Gordonm

I have an older Trek 2300 Pro that I have been riding a lot. I just am starting to notice that right where the down tube meets the bottom bracket the gray carbon is starting to get some whiteness to it. Kind of tough to explain but I am wondering if after all these years of flexing at the point where it meets the tubing is it starting to show signs of weakness or am I just being paranoid. It is happening at the bottom bracket and up at the seat tube. Does this happen to carbon fiber after years of use. I'd hate to have it come apart or crack on me.

HillRider

Is this one of Trek's carbon tubes bonded to aluminum lugs frames? If so and if you are the original owner and can prove it (sales receipt, warranty registration, etc.) Trek will honor their lifetime warranty.

You won't get an identical frame but you will get the closest thing in their current line.

thesmokingman

It is most likely the clear coat flaking off. You can fix it up by taking 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper and taking off the top layer of clear. Just be careful not to sand past the point you reach the fibers. Once finished spray on a UV clear coat such as U-Pol.

https://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3AIT&viewitem=

Gordonm

I'm not the original owner but my buddy who Ibought it from is. He is pretty anal about keeping all his records so he might have the receipt for it. Otherwise I guess I'm out of luck huh?

HillRider

Without proof of purchase, most bike manufacturers won't honor their warranty as they are non-transferable. So, if you want to make a warranty claim, your buddy will have to do it for you and will need his documentation.

DannoXYZ 

Take a photo and post it. There's been many cases of anodic corrosion between alloy lugs and carbon tubes. Treks had a problem on some of their older frames where the glue bond weakened and allowed a tiny crack to form. Water would get into this crack and cause anodic corrosion. Not sure if Trek does it, but Specialized used a fibre-glass layer between the carbon-tubing and alloy lugs to prevent anodic corrosion at those joints in case water got in.

Gordonm

Looking at it a little more and I was able to peel a little of the clear coat off also. It does look like a slight seperation at the joint but maybe only a few thousandths if at all. I might just be looking at it to hard. Here is a picture of it. There does look to be a slight bit of corrosion at the joint also.

jccaclimber

That looks like a clear coat issue to me. Re clear coat it. If it does it again the joint is moving. If not, you're ok.

Hawaiiwrench

I'm pretty sure that would eliminate the possibility of a warranty being honored, even though you are the second owner anyhow...

thesmokingman

I don't see any corrosion. Realize that the corrosion is on the aluminum lug, since carbon is non-corrosive. Here's what alu corrosion can look like. The aluminum will breakdown and look powdery, bad stuff. Your lugs look fine.



The flaking of the clearcoat is partially cosmetic, however w/o UV protecting clearcoat the carbon will get damaged by UV rays. Btw, here's a pic of clearcoat repair on carbon:



Before


- Other parts of this frame look more like yours. This pic here is heavily pitted cuz the previous owener, lol didn't use a chainstay protector.

After



Before



After

jccaclimber

I know I'm being nitpicky but, it's the resin that is UV sensitive, not the carbon fibers.

thesmokingman

Ah yes, you're right. I tend to just lump it together for simplicity.

GRedner

Some will, some won't. Fuji honored a frame warranty for a 20-year-old bike that had belonged to my father, without proof of purchase. But I would imagine that is the exception, rather than the rule.

bikinfool

Trek doesn't always redeem a lifetime warranty based on your lifetime, but rather the reasonable lifetime of a bike in use....some say that's something like seven years. I won't buy another Trek product due to problems with my OCLV frame with bonding issues and their reaction to the last claim (where they invited me never to claim anything again, that my lifetime warranty was over, even though less than 4 years had expired). F*ck Trek is my mantra.

Rogerpower

That's interesting...I am tossing up between a Trek and a Cannondale....both around the $6k ( kangaroo dollars)....how long ago was this claim rejected?

Cheers Roger

mtnbke

Hey I'm the biggest Cannondale guy around. I've got two Cannondale tandems, a 3.0 series roadbike, an ST800 touring bike, and an M2000 mountain bike.

Let me just say that Cannondale has the WORST warranty support in the business. End of story. I've had multiple issues with Cannondale bikes (which I love) and never once has the company stood behind the 'lifetime warranty'.

Heck my '89 Cannondale 3.0 series road frame owner's manual even gives me the option of having it repainted for free if I want a different color. I have the original receipt, and the owners manual. They won't honor it.

My '92 M2000 had a recall on the Pepperonni rigid fork. They replaced it with a low end elastomer Quadra 10 back in the day. This was the top of the line rigid bike they made, not some price point junk bike. I realize that the aluminum steerer wasn't safe, but at minimum they should have given me a Peparonni fork with a safe steerer tube. If I had wanted a XC race bike with front suspension I would have bought one.

The Cannondale tandem has a 1" steerer that isn't considered safe anymore (for tandems).

Cannondale's frame replacement program, well wouldn't you know that by trading in a frame you get exactly the same price as if you just wanted to special order a frame without trading anything in.

Other than that I love Cannondale. The stiffest/lightest/strongest bikes going in the 80s and 90s. The 3.0 series road frame is still, in my mind, the best road frame ever made, bar none.

bikinfool

Somewhere around end of 97, early 98 I think.

BikeWise1

This doesn't sound right to me. I've sold Treks for many years and have never seen them deny a legitimate warranty claim. There is no language in the warranty terms that dictate "useful life". Clearly stated is "The bicycle frame, except the fork for the lifetime of original owner".

Either you did not have a warrantable issue, or the shop you were dealing with failed to communicate with Trek properly.

OP: your issue isn't warrantable yet. There is no warranty for cosmetic defects like surface corrosion (or discoloration of the clearcoat). However, if the joint actually fails, Trek replaces that frame with a 2.3 aluminum frameset.

Rogerpower

Well that's GREAT....I am very confused what to buy....

Cannondale Super Six 3

or Trek....similar spec

Either bike I am sure I will have no issues with....

There is a lot to learn when stepping up from an entry level frame with C/F forks...and basic 27spd configuration.

The next level looks nice.....I will have fun spending $6-7K kangaroo.

Cheers Roger

bikinfool

I had the seatstay pop out of the dropout on an OCLV mountain bike during a ride. This incident apparently caused Trek to convey this to my mechanic at the dealer I bought it from (and friend, who happened to be riding with me when it happened; he also, with me holding and him judiciously using a rock, managed to get it back in place to make it rideable back down the mountain rather than walk). He actually wrote it all up and sent the frame to Trek. At first the Trek genius calls him and says no way it came apart, my friend had to remind him there was a write-up with the frame and further that he was there when it happened and put it back together. My friend had to encourage the genius to grab a mallet and pop it off again. Genius comes back to him after a while and admits it came out and that there was obviously a glue failure, and while they'd warranty it this time, hat my warranty was now over. This was on the second frame, a Pro Issue; the first frame (a 9800) they decided to replace when the bb shell glue failed. I probably could have insisted the warranty be reinstated on the next problem, but was fed up with the OCLV bike as well as Trek's attitude. I moved on. Still have the frame, but don't trust it for much in the way of rough trail riding, use it rarely now.

BikeWise1

Obviously, I wasn't there to witness any of this, but a warranty is a legal document. It can't simply be canceled without proof that the holder of the warranty violated the terms of the warranty. That would be, for instance, if evidence existed to suggest the bike had been crashed or abused. Oftentimes with a mountain bike, this is a fine line.

If you really believe you are entitled to a new frame under warranty, I'd suggest a nice letter from an attorney. These have a way of getting a company's attention.

bikinfool

Nah, done with Trek. They did make a lot of noise about mountain bike "abuses" by racing, getting air, that sort of thing around that time, always figured that was more at the root of it (I did race then, but not DH or anything, just regular old mountain biking like I do when I'm not racing). I doubt I even could find the paperwork any more...Trek's loss, not mine (although some of the Remedy bikes look interesting).

facial

smokingman, how did you get rid of the scuffs and pitting in the chainstays?

I have a similar cosmetic problem. Is it clearcoat?