fatallightning

so this happened going about 15 mph over some pavement patches.


in the interest of full disclosure, i am not the original owner, and the stated warranty is for one year. i have ridden these about 11 months and 3000 miles, the previous owner had them for about 6 months and a few hundred miles. they were not ridden on salt covered winter roads and rarely saw rain.

the manufacturer chalked this up to:
"Your usage and lack of care in keeping the wheels dry and clean has led to premature failure caused by oxidation of the hub shell."

although in a previous message they also replied with:
"My choice of hub material did not lead to 'premature' failure. Looks like corrosion at the spoke holes. The biggest change we went through for the Prodigy V3 was to change the material to a 7000 series aluminium for the front hub. The one you have which is 2014 was lighter but corroded too quickly and you can see the oxidation marks around the other spoke holes."

so while the manufacturer has fulfilled any written obligations, i can't help but feel a bit slighted. they options given to me were to either purchase a front hub or complete front wheel at full retail. while i don't expect anything for free, am i crazy for expecting at least some sort of concession? i.e. a hub at landed cost, etc.?

AEO

aren't they basically novatec hubs?

why not head over to bdop and buy a A291SB front hub?

eric01

Yes, I'd say you are crazy for expecting a concession.

1) not original owner
2) outside of stated warranty --- assuming warranty was transferrable

Post sale service does carry a cost to the manufacturer. If warranty is important, then you should have purchased a new wheel with a longer warranty --- something like Mavic's MP3 program.

phee

It would be a little hard for manufacturers to follow their products throughout their lifespan. When you buy something used you do it with the full knowledge that you are:

A. Getting a great (or at least good) deal

B. You are taking your chances as far as what was done prior to you receiving the item

I would have let Sean know what happened, but I certainly wouldn't expect him to pony up something for free.

botto 

a public airing of grievances. oh joy.

AngryScientist 

warranty periods are in place for a reason, sounds like you're stuck.

fortunately for me, i have the new hub material.

the good news is that you still have a great rim, one of the deepest alu rims out there, buy an inexpensive hub and have a local wheelbuilder get you back on the road.

rollin

It's not as if it's a trek bottom bracket

rollin

No no seriously enough about me, let's talk about you, what you think about me?

rollin

By the way I don't keep my Mavic wheels "dry and clean" and they're still spinning.

AngryScientist 

i store my bike in a swimming pool filled with desiccant.

botto 

while this place is chock-a-block with trek sycophants, to my knowledge john burke doesn't post on BF

Steve90068

That's the risk you take when you buy a used product. If I bought a used car off Craigslist, I wouldn't complain on automotive forums when the alternator crapped out.

I have over 1,500 miles on my 10 month old soul wheels. They still look and ride new.

rollin

haa haa ha. Reminded me of a Steven Wright one liner:

"Sponges grow in the ocean. That just kills me. I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be if that didn't happen."

Namenda

So, you're not the original owner, and even if you were, the warranty would've expired by now, anyway. Tell us again why you feel it necessary to slam Soul? They didn't even have to reply to your emails, much less give you a discount. Buy a replacement hub.

bdcheung

I've had my S4.0's for far longer than yours have existed, and haven't had any of the problems you've described. I've raced them, trained on them, commuted on them, and even raced cyclocross on them.

If you don't take care of your equipment, something's going to break. I can clearly see corrosion around the spoke nipple holes on the hub. Wash your ****.

simonaway427

+1^^^

Out of warranty = you're stuck. I don't know of ANY company that would be expected to meet demands that the OP is implying.

I have a set of Soul 3.0SL, and Sean's service and communication is second to none.

lennyk

is this corrosion, material specific ?
I have Ultegra Open Pros with over 10k miles on them and they don't have any corrosion marks on them.
could it be that a heavy rider used them and they were also over tensioned ?

tagaproject6

...at least you got 3,000 miles out of them. While you may write that you do not expect anything for free and crazy for expecting any form of concession, a public grievance such as yours actually have a veiled expectation of something. When someone says "it's not about the money, it's the principle", it's usually about the money! Principles usually don't come into play at the right price.

Quel

I don't care how dirty your bike is. Unless you are taking regular bike rides in acid rain downpours, hubs shouldn't fail because of corrosion.

lansingmike

soul_4a..jpgI see plastic deformation on the two spoke holes to the left of the broken area. Something loosened those spokes and then they flexed the hub to a fatique failure state. The yellow arrows point to the excessive gaps created by some force.

I enhanced the photo to better highlight the gaps.

Trucker Dan

Those are cuts above and below the spoke holes to allow bladed spokes to fit through the holes. Nothing abnormal where your arrows point.

fatallightning

those are keyhole slots for bladed spokes. the wheels to this point haven't even seen a spoke key for truing.

being in retail for 10 years, there are many, many times i have accommodated customer issues when a clear manufacturer defect is present, even if it outside the letter of my obligation, i personally think it remains in the spirit. i would have been happy to have been offered a hub at landed cost, costing him nothing except the time to pack a box.

there is a reason manufacturers recall products even after stated warranty periods have ended. especially when the failure could lead to grievous bodily injury, like a failed front wheel could easily do.

WhyFi

It also costs him the opportunity to sell that hub for a profit.

In your position, I would have probably sought a free or low-cost replacement, but I wouldn't have expected or felt entitled to it.

ptle

That sucks, I'm kind of on your side. I wouldn't expect a hub to fail like that even if it wasn't kept in good condition. I've ridden many miles on wheels with rusty spokes, indicating that it wasn't taken care of very well. No failures after probably over 1.5k miles.

nycphotography

I see the corrosion (dark area) clearly occured in cracks in the hub.

The cracks allowed the corrosion to occur. The corrosion didn't cause the cracks.

Why so? Because corrosion is a SURFACE phenomenon. The surface has to be exposed to the elements in order to corrode. So the question is: How did the surface INSIDE THE METAL get exposed to the elements? By cracking, that's how.

Now whether those cracks formed during riding, or whether they were present in the original hub, doens't much matter to me, because either way they don't happen without EITHER a metallurgical defect in the original casting OR severe stress. As the original rims are unharmed, the odds of severe stress being the cause are minimal.

While the hub is officially out of warranty, only a complete moron would refuse to replace it under these circumstances. Particularly considering how low the the actual cost from the manufacturer is compared to the selling price of a wheel set.