Cracked Heckler

[Roland_heckler]

Before one week I cracked my 4 months old Heckler. .
It was muddy and snow and after small drop I slipped on the left side with the bike. Nothing happened. I can not even call it a crash. I continued ride like nothing happened. I went for a drink in mountain house and went downhill to the town. I washed my bike on local washing facility and went home. When I came home I took cloth to clean bike and I saw this crack on the top tube. What a bad luck.
I obviously hit something during that slip.
I made warranty claim and they offered me crash replacement. They did not want to approve full replacement.
Has anybody cracked heckler or bullit. They seems very fragile.

 

[Bndit]

Shit luck but don`t blame the bike if you crash it.

 

[VWsurfbum]

Oh man that sucks

 

[Roland_heckler]

Shit luck but don`t blame the bike if you crash it.

I am riding carbon bikes for 10 years, I have two more analog bikes, scott genius carbon and scale carbon. Never broke carbon bike. I have had many nasty crashes before and nothing happened. This was even not a crash, just slide on the left side because of the mud. Just a shit luck or to weak and fragile frame I dont know.

 

[Roland_heckler]

But I must be honest, Santa Cruz responded in two days and offered me really fair and good deal for a new frame. I do not now how long it takes to receive new frame. Building a new bike with old parts will be pain in the ass. I will have to transfer all parts, motor, wires and battery to a new frame

 

[steve_sordy]

@Roland_heckler Poor you!

I too have had zero damage to my carbon fibre frames despite many crashes. Your location of Croatia and the mention of snow on your ride set me thinking.....

Are carbon fibre components sensitive to temperature? Anyone?
Do they get more brittle as it gets colder? Anyone?
What temperature was it on your ride?

 

[Plummet]

Yeah, that is bad luck and not a manufacturing fault.

Side note. It is completely repairable. If you a) don't want to pay for a replacement or b) want yo have a spare frame.

 

[Roland_heckler]

@Roland_heckler Poor you!

I too have had zero damage to my carbon fibre frames despite many crashes. Your location of Croatia and the mention of snow on your ride set me thinking.....

Are carbon fibre components sensitive to temperature? Anyone?
Do they get more brittle as it gets colder? Anyone?
What temperature was it on your ride?

It was around 0 degrees not to much cold. Just enough to be muddy and slippery. I don not think that this temperature could have influence on carbon structure. I am riding carbon bikes through all year and during the winter, no problems so far.

 

[Roland_heckler]

Yeah, that is bad luck and not a manufacturing fault.

Side note. It is completely repairable. If you a) don't want to pay for a replacement or b) want yo have a spare frame.

I know it was repairable I already contacted carbon repair, but SC offered me a good deal for a new frame so difference between repair and new frame is not significant. I have to send back cracked frame to SC (to my LBS in Croatia). An I will have new warranty on new frame. I hope that I will dont need warranty in the future .
I think that E bikes are to heavy for carbon. Every crash can cause damage and crack to a frame, even a small one. When I was washing a bike in front of the house. Bike fall on one side and damaged carbon handlebar, rear derailleur, and bent derailleur hanger because the bike is to heavy which is crazy.

 

[Roland_heckler]

I have question. SC approved crash replacement and they offered me new frame at reduced price. Do I have to return cracked frame to local LBS. My local LBS told me that I have to take over to them my old cracked frame. I bought bike with my own money, and I am paying new frame so my opinion is that I have the right to keep my old frame. What are you opinions.
If they replaced frame under warranty without costs, then I should send cracked frame to them. Am I correct?

 

[Ou812]

Not how it works, if you want the new frame at the reduced price you have to give them your broken frame or send proof it was destroyed and can’t be repaired. They do this for liability issues and to keep you from selling the new frame at retail and just getting your old frame repaired.

 

[Roland_heckler]

Not how it works, if you want the new frame at the reduced price you have to give them your broken frame or send proof it was destroyed and can’t be repaired. They do this for liability issues and to keep you from selling the new frame at retail and just getting your old frame repaired.

I have read all warranty conditions on SC website. I could not find article or paragraph where they write or mention that the customer have to return broken frame or that is obliged to return frame. It should be written officially on the terms of warranty agreement in order to take into force. So my opinion is that they have not right to ask you to give them something what you paid and you will paid again at redused cost.
When they offered me crash replacement at reduced price they wrote
"I would be happy to collect the rear
frame from you."
So they did not order me that I have to send back whole frame.

 

[Mikerb]

It was around 0 degrees not to much cold. Just enough to be muddy and slippery. I don not think that this temperature could have influence on carbon structure. I am riding carbon bikes through all year and during the winter, no problems so far.

temperature will not impact on carbon greatly. Damage is usually the result of impact ( maybe a rock under the snow?) but the main problem is that the damage could have been initiated by a previous impact but damage was limited to the lower levels of the composite.............then made visible by breaking the surface composite layer by an additional innocuous/light impact.
ps consider your new frame at a discounted price as a part ex...ie you give them the old/damaged frame.

 

[RustyIron]

I have the right to keep my old frame.
Am I correct?

Correct. The old frame is yours. You bought it. You can keep it as long as you want. Santa Cruz can't make you do anything you don't want to do.

If you don't want to send back the broken frame to get the discounted price, tell Santa Cruz to pįšş up a rope. You have PLENTY of other options.

 

[mustclime]

Plastic frames for the loss. You could not pay me to own another carbon bike.

 

[Ou812]

I have read all warranty conditions on SC website. I could not find article or paragraph where they write or mention that the customer have to return broken frame or that is obliged to return frame. It should be written officially on the terms of warranty agreement in order to take into force. So my opinion is that they have not right to ask you to give them something what you paid and you will paid again at redused cost.
When they offered me crash replacement at reduced price they wrote
"I would be happy to collect the rear
frame from you."
So they did not order me that I have to send back whole frame.

Tell them you want to keep the broken frame and see how it works out.

 

[kntr]

Every frame I broke I had to send back or cut in pieces and send pics before they sent out a new one.

 

[Ou812]

Every frame I broke I had to send back or cut in pieces and send pics before they sent out a new one.

Yep….that’s the normal procedure, I can’t think of any brand that will let you keep the broken frame. My mate is a dealer for Yeti, Pivot, Ibis, Revel and Mondraker, they all require the old frame to be either destroyed with proof or sent back to them to get any kind of replacement.

 

[steve_sordy]

Maybe they want to examine the frame so that they can see the mode of failure. If they get enough of them, make any necessary design changes to avoid those failure modes in the future.

 

[Superses]

Before one week I cracked my 4 months old Heckler. .
It was muddy and snow and after small drop I slipped on the left side with the bike. Nothing happened. I can not even call it a crash. I continued ride like nothing happened. I went for a drink in mountain house and went downhill to the town. I washed my bike on local washing facility and went home. When I came home I took cloth to clean bike and I saw this crack on the top tube. What a bad luck.
I obviously hit something during that slip.
I made warranty claim and they offered me crash replacement. They did not want to approve full replacement.
Has anybody cracked heckler or bullit. They seems very fragile.

View attachment 155320 View attachment 155321 View attachment 155322 View attachment 155323

I think you could get that repaired with no loss of strength. I have had work done in the UK by a companythat also makes carnon manifolds for F1 Cars .Think of the pressure and temperature that it must be subject to

 

[bikerider]

Off it’s not written in the warranty, it doesn’t exist. I just hate it when a representative makes up something arbitrary. Always ask, show me where that is written. That is legally binding.

 

[Dave G]

@Roland_heckler Poor you!

I too have had zero damage to my carbon fibre frames despite many crashes. Your location of Croatia and the mention of snow on your ride set me thinking.....

Are carbon fibre components sensitive to temperature? Anyone?
Do they get more brittle as it gets colder? Anyone?
What temperature was it on your ride?

, carbon fiber can be sensitive to cold temperatures, particularly when the resin used to bind the fibers becomes stiffer and more brittle in freezing conditions, which can potentially lead to degradation of the material over time, especially when combined with external factors like moisture and road salt; however, depending on the specific resin used, high-quality carbon fiber composites can generally withstand very low temperatures with minimal impact on their strength.

 

[MartinShires]

I know it was repairable I already contacted carbon repair, but SC offered me a good deal for a new frame so difference between repair and new frame is not significant. I have to send back cracked frame to SC (to my LBS in Croatia). An I will have new warranty on new frame. I hope that I will dont need warranty in the future .
I think that E bikes are to heavy for carbon. Every crash can cause damage and crack to a frame, even a small one. When I was washing a bike in front of the house. Bike fall on one side and damaged carbon handlebar, rear derailleur, and bent derailleur hanger because the bike is to heavy which is crazy.

Agreed. The overall weight makes them vulnerable to damage from even the slowest "mishap". My 38lb enduro bike bounces. My 52lb trek rail lands with a thud even at slow speeds (thankfully not carbon)

 

[mustclime]

Carbon frames can be very strong with loads to the wheels, bars and seat. Drop the frame on a pointy rock and it’s just a peace of plastic. The trails where I ride are nothing but pointy rocks so plastic frames are a no go.

 

[MartinShires]

Carbon frames can be very strong with loads to the wheels, bars and seat. Drop the frame on a pointy rock and it’s just a peace of plastic. The trails where I ride are nothing but pointy rocks so plastic frames are a no go.

Agreed, torsionally spectacular, impact-wise, it cracks like any other glass fibre composite.

 

[Roland_heckler]

20 days after I cracked the frame I received new frame from SC as crash replacement. Outstanding support. I got the same colour as I had before. You can see how the heckler frame looks like. Frame is assembled with all battery holders and connectors. So swapping components will not be a big problem. I got battery cover, motor cover, rear axle, seat clamp and all new bolts for motor and cover. Frame build is really impressive, but the carbon frame seams so light and fragile.

 

[MartinShires]

Excellent - great to see they have you riding again so fast. Grab a beer, put Red Bull Tasmania Hard line on in the background on the TV and enjoy re-building your bike again

 

[Roland_heckler]

Excellent - great to see they have you riding again so fast. Grab a beer, put Red Bull Tasmania Hard line on in the background on the TV and enjoy re-building your bike again

Heckler is reborn. It took me 5 hours to swap all parts to new frame. I got 2024 frame with ep801 conectors so I had to swap old conectors to a new frame and I put some Dyedbro protective tape on toptube and chainstay.