Cracked Cube-can you help?!

HybridCraig

New Member
Sep 12, 2021
7
10
UK
2021 Cube Stereo Hybrid 160 Actionteam
Cracked upper headtube during normal riding for a bike of this spec, the bike has been with the shop for a month now, they inspected and confirmed that the carbon appears to not have been bonded correctly, also a hairline crack is continuing down the headtube. They raised a warranty claim as they agree the bike has failed in dramatic fashion, Cube are repeatedly saying they won't replace under warranty as it is external impact damage-meaning something has hit it, this is clearly impossible without damaging other components on the bike. Cube have made their diagnosis from photos-not from a physical inspection. They are ignoring the repeated advice from their authorised dealer/repairer, who continue to fight my claim for me. The shop believe Cube may need to inspect all of the models with this frame-i.e. recall them.
I've contacted Cube via their website-no response. Any good advice or similar issues with Cube from experience?

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KenX

E*POWAH Master
Jul 21, 2019
292
248
Briançon, France
Can't help with the legal side of things, but that definitely looks like it's exploded from the inside out, rather than impact damage, the only other thing that could cause that kind of break would be landing on the front wheel vertically after a biggish drop-off, guessing that's not the case? And even then I'd expect the forks to bend or the front wheel to pretzel, good luck with your claim, don't let them fob you off (y)
 

Doomanic

🛠️Wrecker🛠️
Patreon
Founding Member
Jan 21, 2018
8,729
10,395
UK
If you paid on a credit card, get them involved.


If not, you may have to got to Small Claims Court.

Unfortunately, both these options will hit the shop rather than Cube.
 
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HybridCraig

New Member
Sep 12, 2021
7
10
UK
Daaaaaaammmm. Did you run in to something that doesn’t move? Ground? Tree? We’re not cube here so don’t feed us some ‘I was riding normal tails’ shit that’s from a front wheel impact. Hope you’re ok.
Yea I'd agree with you if I saw this! But yea it went on a steep descent in the Surrey Hills. The shop confirmed the carbon weave looks poor in the headtube, have this in writing ?
Had other cube users confirm similar issues with the crack down the front, unfortunately I didn't notice that on mine!
 

HybridCraig

New Member
Sep 12, 2021
7
10
UK
If you paid on a credit card, get them involved.


If not, you may have to got to Small Claims Court.

Unfortunately, both these options will hit the shop rather than Cube.
Unfortunately yea it seems I may have to take it up with the shop more, something I don't want to do as they are really decent. But supplying a product not fit for purpose is something they have to deal with I believe.
 

HybridCraig

New Member
Sep 12, 2021
7
10
UK
Well buddy, the bike shop in writing is being your friend. I do like most bike mechanics but I’m afraid they’re not at the tech level or education level to evaluate carbon weave strength. For sure the carbon weave was not strong enough for what it met, on you r steep decent. Look man, compression pushes on the head tube in the opposite direction, so that can only happen from a head on collision and its dead in center so I’m glad youre typing and not all in a body cast!
Thanks buddy
 

Doomanic

🛠️Wrecker🛠️
Patreon
Founding Member
Jan 21, 2018
8,729
10,395
UK
If its on finance try them and threaten no more payments until its sorted as they actually own the bike
That won't work. There'll be a clause in the T&C that say the hirer is responsible for keeping the bike in good working order.
 

RustyIron

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Subscriber
Jun 5, 2021
1,837
2,864
La Habra, California
the bike shop in writing is being your friend.

A bike shop that can't fix your bike is like a wife who is no good in bed, can't cook, and does a crappy job detailing your truck. And just so the ladies won't accuse me of being sexist, a bike shop that can't fix your bike is like a husband who can't kill scary spiders or reach the coffee cup on the top shelf.

they’re not at the tech level or education level to evaluate carbon weave strength.

THIS!

Look man, compression pushes on the head tube in the opposite direction, so that can only happen from a head on collision

That's what it looked like to me: impact at the front resulted on blowing out the head tube. But if it was done during riding, then it clearly wasn't robust enough.



I just took a look at the warranty policies of various bike manufacturers that I've dealt with, and Cube's warranty pales in comparison. Here's some warranty issues I can remember.

Santa Cruz: Cracked a swingarm. They gave me the option of waiting a couple weeks until they got the next batch from the powder coater, or they could ship out the wrong color immediately. I was back on the trail in a week.

Specialized: Another cracked swingarm. The frame was so old that they didn't have replacements. But they had a swingarm that they took off of another bike. Good enough. This time it took about two weeks.

Ibis: They've shipped me out three replacement carbon rims. Every time, it's just a matter of days until I'm back on the trail.

Cube: I've never dealt with them or even ridden a Cube. But their warranty on carbon frames is only three years. WTF is up with that? Other top-tier manufacturers are offering lifetime warranties. When you spend more on bikes than the GDP of many third-world countries, I expect some of that cost goes toward warranty returns.
 

steve_sordy

Wedding Crasher
Nov 5, 2018
9,008
9,434
Lincolnshire, UK
CUBE used to have a big problem with cracked frames, but that as when they were alloy I believe. They developed a very bad reputation but worked hard to overcome it. The OP's problem sounds familiar. :(
 

HybridCraig

New Member
Sep 12, 2021
7
10
UK
That's shocking for a 2021 bike, I've never known the bosch motor badge to come unstuck so quickly. Good luck with the warranty claim ;)
Haha, yea that fell off after a few rides! It belongs to the hills now ?
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,565
5,057
Weymouth
I can, I think, see why Cube have classified that as impact damage. The headtube appears to have a compression dent just above the left cube of the 3 cubes that make up the brand insignia. The carbon is also folded to the left of that dent. It is likely that the impact that caused that dent cracked the laminate with the rest of the more catastrophic damage resulting from the fact that th entire headest construction was then compromised and could well have exploded just with the sort of pressure imposed on it by a steep downhill run.
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
6,565
5,057
Weymouth
Carbon is immensely strong and can be laid up to be stiff or flexible............however neither type of lay up can resist a hard impact because carbon is brittle and loses all its strength if the laminate is damaged. Worse still, it is often not possible to see the damage and sudden/catostrophic failure results at some future stage.
A composite that includes glass or better still kevlar has better impact resistance but is heavier and kevlar is not easy to form into a moulded shape like a headset.
I use a lot of 100% carbon components for windsurfing and I know how careful you have to be with it. I absolutely understand it being used in road bikes but I would never contemplate buying a carbon MTB!!
 

Tepi

Member
Nov 18, 2018
71
33
Finland
[QUOTE = "Mikerb, viesti: 334587, jäsen: 3930"]
Voin nähdä, miksi Cube on luokitellut sen iskuvaurioksi. Päätupessa näyttää olevan puristusmurtuma juuri tuotemerkin muodostavien 3 kuution vasemman kuution yläpuolella. Hiili on myös taitettu sen loven vasemmalle puolelle. On todennäköistä, että kolhun aiheuttanut isku murskasi laminaatin muiden katastrofaalisten vaurioiden kanssa, jotka johtuivat siitä, että koko päärakenne oli silloin vaarantunut ja olisi voinut räjähtää vain jyrkän paineen vaikutuksesta alamäkeä.
[/LAINATA]
DEFECTIVE PRODUCT CANNOT DURABLE MTB OFF-ROAD DRIVING.
 

deksawyer

E*POWAH Master
Jan 11, 2020
387
452
Fife, Scotland
To the OP - as you probably know, your warranty is the responsibility of the shop that sold you the bike - it's got nothing to do with Cube directly.

No matter if the shop are being nice to you or not, it's down to them to fix it.
 

WNH

Member
Dec 21, 2020
19
9
CA USA
2021 Cube Stereo Hybrid 160 Actionteam
Cracked upper headtube during normal riding for a bike of this spec, the bike has been with the shop for a month now, they inspected and confirmed that the carbon appears to not have been bonded correctly, also a hairline crack is continuing down the headtube. They raised a warranty claim as they agree the bike has failed in dramatic fashion, Cube are repeatedly saying they won't replace under warranty as it is external impact damage-meaning something has hit it, this is clearly impossible without damaging other components on the bike. Cube have made their diagnosis from photos-not from a physical inspection. They are ignoring the repeated advice from their authorised dealer/repairer, who continue to fight my claim for me. The shop believe Cube may need to inspect all of the models with this frame-i.e. recall them.
I've contacted Cube via their website-no response. Any good advice or similar issues with Cube from experience?

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Get an attorney
 

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
3,250
5,033
Scotland
2021 Cube Stereo Hybrid 160 Actionteam
Cracked upper headtube during normal riding for a bike of this spec, the bike has been with the shop for a month now, they inspected and confirmed that the carbon appears to not have been bonded correctly, also a hairline crack is continuing down the headtube. They raised a warranty claim as they agree the bike has failed in dramatic fashion, Cube are repeatedly saying they won't replace under warranty as it is external impact damage-meaning something has hit it, this is clearly impossible without damaging other components on the bike. Cube have made their diagnosis from photos-not from a physical inspection. They are ignoring the repeated advice from their authorised dealer/repairer, who continue to fight my claim for me. The shop believe Cube may need to inspect all of the models with this frame-i.e. recall them.
I've contacted Cube via their website-no response. Any good advice or similar issues with Cube from experience?

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View attachment 71385

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Looks like a brand new bike mate you must be spewin. I won't question what happened too many know it all's on here who think they are experts or engineers who may be slept with an engineer. You could have been woken up dead so let's be grateful . Hopefully you can squeeze something out of Cube.
 

HybridCraig

New Member
Sep 12, 2021
7
10
UK
Final update on the bike for those interested.
It went to Cube HQ in Germany, they inspected the failed frame and have replaced it under warranty.
It's now back at the shop waiting for me to collect-busy with work so hopefully I'll get it early next week.
Took some time but great Cube have honoured their warranty after inspecting the frame.
Thanks for the feedback 👍
 

mak

🦷
Dec 27, 2019
445
493
uk
Well done, you gotta fight these big corporations within reason.

I've just received a check of royal mail for £6.50 for the loss of an i phone valued at £300 as my trade in value from EE.
The phone was sent insured ( £500) and tracked. Proof of value and all the forms filled in.

I had an apology from royal mail and the money back for postage saying the matter is closed :mad:
So again well done for not sucking it up.
 
Last edited:

Binhill1

🍊 Tango Man 🍊
Mar 7, 2019
3,250
5,033
Scotland
Well done, you gotta fight these big corporations within reason.

I've just received a check of royal mail for £6.50 for the loss of an i phone valued at £300 as my trade in value from EE.
The phone was sent insured and tracked. Proof of value and all the forms filled in.

I had an apology from royal mail and the money back for postage saying the matter is closed :mad:
So again well done for not sucking it up.
I just paid £ 175 parcelforce to post Ebike 120 was insurance. They actually emailed me after i booked to query why i had insured it , chancers.
 

Longfellow78

Active member
Jan 4, 2022
284
116
Hampshire
To the OP - as you probably know, your warranty is the responsibility of the shop that sold you the bike - it's got nothing to do with Cube directly.

No matter if the shop are being nice to you or not, it's down to them to fix it.

This is correct. Your contract is with the shop, not Cube.
 

Choppersquad

Member
Nov 10, 2021
199
85
Leatherhead
I remember watching a YouTube video of frame testing a carbon Santa Cruz Nomad. They couldn’t seem to break the thing. It was bouncing off a concrete block they were smashing it against! I’m more than happy to ride a carbon bike.
 

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