Broken Frame Resolved

Submitted by Bill on Fri, 08/25/2006 - 3:12pm
Description: I was riding my Leader USA mountain bike on a rocky jeep trail when the seat suddenly fell back. The frame broke on the upper part of the seat tube where the top tube, seat stays, and seat tubes are joined. Here is the timeline on my situation with Leader Bike USA. Comments and Suggestions are welcome!

Monday, August 14, 2006 - 8:50 AM MST: Emailed Leader Bike about incident.

"I have a bad situation and I hope you can help me. I purchased a LD-526H (item IES24) around 5/3/2006. The transaction ID on my PayPal Packing Slip is 04107051VU793181N. I was riding in prepairation for an upcoming race in the Montana Off Road Series yesterday and the seat stay broke. It is not a result of a crash ... just a normal rocky trail. I sat down and heard a crack. Next thing I know my seat post and seat fell back and I dumped the bike. I am now without a bike. What should I do? I will be calling when business hours comes around and just wanted to send you some info in preparation."


Monday, August 14, 2006 - 9:?? AM MST: Realized that I could not call long distance so i sent another email asking if they had a toll free number.

Monday, August 14, 2006 - 9:4? AM MST: Called Leader Bike with a friends cell phone and got voice mail. Left a message with both work and home phone numbers.

Monday, August 14, 2006 - 12:59 AM MST: Got an email back from Leader Bike

"Ship the frame back with proof of purchase. Include an explanation for the damage, return address and telephone number.

Ship to:

LEADER BIKE
205 W 35TH ST STE. J
NATIONAL CITY, CA 91950

CHRIS"

Monday, August 14, 2006 - 7:45 PM MST: Took bike apart, took pictures, and packaged up the bike. Post office is closed tonight so will take over at lunchtime or have a friend do it tomorrow. I replied to email from Leader Bike"

"I have packaged it up in it's original box. I have not had it too long. I do not have a proof of purchase except an order id of 12 on 16:09:51 Tue 02 May 2006 so I sent along the packing slip. I mean I purchased it with a credit card so there should be a record somewhere. Please keep me informed, I cant tell you how frustrated I am. "

Monday, August 14, 2006 - 8:04 PM MST: Got an email from Leader Bike

"Also include attention warranty dept.

You can find proof of purchase on www.paypal.com"

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 8:43 AM MST: I feel a little frusturated and need to send an email in return with my concernes.

"I am sorry but I have already boxed it up and also don't have a printer. I will include "attention warranty dept" on the box. I am not going to quibble over original owner and whether you want to warranty it or not.

Maybe it will be faster and less stressful to buy another bike frame and be done with it. I am sending pictures and if you believe there will be any discrepancy or delay in getting me a replacement then please let me know ASAP so I can take action to get another.

I was currently top ten in the Montana Off Road Series and after this weekend and missing the race will drop substantially. I am frustrated with that; but if I have to miss the week after that I might as well call the season over.

You may believe I am being a cheap ass but I assure you I am freaking poor and trying to race on a shoe string budget ... thus the reason for a Leader Frame. I hope you can help."

Tuesday, August 15, 2006 - 1:?? AM MST: A representative from Leader USA called me at work to get the scoop on what happened and where we are at right now. I gave my story and that I sent the frame in. He assured me that as soon as it gets in he will rush it along and get me resolved quickly. he mentioned that it may be as early as Saturday that they could get this resolved and back out the door. I am very happy to hear that and feel good that they called me to make sure everything was ok.

Saturday, August 19, 2006 - 12:00 PM MST: I have missed a race today. Instead I may have lost position in the Montana Off Road Series in the top ten.

Monday, August 21, 2006 - 6:54 AM MST: I am concerned that I have no recent information on the status of my mountain bike frame so I sent Leader USA an email:

"Chris, Brian,

Hello, I hope you had a decent weekend. I have not heard any news on my mountain bike frame and was wondering the status on it."

Mon, August 21, 2006 12:38 pm: I received a response to my email:

"I will check with the warranty dept and get back to you today.

Brian"

Mon, August 21, 2006 6:00 pm: I received a message on my answering machine when I got home from work. Leader USA said that they are sending me out a new frame and I think he said that I would get an email with the tracking numbers. I could not hear the message well.

Wed, August 23, 2006 8:47 pm: I am depressed and upset to not receive my frame yet. I got a call on Monday that I would receive tracking numbers and to this day have not heard or received any other correspondance from Leader USA. Tomorrow I am going to go on the offensive. I have waited for the company to do the right thing and now I am on the verge of missing a second race. I will miss a second Montana Off Road series race where I was once in the top ten. This is unacceptable and I will try and contact them tomorrow.

Thursday, August 24, 2006 6:15AM: I sent a email to Leader USA (I sure wish they had a toll free number):

"Brian,

Hello, I hate to bug you again but I am getting close to missing yet another race (48 hours away) and I haven't received the replacement frame yet. I got a message on my answering machine on Monday and I think the person said that I would receive a tracking number or something to that effect. I have not received anything after that. So I guess I was wondering if you could give me a status. I am leaving tomorrow for the race so I need to know if I should go looking for a used frame in town tonight. Thanks!"

Thursday, August 24, 2006 - 5:17 PM: I just got home to not find a bike at my steps. I tried to email today without getting a response. I am afraid they are in the ignore mode and my bike may not have been sent. there fore tomorrow I will be going into town some where to buy a frame with the credit card. This also means that I may miss the race on Saturday. Next week I will begin a campaign to let every review site and ebay know these events. I would hate for this to happen to another mountain biker.

Friday, August 25, 2006 - 6:58 AM I sent Leader Bike a final email:

"Brian,

I have sent an email yesterday concerning my broken frame. I did not get a reply. It is now apparent I may miss tomorrow's race (thats 2 now) if I can not find a bike frame here in Missoula today. I did get a phone message last Monday but it was hard to hear it (Shitty phone). I think the person said it was shipping Monday and I would receive a tracking number. I did not receive any tracking number or the frame itself.

I have decide to buy another frame to try and salvage what is left of the season. Thanks for your efforts.

~bill"
8/25/2006 : 1:46 PM: I went home for lunch and found a message on my answering machine. It was a guy from Leader Bike. He said that he tried to call my employment and was told I don't work there anymore (I did send contact info on the 15th in an email). I find this odd because they have talked to me at work before. Any way he said that he did some research and found my current employment but the secretary was not very helpful and that he finally left a voice mail. I ran back to work and did not get a voicemail but the secretary said that someone called and wanted an extension. She was directed to not give any information away so the attempt to contact me failed.

The message did say that the bike is scheduled to be delivered today and gave me a tracking number. I tried the tracking number but it did not work.

I sent a request in an email (I wish I had long distance or could call from work):

"I got your message on my home phone but I could not run the tracking number that I think I heard you say "1ZANS5490350359533". Is that correct?"
8/25/2006 : 2:57 PM: I just got a call from S. Lombroso at Leader USA. All the problems have been resolved. he was able to give me a tracking number and when I entered it I was able to see that it was delivered to my apartment at 1:13 PM which makes me very happy. Now I can go home and get the ol gal back together and try to make it to Bozeman for the race.

On problem was that some employees were out of the offices and that is why I was having difficulties contacting them. The bike had been shipped out on Tuesday.

Comments

jamez (not verified)

Mon, 08/21/2006 - 11:07pm

whoa. I almost bought that frame. Had all but clicked on "buy it now" then thought I'd do a little research and here I am. Other window was still open with the "buy it now" highlighted... think I ride this one out with you and see what happens here first. I have all but totally destroyed a fetish cycles frame (cosmetically, not functionally) and was thinking about trying a Leader.

Did it break right through the plane of the weld at the top tube/ seat tube interface? Must have been some HAZ issues with the welder.

Still might be the right frame for me because the price is right, curiously waiting to see how they handle the replacement issue...seems like any mid to top level frame company would have snatched it up and ground it up into little bits before someone saw it.. and fedxed you a new one before you could even say "..was wondering what the status..." You know they can afford it.

james

Bill

Tue, 08/22/2006 - 7:28am

I do agree that they could be a little faster in getting me a new frame. I did get a message last night that they are sending me a new one but I still have not received any tracking numbers.

All that said ... I am happy that they are taking care of it by sending me a new one without any hassel. they are very nice when they corresond with me and have never tried to place blame. When I talked to someone on the phone he seemed genuinly suprise that the frame broke.

As you can see in the pictures the frame did brake where you suggested and I think my have had more to do with the fact that I was wearing a back pack (I was on a epic adventure requiring it). I believe that my carbon seat post had flexed so much from my heavy load that it may have exposed the weld to too much stress.

I have purchased a longer seat post! So I am still confident that this will not happen again. I hope I am not wrong. I already have missed one Montana Off Road Series race.

~bill

jamez (not verified)

Thu, 08/24/2006 - 2:20pm

looks like you are riding "stranger bike" this weekend. I may be to here in NM if I don't get my act together. I totalled my hubs and bb last weekend in a race with lots of deep water crossings.. very odd for us. I am sure it wasn't just this race but I am glad I bothered to pull the stuff and check it out. neglect is the enemy with water more than anything else I think...

I had another 7000 series frame (I am assuming that is the alloy of the leader) that broke at the seat post clamp (welded tab (circa 96), not a seperate clamp like we all use now) I am not a metalurgist but it seemed that the weld schedule was wrong and the weld was very brittle (all welds are somewhat brittle compared to parent), combined with the cyclic fatigue it didn't have a chance. I was thinking about your extra load and all that but unless you had a extra hundred pounds or so or you are a giant I would say the night shift welder came in high or hungover and slapped a few frames together with crappy welds (maybe not cosmetic but metalurigically). I mean if it was weight and dynamic impact, you should be crushing seat tubes before a 3 or 4 tube intersection weld fails. I am also assuming Leader, Fetish and now Flyte (formerly Airborne) are jigged on the same fixtures with some different fancy cross sections and "hydroformed" tubing (whatever that means) overseas... How else could they build frames like that for under $200? It is the same racing geometry from the early 90s that hasn't really been improved on for hardtails...Anyway that is what we love.. the price! so hopefully if they have quality shortcomings, they are not afraid to through out a few new frames to anyone that needs one without too much hassle.

Your bike situation is the moment of truth for me on Leader.... I wish you the best and good luck this weekend.

James

Bill

Fri, 08/25/2006 - 7:10am

I am so bummed about the entire situation.  I am glad you got this information before your purchase.  I really did like the frame.  It climbed like a deer and was very agile and fast.  I was doing real well on it in the Montana Off Road Series (top ten in expert/pro catagory). But, in the end, I wished that I found a web posting like this one when I made my purchase.  Having a bike for the riding season is very important.

I do believe that I will eventually get a fram but it will not be in time.  So I am in search for a frame here in town to salvage this weekend.  If I miss two races my chances for a top ten at the end of the year are pretty bad.  I am looking for a 19 inch frame. 

Good luck on your future frame what ever you decide on getting.  Let me know and keep hanging at the site.  It is nice to have a mountain biking member! Maybe if I find myself in NM on a trail we will meet up. 

~bill

Bill

Sun, 08/27/2006 - 8:44am

The frame arrived Friday afternoon but was missing the parts that usually come with the frame. The seat post is not standard and requires their special clamp. It was missing so I had to "Fashion" one from the K2. I rigged the seat post but in yesterday's race the seat fell down and I had to walk the course.  I asked if I could borrow a tool from someone and the official said that I could and even gave me his.  So we repaired the bike and my last two laps were very fun. 

The course (Big Sky Montana ) was a "real" mountain bike course, unlike all of the races so far that I have done in Montana.  there were three climbs with one being just like the Wallman climb .  The course was not for the weak.  The best one so far and the scenery at Big Sky was breath taking.  There is free camping nearby so next year we are planning to make it a weekend.