Litespeed Sewanee Rubbish

[lagosloonie]

I bought a 2009 LItespeed Sewanee and I've raced it three times - To Hell and Back, Knysna 80, and a 30km charity race in Grabouw. After the last race, while washing the bike, i discovered that the underside of the downtube was cracked - Litespeed puts a dent in the frame at this point (duuuhhh). I have been in touch with Litespeed regarding repair under warranty - herewith their reply:

 

During our warranty meeting today we discussed your frame. The decision was reached by myself and the senior members of the department, including our CEO that we would not be able to cover your frame under warranty and nor would the frame be able to be repaired. This decision was reached because we believe that the frame has been in a heavy impact and this is something which our warranty policy will not cover. The warranty policy is in place to cover the frame from manufacturer’s defects. We believe that due to the nature of the cracks in the frame, these have not been caused as a result of a manufacturing defect.

 

My answer is that the frame has not suffered a heavy impact and that it is unsuited to mtb - that's it. The frame is weakened by the dent in the downtube where it is prone to crack. I have heard of many Litespeed MTBs cracking - gawd alone knows what is considered normal by Litespeed and therefore covered by their warranty. There is no question that the dent put there by them causes a weakness and the frame will crack there at some time - i have attached 'before' and 'after' pics - you decide.

[Desi]

There's a Litespeed Sewanee for sale here: Sewanee

 

It doesn't look like it has a 'dent' in the frame where your frame has a dent. Maybe yours got its dent post production, which is why they think its had a heavy impact?

[lagosloonie]

No, the dent was put in by Litespeed - i questioned them on the subject - they said it was 'for strength and to clear the suspension - both reasons are rubbish. A friend of mine bought a Merlin - made by the same people - it had the same dent and it cracked there too. Litespeed also pulled the 'heavy impact' BS on him and he had to pay for the repair.

[kosmonooit]

Yes that dent looks like it has been put there by some sort of impact: didn't you notice it before?

[Christie]

:-(

Ti is a problematic frame material. Its difficult to weld and work hardens - sometimes even big brands get it wrong. In this case, it may be what the "dent" is a design flaw on a mtb.

 

Carbon is a superior frame materiaal imo.

[wapad]

There's a Litespeed Sewanee for sale here: Sewanee

 

It doesn't look like it has a 'dent' in the frame where your frame has a dent. Maybe yours got its dent post production, which is why they think its had a heavy impact?

 

 

Those 2 images look like very different dents one is uniform and looks pressed and the other looks like an impact dents unless its at a funny angle- Tyrone

[lagosloonie]

Litespeed also maintain that the frame has received a 'heavy impact'. Since i rode the thing i'm in a perfect position to say it hasn't. The dent is directly behind the suspension (therefore protected) and i haven't crashed it. Because of the dent, the frame cannot take the pounding of a rocky downhill - the tube simply crinkles. The race which broke the frame was two 15km circuits in Grabouw for a Woolworths charity event. There was a fast but very rocky downhill on the circuit. i think this is what did it. I agree with the contention that the material is difficult and that Litespeed just got it wrong. They won't admit this - see how many other manufacturers put a dent into the frame at this point. Contrast that number with the number of manufacturers who massively reinforce the area behind the headstock. Simple math. This frame cost me R23000 and now it's effectively scrap - unless someone can point me to someone who can remove the dent entirely and reinforce the tube.

[MintSauce]

Some high-rez photos from different angles might prove me wrong, but from what I see here, the dent in the first pic is some form of impact damage.

 

If it was a simple stress fracture(and not impact damage) then the dent would not be worsened and misformed as it is in that pic. There would simply be stress fractures in the tube. That tube has very obviously been compressed in some way. I would guess that the frame received some form of heavy impact from the front which caused the downtube to compress at it's weakest point, which would obviously be the manufactured indent.

 

Give us some photos of the damaged frame from the side showing the whole headtube area ie half of both the top and down tubes as well as the full headtube.

 

Also, it doesn't matter that the dent is directly behind the suspension and thus protected. The damage is not caused by direct impact. In stead, as I see it, it would come from a force leveraged through the fork(from the front as stated above). It is perhaps possible that if the route was as technical and rocky as you state that hitting a large rock from the front could cause this damage, even if you didn't crash.

 

If this is the case and it really is not due to crashing in some way, I would suggest you not waste your time fixing a frame that will break again and rather get a bike more suited to technical riding. A lightweight xc racebike is not such a machine.

[brussel]

hmm OK if you check out the litespeed site there is no dent like that on the frame, nor on the one linked above. something is odd there...I agree with Mintsauce...give us some better pics from some different angles

Edited February 20, 2011 by brussel

[eggsovereasywithteandtoast]

Some high-rez photos from different angles might prove me wrong, but from what I see here, the dent in the first pic is some form of impact damage.

 

I'm going with MintSauce on this one. That dent in the photo is not a depression made by a special tool in manufacturing.

The dent is asymetrical and suggestive of a smash.

[RodTi]

I've had my eye on a Sewanee before - and have never come across that "dent"-design as indicated here, on any of the models I was looking at...

 

Which is not to say that wasn't the case in this model, but I'm now very curious as to what year model this one is?? Where did you buy this frame - direct from Litespeed or 2nd hand/via a Ebay?

 

Photos as requested would certainly help...

[koukie]

You must be joking, Sorry but its as clear as daylight (from the first pic) that the frame is damaged(not talking about the crack), you cant expect litespeed to give you a new frame. If you bought the frame new with that dent in then it was damaged at the shop. The dent in the first pic is anyway not the same as the dent in second pic.

Edited February 20, 2011 by koukie

[gummibear]

I bought a 2009 LItespeed Sewanee

 

Did you buy it new?

 

My Cannondale road bike had a crease in the frame almost the same as in your first pic and that was when i went into the back of a taxi.

Your frame may have taken a hard knock on the rocky section you speak of.Your fork may have bottomed out and the frame took the impact.

[LazyTrailRider]

I agree with MintSauce and Eggsovereasy.

 

Two (important) questions no one has asked: 1) How much do you weigh, 2) What fork were you running (travel specifically as well).

 

Frames like these are designed for very specific applications (super-lightweight XC race bike builds for skinny World Cup riders), and they often end up not being practically usable for the average rider. This may well be the issue here, but let's get the facts.

Edited February 20, 2011 by Martin Hattingh

[vanniri]

A few Ti designs included this dent for a limited time, apparently to provide suspension clearance. This was at least 5-7 years back

 

Two things:

 

Ti is not a suitable material for affordable bicycles - it takes a combination of very high skill, time and expensive equipment to properly weld Ti. When executed correctly it is stunning - ever seen a deKerf frame?

 

Litespeeds are known to fail - overrated company in my view

[Mecnic]

I agree with most of the posts it looks like impact damage.

 

I added coloured shapes to the photo to highlight my view

 

The red indicates odd lines in the frame one is diagnally across from top left acroos to bottom left where the line ends at the crackis looks like something straight pressed or impacted it there.

 

The yellow circles show the uniformity of what I suspect is the factory pressed dent it looks the same top and bottom and yet in the middle (red) there are those odd lines and the crack.

 

In my view better pics more angles and we could clarify what the problem is sometimes light and shadows makes pics look funny adding lines where there arent any.

 

Also believe it or not some frames, pedals and wheels have weight limit for a reason look at titanium axled pedals most are limited to aout 85 KG as further pointed out TI is a brittle material.

 

Just what I think