Road Cycling - Litespeed Warranty

Hello,

Has anybody had any recent experience with Litespeed warranty coverage, specifically a road frame.
Thanks in advance,

- Tyson

Just a hunch, but I doubt there are many who have experience with their warranties. They've been making some of the best titanium frames for a long time and probably have had very few warranty claims.



Edit: I have since learned this to be a false statement based on others in this thread. Litespeed USED to be one of the best, but that has not been the case for some time. I stand corrected.

No idea, but I hope it goes well for you.

American Bicycle Group (ABG) owns Litespeed and Quintana Roo. They just sold merlin to Competitive cyclist. Heres one of several customers ive read that had issues with ABG warranty. http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=232793&highlight=litespeed (http://forums.roadbikereview.com/showthread.php?t=232793&highlight=litespeed)
Good read, somewhere in the thread shows ABG threatening the customer.
Litespeed was once on my list for a Ti frame, I decided to go with the friendly service at Lysnkey.

You have to be the original owner and you need a sales slip to prove it. If you can't do this they will offer you a replacement frame at a reduced price. What is wrong with your frame? I had my frame repaired.

good luck, what seems to be the issue?

You have to be the original owner and you need a sales slip to prove it. If you can't do this they will offer you a replacement frame at a reduced price. What is wrong with your frame? I had my frame repaired.

The odds of finding a sales slip many years down the road is remote. Considering Litespeed can quickly determine if the frame is authentic I think the sales slip is nothing more then giving people "the slip".

Best of luck. If they don't stand behind their product please let us know.

Cheers,

Just a hunch, but I doubt there are many who have experience with their warranties. They've been making some of the best titanium frames for a long time and probably have had very few warranty claims.

Uhm, no, and no.

At least since ABG acquired Litespeed their reputation has been in the toliet. Their have been a number of examples where ABG screwed Litespeed customers recounted here on BF, and I know one example personally where they totally screwed my teammate.

The Linskey family owned Litespeed was a good compnay.

Merlin was a good bike.

ABG, not so much.

2002 Litespeed Ghisallo (sm); original owner (yes, have the sales receipt)
problem - der. hanger sheared off


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuCnL-iwAbc

from ABG:
we cannot repair your frame under warranty as this is considered to be an issue with wear and tear and not a manufacturing defect

As the bike has never been crashed, I find it hard to believe that this is wear and tear. I have a 20 year old custom Medici and its hanger hasn't sheared off.

ABG has offered to repair the frame for $460.

Compared to Frodo, I'm quite large ... 5' 5", pockets fully loaded, maybe close to 150 lbs. I don't see how I could have snapped Ti with wear and tear. I think ABG if full of it ...

What do you think?
Thanks.

That's code for we think you sent the derailleur in the spokes and snapped the hanger.

A Ti derailleur hanger should not fail from wear and tear. Ti has a fatigue limit a least in theory; i.e. you can stress it below that limit infinitely and it should never fail. The stress put on a deraileur hanger would be below that limit. So it should never fail from "wear and tear"

Assuming you didn't run the derailleur into the spokes, or crash, I'd sue their ass.

Google "Magnuson Moss Warranty Act"

What do you think?
Thanks.
I don't think i would trust ABG on the repair.

If i were you i'd contact Lynskey. I was told that they also handle quite a bit of repairs of other brands, most commonly ABG-produced Litespeed and Merlin bikes. The guy with whom I spoke mentioned that the most expensive type of repairs would run ~$400, and many problems could be repaired for less.

Full disclosure: I own a Lynskey Cooper. The topic of repair comes up when i brought up the issue of putting on S&S couplers, which would void the warranty on the frame. The rep then told me about their repair services.

The topic of repair comes up when i brought up the issue of putting on S&S couplers, which would void the warranty on the frame. The rep then told me about their repair services.

thread derail. i thought about that before I put S&S couplers on my Merlin. I figured the 13 year old frame was already fully amoritzed, i.e. if it failed I'd already gotten my money's worth.

Also I didn't much value in my Merlin lifetime warranty, as long as ABG was the compnay backing it.

ABG's Warranty Policy

" Warrantied for the life of the frame except when it breaks."

Personally - I stop doing business with anyone that screws me over. I'd tell ABG to stuff it and have a reputable company that stands by their work fix it and take them to small claims for the cost.

Wow its sad that a piece of your bike falling off is considered wear and tear. I would try and get a hold of someone higher up the food chain at ABG....

Wow its sad that a piece of your bike falling off is considered wear and tear. I would try and get a hold of someone higher up the food chain at ABG....

Good luck with that one. From the many threads Ive read, ABG is full of scumbags that do their best not to honor their warranty. Its seems common practice for ABG to automatically assume that the customer is at fault. Worst bicycle company EVAR!

Hello,

Has anybody had any recent experience with Litespeed warranty coverage, specifically a road frame.
Thanks in advance,

- Tyson

That's ABG (American Bicycle Group). They are utter weasels. Good luck getting warranty out of those jerks.

So would buying a titanium bike from Bikes Direct be a better choice than buying a bike from ABG ?

so would buying a titanium bike from lynskey or moots be a better choice than buying a bike from abg ?

ftfy

Litespeed isn't what Litespeed used to be. When Litespeed was Litespeed it was all about titanium. Since ABG took over they've gone away from titanium and geared towards carbon. They have gone away from their philosophy as they only have two titanium models left in their line up as to five carbons models. I heard from someone that they were just maybe eliminating titanium all together as they're going strictly towards carbon and dealing ti warranties is a hassle to them.

I had R&A Bicycles of Seattle repair my frame and they only charged about $200 plus shipping and did a fantastic job.

>> so would buying a titanium bike from lynskey or moots be a better choice than buying a bike from abg ?
> ftfy

from ABG:
Kate brought back your claim to the warranty department and we discussed your claim.

Derailleur hangers are not a warranty issue. If your frame was 30 days old or 30 years old, our decision would be the same. There are too many variables that work into a situation when broken derailleur hangers are involved. Shifting errors, load, laying the bike down, storage of your bike, etc.

Our decision still stands. We can repair your frame for a charged service.


And this is from another Ti builder:
We have not had these dropout fail, but for some reason they did it would be covered
I have only see these get damaged in a crash

Hmmm ... interesting.
One stands behind their craftsmanship and quality of their work. The other does not.
Clearly, the posts here (and on other forums) are correct.
Do NOT buy anything from ABG.

Regards ...

Lifetime warranty is obviously good until the frame fails. Once it fails, its lifetime is over, hence, no more warranty! Ugh....

ABG is full of scumbags! Do they know its part of the frame and not a replaceable hanger? Talk to Steve Potts http://www.stevepottsbicycles.com/index.php . Hes repaired a lot of other brands.

Found this on another site:


You may lodge a complaint to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.

http://www.cpsc.gov/talk.html

For your information, I faced similiar problem with my MERLIN ECHO Ti soft tail bike a few years ago. MERLIN ignored my complaint until I lodged a complaint to the Commission. It sent me a free replacement parts via courier post to HONG KONG in three days.

This is my reply to ABG's reply (thread post #22), my comments in blue, ABG in black, warranty quote in red:

Derailleur hangers are not a warranty issue.
Wrong.
This is the warranty:

Litespeed warrants to the original consumer that this Litespeed product is free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use for the periods set forth below:
- Litespeed Titanium frames for the lifetime of the frame.

As the derailleur hanger is not replaceable, it is part of the frame. Thus, it is covered.

If your frame was 30 days old or 30 years old
Irrelevant. Read your warranty.

There are too many variables that work into a situation when broken derailleur hangers are involved. Shifting errors, load, laying the bike down, storage of your bike, etc.
Irrelevant. Read your warranty.

Our decision still stands.
As I expected ... especially given ABG's reputation of screwing customers as ABG weasels their way out of their warranty obligations.

Feel free to pass along to your fellow roadies so they can be educated on ABG's business practices.

Anybody ever tried filing a complaint with the BBB? I know it often gets the attention of car companies.

2002 Litespeed Ghisallo (sm); original owner (yes, have the sales receipt)
problem - der. hanger sheared off


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuCnL-iwAbc

from ABG:
we cannot repair your frame under warranty as this is considered to be an issue with wear and tear and not a manufacturing defect

As the bike has never been crashed, I find it hard to believe that this is wear and tear. I have a 20 year old custom Medici and its hanger hasn't sheared off.

ABG has offered to repair the frame for $460.

Compared to Frodo, I'm quite large ... 5' 5", pockets fully loaded, maybe close to 150 lbs. I don't see how I could have snapped Ti with wear and tear. I think ABG if full of it ...

What do you think?
Thanks.

ABG wouldn't warranty a brand new Litespeed if it snapped in half while you were unwrapping it on Xmas warning. They are total crooks.

Wow, just read that whole saga on RBR. I'm so glad I ordered a Lynskey.

can we see a picture of the broken part? Preferably taken with good light, in focus?

To play devil's advocate, when a derailleur hanger fails, it's usually the result of a crash on the derailleur side, or putting the derailleur in the spokes.

Litespeed gets a bunch of claims where the derailleur hanger failed, while the owner was JRA, and they know they're BS.

So Litespeed denies all derailleur hanger claims, which is a tempting position for them to take, and not entirely without some reason.

Unfortunately, it ignores their legal obligation under the warranty to fix the derailleur hangers that did in fact fail JRA.

The old Litespeed (Lynskey family) andthe old Merlin would have given the customer the benefit of the doubt.

The new Litespeed categorically rejects their customer's version of what happened with a blanket policy, without even considering the particular case.

Decide who you want to do business with.

This is my reply to ABG's reply (thread post #22), my comments in blue, ABG in black, warranty quote in red:

Derailleur hangers are not a warranty issue.
Wrong.
This is the warranty:

Litespeed warrants to the original consumer that this Litespeed product is free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use for the periods set forth below:
- Litespeed Titanium frames for the lifetime of the frame.

As the derailleur hanger is not replaceable, it is part of the frame. Thus, it is covered.

If your frame was 30 days old or 30 years old
Irrelevant. Read your warranty.

There are too many variables that work into a situation when broken derailleur hangers are involved. Shifting errors, load, laying the bike down, storage of your bike, etc.
Irrelevant. Read your warranty.

Our decision still stands.
As I expected ... especially given ABG's reputation of screwing customers as ABG weasels their way out of their warranty obligations.

Feel free to pass along to your fellow roadies so they can be educated on ABG's business practices.

I'm afraid you're reading that wrong. Not to say that they're not screwing you, but the "under normal use" line and the "defects in materials and workmanship" line are there to get them out of fixing your frame under warranty. You say the rest is irrelevant, but in fact it's all very relevant.

Wow! I really like my LS (a '02 I got NOS a year or so ago) but it is a shame to see ABG run what had been a superb name through the mud like this.

Now that they're selling CF like so many others AND have a crappy reputation for warranty service why buy one anymore?

Not a anti-CF rant but an ABG rant. If I buy CF I'll buy it from a company that stands behind their work or I'll buy no-name cheap and take my chances. ABG is telling me to buy expensive and still take my chances. No thanks.

I'm afraid you're reading that wrong. Not to say that they're not screwing you, but the "under normal use" line and the "defects in materials and workmanship" line are there to get them out of fixing your frame under warranty. You say the rest is irrelevant, but in fact it's all very relevant.

No, I think you read it wrong. It says
free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use

normal use = riding a bike

It has never been crashed. Always transported upright (front wheel removed) in the back of an Odyssey. Always stored indoors (a road bike is furniture, right?).

ABG is just a bunch of trolls. The flipside ... instead of fixing the frame (which they claim is a $460 job), they will probably loose thousands in sales when potential buyers read this thread (or ones like it) and decide to buy something else.

see the YouTube video I made above ...

Pete's point is that those words and phrases gives ABG an "out." As you are finding out they are taking advantage of that "out" and you need to shell out money for either a repair or a frame when you legitimately thought you could get yours warrantied.

Sucks.

You are right in that ABG is getting alot of bad "ink" on the internet reviews.

Good to know. I was thinking of adding a Ti touring bike to my stable.

ABG is just a bunch of trolls. The flipside ... instead of fixing the frame (which they claim is a $460 job), they will probably loose thousands in sales when potential buyers read this thread (or ones like it) and decide to buy something else.


the funny thing is i was looking at one of thier carbon frames last week. i had no ideal they were ran like this now (i hadnt really looked into it yet). i most certainly will not be buying a frame from them now thats for sure!