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Lifetime warranty means...
... Cannondale expect you to die in the next 5-7 years, it seems.
Lifted from bicycles.net.au forums:
From: Terry Freshwater [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, 24 October 2012 12:04 PM To: xxxxx
Subject: RE: Warranty details for WID31186
Hi xxxxxx,
The Cannondale warranty covers the life of the bike. That is not to suggest that your bike will last forever but that is has a use full life span. The life span of a frame is dependant on many factors such as amount of use and riding conditions. Obviously a frame that undergoes heavy or even just regular use will not last as long as a frame hung up and never ridden. So, rather that set a specific time line, Cannondale tries to allow for individual differences. Even so, with normal use, our experience suggests that an aluminum frame will last 5 to 7 years before metal fatigue and the pressures of normal wear and tear take their toll. Lightweight and carbon frames usually have shorter lives. At 11years old your frame is well outside normal expectations and is no longer covered under warranty.
Cheers
TerryTerry Freshwater
Manager
Technical Support and Service
Cycling Sports Group Australia
Unit8 31-41 Bridge Rd.,
Stanmore NSW 2048
Australia
T: +61 2 85954444 F: + 61 2 85954499
E:[email protected]
Interesting how the wording changes from "defects in materials and/or workmanship for the life of the original owner" on page 82 of my manual to life of the bike as above.
As an aside, interesting comments concerning carbon frames. So much for the material's vaunted unlimited fatigue life while use is within design limits.
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lodge complaint with consumer affairs ..you bought the bike with knowledge of life time warranty
But nevertheless, singularly uninspiring customer service.
If they mean 5 years, they should say 5 years.
amongst other bikes i happen to own an 8 year old cannondale roadbike. and the lifetime frame warranty was one of the main selling points for me when i bought it.
this is completely uncool. feel like writing this guy an email just to let him know that my next bike will definitely not be a cannondale.
in fact why don't we all send him a quick note...
I don't like this at all. As you say, if they think a bike can only last a few years they should say that's the warranty period, not 'lifetime'.
Of course you have to be sensible. If a frame has taken a tonne of abuse from crashes, dings, rocks, etc. then factor that in.
Can Dodgy McCrazyDodge speak on behalf of C'Dale like that?
I'm almost certain these fellas as just retailers aren't they?
Certainly not very inspiring indeed given I'm on the Dale bandwagon but in lieu of this, my next AM rig has now motivated me to scope outside the Dale family... way to ruin it for us Capt Freshwater!
There's been a couple of long threads on MTBR about the definition of "lifetime warranty" and the conclusion after a couple of test court cases in the U.S. seems to be that its the reasonable expected lifetime of a frame under typical useage conditions, not the lifetime of the owner, or an unlimited lifetime of the bike.
And, as above, when pressed in court to define what a reasonable life for a carbon bike frame was, the manufacturers quoted about three years if I remember correctly. Which is one reason I've not yet made the transition to carbon (another being I spent five years in the composites industry in China, and the final one being I can't afford it!).
As for why the manufactyurers don't just come out and say a three year warranty instead of a "lifetime" one if it means the same thing, well its marketing innit - which one sounds better in the bike shop when you're about to part with your 5k?
PS: Don't just blame Cannondale - this is an industry wide deception.
Aluminium and it's alloys is that over time, if it is subjected to cyclic loading like on a bike or aeroplane wings and fuselage, it always snaps.
The higher the stresses the faster this happens.
This is why airframes have a limited number of hours and a finite lifetime. Known fatigue points are also checked and monitored.
Unless we died within a certain amount of time it is an engineering certainty that a bike that gets regularly ridden will break.
I think bike companies rely on most of us selling it before this happens to get out of the warranty.
Steel and titanium can be designed to never break, although only when stresses are kept below the endurance limit (aluminum doesn't have one if these). However I expect since everything is designed to be light and stiff even these frames may break as I'm not sure stresses will remain below this limit.
It's been more than 10 years since I studied composites and the processes have come a long way. Back then the uncertainties in production scared me. Much of the added bulk on earlier carbon designs was to counter some of these undetectable and uncontrollable production flaws.
We have a little thing here called section 18 of the Australian Consumer Law. A person must not, in trade or commerce, engage in conduct which is misleading or deceptive or is likely to mislead or deceive. It doesn't matter what they might have secretly meant by "lifetime warranty". What matters is what an ordinary person would think "lifetime warranty" means.
I understand about the fatigue life of aluminium alloys, excluding scandium (apparently).
Not sure how long each ride was, but here's some further info that was provided to Cannondale on this specific case:
I'd hope my bikes last longer than a hundred rides. At RRP, that's about $50 a time.
Firstly, we have no idea what your warranty claim is for.
If dings, dents or misuse have lead to failure, it's your own fault. However, if something has broken from normal riding, I'd bet in Aus small claims court that a "lifetime warranty" means something a hell of a lot longer that 5 years.
You can lodge a claim with consumer protection online, for free. Technically they can't force the supplier to do anything, but it works 98% of the time.
If that doesn't work, pay your $80 or wot ever and file a general proceedings in your local magistrates court. Anything under $10k and neither side gets representation.
Also search online for a copy of the Australian consumers guarantee. Don't worry about American cases too much. It works a little different here.
Even a life sentence in jail is 25 years
If they told me it had lifetime warranty i would see it as that. Its up to them to present the warranty correctly or they have mislead you.
Find who runs that shonky award which has only just been run and won, i am sure they would love to hear about it.
Crack 'n Fail?
BOOM!
That's really sh1tty!
when Trek did their demo day at the Goatfarm about 18mths ago I asked the head honcho about the warranty. He said that a guy bought in his 10yr old, salt affected rusty bike (not expecting to get anything) and they gave him a new equivalent frame. Thats not bad warranty cover.
It this for rea ?l...Are Cannondale "underdesigning" frames to be lighter ...blah blah blah...to make a quick buck?