2018 Merida e160 900E Crack in Seat Tube

[brw0513]

Hi All.

I was giving my 2018 e160 900E a wash today and was horrified to find a crack in the seat tube just below the welded joint with the top tube. The crack is around 40mm long.

Did these frames have a history of cracking?

Has anyone had a repair successfully performed?

I will contact Merida here in Australia to see if they can help me in any way. The best outcome is probably a replacement frame.

 

[Renan Mendes]

My 2021 e-One Sixty cracked in the same place.

 

[Cinnamon]

Happened to me. Twice.

 

[RoJo]

Afraid so, my 2018 cracked here.

 

[Toommo963]

Hi All.

I was giving my 2018 e160 900E a wash today and was horrified to find a crack in the seat tube just below the welded joint with the top tube. The crack is around 40mm long.

Did these frames have a history of cracking?

Has anyone had a repair successfully performed?

I will contact Merida here in Australia to see if they can help me in any way. The best outcome is probably a replacement frame.

Hi brw0513,
Just wondering how you got on with this issue.

I have a 2019 Merida 900e and my bike mechanic found, based on your description, very similar cracks on my bike today following a service.

If I am reading the information correctly on the Australia Merida web site they provide a "Lifetime warranty on the frame for original owner" (although lifetime is considered to be 10 years)

Did you get it resolved under warranty and if so did you you deal directly with the manufacturer/distributor or through the bike shop where you purchased it?

 

[brw0513]

Hi Toommo963. The frame was indeed replaced under warranty by Merida Australia. But it was a hard slog and it only possible because the bike shop (Cheeky Bikes in Newcastle) was outstanding with their after sales support.

If you are the original owner, then you should be ok. But the process would need to start with the bike shop where the bike was purchased.

The whole process has soured my opinion of Merida Australia though. If I were to sell my 900e, the next owner would be aware the bike is no longer under warranty. But if the frame cracked again, or the rear triangle was damaged in a stack, the new owner couldn't buy a replacement frame. I find this ludicrous given the frame is one of the very few parts that has the "Merida" name on it. Merida will only issue a new frame as part of a warranty claim. Absolutley rubbish. I suspect if people knew this, the second hand market value for a used Merida, in Australia, would only be worth 2 cents.

 

[Toommo963]

Hi Toommo963. The frame was indeed replaced under warranty by Merida Australia. But it was a hard slog and it only possible because the bike shop (Cheeky Bikes in Newcastle) was outstanding with their after sales support.

If you are the original owner, then you should be ok. But the process would need to start with the bike shop where the bike was purchased.

The whole process has soured my opinion of Merida Australia though. If I were to sell my 900e, the next owner would be aware the bike is no longer under warranty. But if the frame cracked again, or the rear triangle was damaged in a stack, the new owner couldn't buy a replacement frame. I find this ludicrous given the frame is one of the very few parts that has the "Merida" name on it. Merida will only issue a new frame as part of a warranty claim. Absolutley rubbish. I suspect if people knew this, the second hand market value for a used Merida, in Australia, would only be worth 2 cents.

Hi brw0123. Well that's interesting. Thanks for taking the time to provide that information. I will begin persuing my issue through the bike shop that I purchased it from. Thanks again.

 

[HORSPWR]

But the process would need to start with the bike shop where the bike was purchased.

If this is the case, then I would go to consumer affairs. What if like me, I'm the original owner but I now live 1500ks away from the bike shop I bought it from. I don't think which Merida dealer you purchased it from is relevant under Australian consumer law. It would be just like a Volkswagen dealer denying a warranty claim just because you bought your car from interstate!

 

[brw0513]

If this is the case, then I would go to consumer affairs. What if like me, I'm the original owner but I now live 1500ks away from the bike shop I bought it from. I don't think which Merida dealer you purchased it from is relevant under Australian consumer law. It would be just like a Volkswagen dealer denying a warranty claim just because you bought your car from interstate!

What you say is no doubt fundamentally true. But I think I'd still be waiting for an outcome if I went through consumer affairs.

 

[Basy]

Discovered my crack today. Glad I still have the original invoice so we'll see what happens next.

 

[Basy]

UPDATE

Got a new frame from Merida via bikes.com.au where I originally bought the bike nearly 7 years ago. Clint the genearl manager was awesome and handled everything (took about 2 weeks). I asked if I could strip the bike and build it myself which he was ok with (it'd save him time anyway).

Originally I wanted to see if they'd let me keep the rear triangle for a spare but thought why bother.. because if something happened again they'd replace it. I had a custom angle set that I wanted to keep so stripped everything besides linkage bearings. Clint let me keep all the hardware but funnily enough a few things like the rear axle were different.

Besides the colour being silver/grey, one big thing I noticed was the ability to fit a Magura caliper on the rear stay. I've tried before but the mount was too close to the upper stay which would foul on the edge of the caliper. The new frame still doesn't fit HOPE Tech 4 calieprs but at least I could setup some Shigura on the rear now.

The other slight changes I noticed were the welding around the headtube. My old green version seemed like it was welded using a constant line instead of laying dimes on the new one. There was also an integrated mount for a disc speed senser on the rear stay (original green didn't have that). Everything else was pretty much the same. No noticable difference around the seat tube but can't see internal tube thickness etc so maybe they increased it or something.

The only issue I had once everything was back together was the W011 error which is to with the speed sensor. I had to make a spacer from some tall plastic washer I had lying around. I was worried it was something to do with the derailleur like some people suggested online but it wasn't. The sensor just needed to be closer to the magnet. So that must have been another slight update on the new frame (slightly wider stays to fit wider calipers).