Skinnyone

5yr old fuji in a car wreck...bin it. not worth the effort IMHO.

Of course its to make more money! because every bicycle would be the same, cellphones would be the same, cars would all be a model t ford...its called progress and survival of the strongest...Innovate or die...

Again looking at that bustedcarbon.com site 99% (guessing figures) of the people say that they crashed first before the carbon broke...

Again the whole debate about CF failures comes to the top, please people research the material, do you think Boeing and Airbus would make their wings out of carbon if it was "prone" to failure? book a composites course at AMT composites and find out...take any broken "failed" carbon component to them and they will most likely tell you there was an impact/stress induced failure...

Just a comment on JB's statement about proprietry parts(not a dig), Specialized use a pressfit BB30 system on their bikes, nothing special, they have proprietry rear suspension systems but you can use any fork you want...in general that is about all... Trek are probably a little worse with their seatpost systems on some of their models as well as the BB systems they use. Manufacturers use propietry parts to improve the way the bike works be it comfort, suspension action, etc that is why Cannondale held on to the (first the headshock) lefty and BB30 system for so long....even now their lefty fork uses a propietry stem system...

Also bashing the Cannondale brand on a forum like this even after recieving a new fork gratis is not fair or called for, I am sorry for the personal injuries sustained, however - S**T happens, I have seen broken bikes in ALL brands so its not just Cannondale....

That kind of damage, faliure is not a manufacturing fault, more like a crack started from putting it on a trailer where the forks are held. commonly a carbon fork would fail where the dropouts are glued into the fork blades...there is more to this story than is being spoken about. having been in the industry and done carbon construction courses etc to gain an understanding of the material in question - this fork did not "just fail"....my 2c.

@Rattlesnake, seems you witness a lot and have lot of witnesses, so lets agree to disagree...

Just as a foot note, The comment by Rattlesnake about his fork lock out cable, I informed him at the time of him dropping his bike off that there was a possiblity that the job may not be done in his timeline as I was going on leave and the workshop was fully booked....Two sides to every story...

Look I'm not defending Ricky but he is right - every shop has "this customer" the guy who rides his/her bike till it breaks and then complains at the cost of fixing it. And as for Specialized being more "fragile" its nonsense, its all about how you look after you stuff. I rode a 2008 S-Works Epic that was 3rd hand when I got it and I rode it for 3 years before selling it on, I washed it once a week, rode it every day to and from work for a year and only replaced the drivetrain and suspension bearings/had the shock serviced when I sold it on, but the old stuff was properly knackered! I had done Sani, 24hr etc on it...Never replaced headset or anything either so its how you care for the bike...

Again bash the shop...but when you say no to replacement of parts and the bike breaks at Sani/Epic etc the favourite quote is "But I've just had the bike serviced!"

I'm on the fence with this one...as I work in the industry (and previously at the forementioned store) and I know what things cost...If you buy stuff on the net, you can maybe get stuff a bit cheaper, but being a retail outlet they subscribe to the local distributors and their pricing. For example a suspension bearing kit retails at R1000 - includes the spacers etc (and please don't say you can get the bearings cheaper from bearing man, I have tried - works out the same, and most other brands are not far off). A big blade (chainring) is anywhere from R400-R1500, cassette from R400-R2000...So lets take the mid range for all the components and R5k comes up quick! I too have had to make the phone calls to give the cost and have had the uncomfortable silence on the other end of the line, choice is we fix the bike or we don't...also two sides to every story... so lets be reasonable, as I have said before you want to pay R300 for a service you going to get a R300 service and don't whine when the bike doesn't work! I am sick of hearing guys moan about the cost of keeping their bikes going but when you go cheap you moan that so and so bike shop is *** cuz they cant service the bike properly...YOUR CHOICE!

Hence herein lies the problem, Bike shop owners don't want to pay decent money for decent mechanics. Customers don't want to pay decent money for decent work done, When the shop says ok sir that's R1000 for a major service, what happens? typical response is: "what? how much? but the shop down the road charges R350 for a major! you lot are a rip off! I'm never coming back here!" 6 months go by and the same guy is back because he's now taken his bike to every other tom, dick and his dog, and nothing works right, the decent mechanic that charges what he's worth is then expected to clean up the mess...so now who's to blame the customer or the bike shop? Has happened to me all too often...

Of course a "private mechanic" will get the bike working perfectly again, its because he isn't in a retail environment where the sales staff make promises on his behalf. I mean the guy who walks in and demands his bike be shoved to the front of the queue because he/she wants to ride in the morning and bullies the sales staff to taking in the bike, the mechanic then gets told to stop working on your bike because this bike is more "important" and its "only a five minute job". so your bike gets put to one side and forgotten about for at least an hour because that's how long a 5 minute job actually takes. Or the sales guys sell a bike and run into the back demanding that their sale gets preference so the mechy has to fit tubless, pumps computer, pedals tubby bag etc again at least an hours worth of work... This happens more than you would believe and next time you walk into a shop and demand your bike back in the afternoon spare a thought for the poor sap who left his bike there the day before you...

Crash damage as chain suck is, will typically not be covered in any sort of warranty - replacement would be at the distributors discretion. Probably not...if you keep pedalling with the chain suck it'll just draw more chain in and try and fit it where its not designed to go and break the chainstay, the hanger may break as well because doing this effectively shortens the chain and will rip the derailleur off... Some truth, however if your rings and chain are worn it will chain suck regardless of a double or triple setup. Basically if you keep an eye on your chain and chainring wear it should never be an issue...

you have to get different covers that have the clamps on