had 0 issues. I do feel like dealing with Transition directly sped things up a lot. There is no Transition dealer in my city with the closest being an hour away, and there was no way i driving an hour each way to deal with a shop, even if I like the shop. The in house warranty folks were great.

quality costs money. 

My first bike was a Giant reign, broke the lower link that goes between the BB area to the chainstay. They claimed that wasn't the frame so not covered under warranty, still bitter 14 years later.

Next warranty was YT who were awesome, I had a bearing issue on a mk1 jeffsy, sent the frame back they replaced the front triangle for free in a few weeks. A few years later I had a small crack in my Capra chainstay, they sent out a chainstay for free in under week just based on a form and a video.

Commencal were also amazing, I lost my motor cover (i.e. skid plate) they sent one out for free and told me a sturdier one was being developed and I could have it for free a few months later, I sent them a message later and got it. A few years down the line I was having an issue with bearing alignment in the rocker, couldn't figure it out, sent them a message and they sent me a new rocker with 6 new bearings for free.

Broke a Newmen rim this year and they replaced for about 100e which was ok, but they actually offered me a pair of wheels at a huge discount which I should have taken instead.

On the not so good side, broke a spank vibrocore handlebar on the first 10minutes of the first ride. It was a crash, but the bar was worryingly thin to begin with and it snapped clean off (aluminum). They basically told me to f off as I admitted it was a crash.

Broke the rails on a Ti Wtb volt fairly early, was annoyed because I had bought it to replace a perfectly good steel rail version. They offered me a 20% discount on their site which still would have made the replacement more expensive than the online shop I bought it from.

My theory is that brands maintain very high MSRP but don't mind shops selling 20-40% off, specifically so that crash replacement programs look like a good deal when in fact you could probably find similar prices online.

I'm onboard with the idea the best warranty is the one you don't use. Here are my recent experiences; again agreeing with others, way too many.

Wolftooth last month - Waveform driveside pedal bears completely exploded, leaving nothing to hold the pedal body to the spindle. Walked out of the woods, emailed Wolftooth... they replied that day and rebuilt my pedals. Great CS, sucks to need it. B

Stooge last year - Speedbomb fork started to buckle after ~700 hard miles. I give Stooge a break here... Andy is one dude selling some weird, wonderful bikes, and I am putting mine through a lot more than it was probably intended for. That said...got my reply in a day, and a new fork from the UK via a DHL plane that week. Great CS. A+

Industry 9 - I've bought I9 products 3 times and warrantied them 4. I had a stem faceplate crack, got a quick warranty there. Same stem cracked, exploded really, around the upper steerer tube bolt on the head side - I think it was corrosion stress, and no torque wrench comments - I have and know how to use a real torque wrench, not some preset bike tool. First Hydra hub cracked the drive ring in about a year and locked up. Second Hydra hub stripped the threads that hold the drive ring in the hub shell, so it'd spin in the shell under hard pedaling. Both hubs were quickly replaced AND rebuilt into new wheels. The stem body was frustrating; they had to make more, but I waited for months while watching online retailers restock theirs... I sent a few emails and someone finally realized my warranty claim had slipped through the cracks. In general, CS has been great, but execution is 3/4, and the fact that I've needed so much support has soured me on I9 - beautiful products, but built too light. B

Light Bicycle - I bit on cheap carbon rims, and I was really, really impressed, until I wasn't. Light and stiff, they felt great, but about a year in on a mild-moderate impact my rear rim started to delaminate. LB's crash replacement offer was $10 off a new rim, no warranty because it was the result of an impact...Warranty was functionally non existentant. F.

Cane Creek - I went through 3 of the old DB shocks in 2014/15 when they were notorious for failing. The fun one was when a DB Coil damping rod snapped and caused my rear triangle to collapse into my front triangle, killing the frame in the process. CC was always excellent to deal with, and I understand the product has matured... but again, no hurry to reinvest there. A

Canfield - the frame the died when that DB Coil failed was my original Riot. Loved that bike, and it's death was no fault of Canfield's, but when I emailed them pictures, the reply was 'send us your address and what size and color you want for your replacement.' Canfield has always been fantastic to deal with, and I'd happily ride another one... I've just personally become a LONG CS guy, where 8 years ago I was really excited about short stays. The Riot was 414 on a non-boost 29er that could clear 2.5" minions, that bike was wild. A+

Im dealing with YT right now and its been good. Not good that my 8k ebike needs a headset bearings in less then 60 miles but they are getting it warrantied. Its a know issue with there 24 decoy core 4 models but they still send the bikes out with the junk headset.

A lot of it depends on the shop and how willing they are to go to bat for you.  My local shop has helped me out quite a few times.  Although the best warranty experiences are ones where I can deal with the company directly.

As for specific companies, here are my recent ones:

Fox - Gave me a new Float X2 for free when mine blew up, but also charged me for rebuilds on other shocks that were shitty from day 1.  Hit or miss with them.

Raceface - replaced my Next R cranks where the pedal insert came loose.  Easy, quick, and free.

Enve - Cracked an M7 in an impact.  They rebuilt the wheel with a fresh rim.  I only paid shipping.  Great.

Hang on.. this only starts with a story about a road ride. Just trust me.

Descending the Mt Baker highway back in to Glacier on a Trek Madone hauling butt. Hit a very large pothole. Downtube cracks. I stay upright.

Submit warranty. Trek decides that since I didn't technically "crash" (I rode it out to the shoulder), it was a frame failure. 😅 Trek offers a $1200 credit (frame was from back in 2006).

Credit used to but a Trek Ticket DJ. I ride it every day on the jumps next to my house.

Yah i heard from a brand last year that the factory in taiwan that builds a lot of the stuff out there recommends stocking 30% more frames then sells estimates for warranty. That just seems unacceptable quality wise?  

I had an awful creak on my Scor that i couldn’t solve. My local dealer, who I did not buy the bike from, took on solving this which ended up being a pretty long warranty claim. Turns out, i needed all new bearings, links, axles, and rear triangle, plus some other bits and bobs. Fox even needed to get involved for some hardware that we needed that Scor didn’t have. Took just over a month to get everything but they took care of it all. Shop is Fat Tire Farm in Portland. I’ve been going there since the 90s. Really appreciate them getting me all sorted and back on the trails. The bike has been flawless since which has been just over a year. 

Also my past warranty stuff with the last year and a half. 

1.) Canfield bikes crash replacement priced a frame for me they didn't produce any more with a new model that I wasn't even the original owner of. 

2.) Same new frame I found a small weld crack in the front triangle pretty fresh from the factory. Probably not a huge deal but they replaced the front triangle promptly, no shipping cost to me. They offered to replace the whole frame, I told them it wasn't necessary. They did ask for the old triangle back to check over. Once again they paid shipping. Has been great ever since. 

I love working with Canfield. 

3.) Last year tried carbon rear wheel for the first time on my Dh bike. NOBL. I loved it till I didn't. Cracked 1.5 week before leaving for a bike park trip. I replaced it with an aluminum rim again that I literally got right before and had to build on the trip. That said the owner of nobl called me when I submitted a warranty / refund request personally. We chatted and considering how I tend to ride lots of sharp square edge rocks and had lost faith in the product for that application he agreed to a full refund. Honestly, stand up dude and I'd consider buying rims that wouldn't get abused so terribly from them again. 

5 Warranty experiences. 4 were honored, the 5th gave me credit

1) Two with Forbidden Dreadnought. Rear triangle was damaged during shipping when bought new. Broke hanger caused a small crack where it sits with the rear axel. Both warranties went well as I got 2 new rear triangles.

2) One with Specialized Turbo Levo. Small crack in the rear triangle. Specialized store gave me a hard time saying rear triangles are usually denied by factory warranty. They usually warranty frames and rear triangles are hard to come by.  After sending detailed photos, it was approved Specialized headquarters and installed by the Specialized shop.

3) Light Bicycle carbon wheel. Cracked it on Sunset Ridge at Hawes, AZ. Warranty folks at LB are great. After sending in the original cracked wheel I got a new one and for a very small reasonalble fee, they refreshed my I9 Hydra rear bearings. 

4) eThirteen LG1 Carbon Cranks. The thread on my pedal backed out causing stripping. Since it was bought within a month they gave me 70% credit of the purchase price. To get it replaced I ended up paying $150 more out of pocket. Since then, I bought the park tool torque wrench that can torque in the opposite direction. Torque everything to spec. 

It's in my post. O.G. stands for Original Gangster. The first ones that they claimed were forged then machined and were supposed to not break. Decades ago.

Most Recent Experiences
 

Kona -Brand new Process 153SE - Replace bearings 3 months in. Carbon rocker link comes apart just unbolting it. Get told I busted it apart despite me & the shop both easily telling it ust came unbonded. Was told to epoxy it myself & no warranty. Shop felt so bad they bought the link for me. Rode the glued one until...shocker...the other side came unglued.  Put the new rocker in. Guess what...came unglued. This was right before COVID. Suk! Tried to warranty the frame, Was offered shop cost, They marked the frame down a week before to the cost price, Dealer lost money, I lost money

RaceFace - OEM cranks on the Kona developed play (probably my fault). They warrantied them within 5 minutes. Zero questions. Great guy.

One Up - EDC Lite- started getting stuck in the head tube b/c little rubber o-ring rotted, Tools corroded. Asked them by email what size it was & I'd grab at a hardware store.  They offered to make me buy a whole new tool b/c warranty email person had no clue. Bought a $5 o-ring kit at Harbor Freight & just trial & errored. Not the right material b/c it dry rots every few weeks.  The email person could have just asked someone and found out but were too lazy

Schwalbe - 2.6 DH Magic Mary wouldn't stay on a DT 511 rim tubed or tubeless. Dealer I bought from went through this crazy process of proving they could mount it and air it up. Told them it pops off the sidewall at the first bump. Please help. Owner comes out, gets in my face & somehow knows my online persona & I don't know him. Refuses to take the tire back & we all know it's a 2 minute process & he gets full credit for the tire. I leave. Find out through the grapevine it was a known issue in a run of tires & am told by another shop to file direct on their site. 
SCHWALBE sends me a new tire immediately. A week later, that rude shop calls & "has your warranty tire". Some little birdie in the background went to Schwalbe on my behalf & Schwalbe reached out and sent a tire to the shope for me as well,  Props to Schwalbe.  That shop owner I find out got fired at other shops for incompetence.  Eat it guy!

+1 for Fat Tire Farm. I bought my first proper mountain bike from them in '95, a GT Avalanche with one of those new fangled Rock Shox Judy forks. The frame eventually cracked and they got me on a freshy very quickly. And the Judy was one of the first batch with the plastic cartridges. It blew up on the first ride and Fat Tire Farm and Rock Shox had a set of alloy cartridges to me in no time at all. Great shop.

Had an issue is with a stans sync hub a few years ago, was sent a new freehub, axle and bearings but only lasted a month until more issues. They offered me a new rear wheel with an option of different branded hubs with the choice of their rims and free shipping, they didn't even ask for a receipt. Can’t remember his name but he was awesome to deal with

Had a bead failure on a brand new Specialized Purgatory T9, first ride. Sent pics via online chat to Specialized direct.  Got a new tire no questions asked in about a week. Thankfully I haven't ever needed to warranty any larger bike-related items. My habit of buying used bikes usually doesn't leave me with much of an original warranty, which TBH is a bit of a cop-out industry wide on major items like frames, suspension, etc. There should be an expectation they're solid for a certain period of time no matter who is riding it.

Sam Wilson is great! OG Chico State!

Good:

Specialized sent me a new rear triangle when I cracked my 2008 Demo 9. Easy and free.

Santa Cruz sent me a new bearing kit after mine went out. They are great to work with.

Terrible-never-buying-again:

X-Fusion (are they still around lol) Refused a warranty on a cracked fork I had on a dirt jumper. They said "you were using this product in a way it wasn't intended." I responded with the full page ad in Decline magazine that had the fork being used in the same way... They still refused. NEVER TRUST OR USE X-Fusion for anything. 

ya Xfusion is garbage.

I just remembered I did have a product issue but its very minor. Bought some valves from WTB and one of them basically stripped itself. They already felt kinda cheap and I was iffy on them. Was very alarmed when it de threaded the valve. They happily sent me new ones. But on future bikes I just used cheapo amazon ones cuz sadly they worked better. Also having issues with MucOff valves on my ol ladys bike. Not sure what the deal is with MucOff. If its the valves or the sealant really.

But ya I wouldn't necessarily go out of the way to use WTB valves or sealant. Seems cheap. The CS however was A+ so that's a positive.

Oh gosh, where do I begin?

1) Between my wife and I we've had 4 frames warrantied from Trek and 1 "good willed". I was the recipient of 3 warrantied frames and the good will frame, all of which succumbed to cracks in the bb area from rock strikes. My most recent Trek frame was not warrantied so I moved to another brand altogether and moved to alloy, not out of spite but out of acceptance that I needed to change up what I was riding because I'm obviously too irresponsible to own a carbon bike.

2) Trek/Bontrager no questions asked warrantied my carbon Line Elite rim when I blew it up casing a gap jump into the face of a rock.

3) NOBL no questions asked warrantied my carbon TR37 rim when I blew it up the same way I did my Bontrager rim, by coming up short on a gap jump into the face of a large rock.

4) Fox warrantied the Thru Shaft shock on my wife's Trek twice before offering her an upgrade to a DPx2 for 50% off.

5) Fox warrantied my Float X after the damper fluid fill valve blew out for no apparent reason. After I received the shock back from warranty work it was making some metalic noises internally so they warrantied it again and replaced a bunch of internal parts along with updating some things to 2025 Float X standards.

6) SDG warrantied one of their dropper posts for me because I raced an adventure race where it rained and the black stanchion coating rubbed off. I deemed it premature wear and they agreed and sent and entirely new post.

7) Wolftooth warrantied my wife's Resolve dropper post after the dust wiper seal pulled off just by actuating the post from the down position. The thing was my wife was injured shortly after I insalled the post so it was only on two rides. Wolftooth not only warrantied it, but instead of just sending me the parts to fix it myself they asked I send it in because they had updated parts they wanted to install.

8) Trek/Bontrager warrantied my Line Carbon 30 rear wheel because the drive ring separated from the hub shell after 1,700 miles of riding. Instead of replacing the hub they sent me an entirely new wheel.

9) My Industry Nine Torch hub needed service so I sent it to I9. They reached out because they found that the drive ring cracked and separate from the hub shell which ultimately damaged the shell itself. I9 warrantied the hub with a brand new Hydra (it had just come out) hub and lessened some of the original service fees.\

10) My I9 Hydra XD driver saw the pawl pockets wallow out so I sent them a photo of the hub and my purchase receipt. Without hesitation they whipped up a warrantly claim and had a new driver shipped to me the next day (I live down the road from them).

I know I have more experiences than what are listed here but overall I have had fantastic service from all the vendors I've dealt with. Trek is the only vendor where myself and the shop had to push a little bit to get what we thought was right, but Trek listened to us in the end and supported me.

I had an extremely brief warranty interaction with MRP for a Ribbon Air (~2017 purchase).

I took the fork for a service as I felt it was clattering and maybe needed a look at the rebound circuitry. The shop (Suspensionwerx in North Vancouver, top tier shop) gave the fork back to me after the service, told me the bushings were sloppy, and that they had contacted MRP for warranty, who in turn covered the entire service.

My fork got a full service, the problem fixed, and I had to do nothing! So I give large credit to Suspensionwerx, and some credit to MRP. 

Overall, 10/10 

Totally unacceptable considering frame failures are a major safety issue second only to helmet failures. The insanely high price of framesets nowadays really isn’t helping either.