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Cracked my Surly Steamroller :/

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Cracked my Surly Steamroller :/

Old 07-13-05, 08:23 PM
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Cracked my Surly Steamroller :/

I work for Jimmy Johns Sub shop here in indiana at purdue university. We deliver on bikes and ive been riding a surly steamroller for about a year... and today i was changing a flat and noticed a good sized crack in the frame on the non-drive side chainstay. I bought the bike used over a year ago and surly says that i have to be the original owner to warranty it.. This is bull****... Also i have a surly hub that i rode a couple months this winter and all this summer so far.. and i have replaced the bearings 3 times... now i cant get the old bearings out to replace them again and the lbs said that they wont come out.. so that hub is junk. Im really pissed off at surly... supposedly their **** is supposed to be really good.. Maybe im just unlucky as hell.i dont have a backup bike so i went out and bought a specialized langster today.. at least i have a lifetime warranty on the frame and fork... but i was just wondering what complaints any of you have about your langsters?? Also is there anything i can do to get my surly replaced? Any comments are appreciated. Thanks guys/girls...
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Old 07-13-05, 08:27 PM
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you might not need to get it replaced, if you know of a framebuilder in your area, you could get the cracked tube replaced for probably around $100-$200, and then you will have a backup bike.
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Old 07-13-05, 09:36 PM
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In response to the langster, They get a lot of ****etalk on this forum.I own one and and
think its a decent bike for the money(400) of course it could have better hubs and the tyres blow, but overall its not so bad. Also the saddle is a nightmare.Ive put mine through about 25-50 miles a day with no problems for about 4 months(seriously replace those tyres now)good luck on dealing with surly.
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Old 07-13-05, 09:52 PM
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Surly just uses some run of the mill (literally) 4130, as far as i know. Get in there with a welder and zzzt zzzt, you're all set. Take it to a machine shop, they'll have you going for next to nothing. Maybe take it to the bike shop after to get the aligment done (or do it yourself with the Sheldon string method).
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Old 07-13-05, 09:54 PM
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damn, delivering subs via fixie sounds fun.
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Old 07-13-05, 10:03 PM
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Most manufactures only offer the warranty to the original owner that is not unusual. Surly hubs are good but not high end or top of the line hubs, replacing bearings that often sounds horrible even given that though. If you know the original owner you could try contacting him, and having him send it in under his name. I agree with others just go find a welder have him fix the crack and be on you're way.. That is one good thing about steel frames they can be repaired.
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Old 07-13-05, 10:16 PM
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yeah... i have thought about welding it up... i have a friend that works as a welder... it would make a good drunk bike... i just feel pretty let down by the quality of their products in general.. also i have all the parts off my surly.. open pro rims and good tires... brooks saddle and some nitto track bars... already took all the brakes and **** off the langster and put a cog on it.. got a 12 hour shift tomorrow to break it in real nice..

as far as delivering subs via fixie it is awesome.. im workin a double tomorrow to help pay for the bike ... ugh... i spent too much money today.. but delivering in a college town rules... good money... unless they tip in beers... which is good too.. decent hours... and i still go to school...
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Old 07-13-05, 11:11 PM
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Originally Posted by westonboege
Also i have a surly hub that i rode a couple months this winter and all this summer so far.. and i have replaced the bearings 3 times...
Is it possible that your shop sucks at adjusting bearings?
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Old 07-14-05, 10:03 AM
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Originally Posted by westonboege
I bought the bike used over a year ago and surly says that i have to be the original owner to warranty it.. This is bull****...
Nope, not BS, that's pretty standard. Got the original receipt? If not, how will they know if it's still under warrenty?


Originally Posted by westonboege
Also i have a surly hub that i rode a couple months this winter and all this summer so far.. and i have replaced the bearings 3 times
One of two things is happening: you aren't adjusting the bearings properly or you have your chain grossly overtighten and are roaching the bearings. Neither of which is Surly's fault. Take a hammer to that axle and knock those bearings out.
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Old 07-14-05, 10:15 AM
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I'm gonna agree that the warranty thing is BS. Companies that stand behind their products offer warranty support to any owner inside the time frame, because if their product is that good, then high resale value is something they should be able to promise their buyers, in addition to the other benefits of the vehicle. My station wagon is an 82 Mercedes, and I get free roadside assistance on it from Mercedes. I just call the number on the glove box, and they'll come with some fuel, a tire repair kit, a jump starter, etc. Its valid for the life of the car, no matter how many owners. Thats serious product support.

Likewise, Hitachi/IBM Ultrastar harddrives, that have more moving parts than an entire forum of fixies, are warranteed for 5 years, no matter how many owners. How do they know if its within the 5 years? You submit the serial number, and they know what serial numbers were made in what month of what year. If you are in the time frame, you mail it back, and they send you a replacement, no questions asked.

This sort of support seems uncommon in the bike world. What is so hard about a serial number on the frame translating to a date, and if you are inside the time frame, you can get warranty service? I know Surly isn't a 'high dollar' item, persay, but if you build your stuff to last, you don't have to worry about filling many warranty claims. Its just cheesy to make non-transferable warrantees.

Anyway, about your frame, I'd go ahead and have it welded. The thick steel on there will take to a little MIG welding and a shot of paint real nicely.

peace,
sam
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Old 07-14-05, 10:20 AM
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Originally Posted by phidauex
I'm gonna agree that the warranty thing is BS. Companies that stand behind their products offer warranty support to any owner inside the time frame, because if their product is that good, then high resale value is something they should be able to promise their buyers, in addition to the other benefits of the vehicle. My station wagon is an 82 Mercedes, and I get free roadside assistance on it from Mercedes. I just call the number on the glove box, and they'll come with some fuel, a tire repair kit, a jump starter, etc. Its valid for the life of the car, no matter how many owners. Thats serious product support.
Dude, we are talking about a Surly, not a Mercedes. It has a 3 year warranty spelled out in the original paperwork. We are not talking about a super high-end product but a down and dirty work horse. What was done to the bike, how was it ridden, was it crashed? Who knows. Bikes break. You want a lifetime warrenty to cover any breakage under any circumstances, you are going to pay for it. And it sure won't be at a Steamroller price.

And don't let things like the Langster's lifetime warranty trick you. They are narrow in scope and there will be plenty of people who tell you about frames under lifetime warrenty that did not get replaced.
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Old 07-14-05, 10:28 AM
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Originally Posted by riderx
Dude, we are talking about a Surly, not a Mercedes. It has a 3 year warranty spelled out in the original paperwork. We are not talking about a super high-end product but a down and dirty work horse. What was done to the bike, how was it ridden, was it crashed? Who knows. Bikes break. You want a lifetime warrenty to cover any breakage under any circumstances, you are going to pay for it. And it sure won't be at a Steamroller price.
Yeah, its not a car, its a bike, its also a lot simpler, and is going to have a lot less problems. Hence, it shouldn't be that expensive to service warrantees. I'm not arguing that Surly should have lifetime warrantees or anything, but if you have a 3 year warranty for the original owner, why not make it transferable? Thats what I think is cheesy, the non-transferable part. Most other industries have transferable warranties, whether its 90 days, one year, 5 years, or lifetime, the warranty should be on the item, regardless of the current owner.

peace,
sam
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Old 07-14-05, 10:37 AM
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Originally Posted by phidauex
Most other industries have transferable warranties, whether its 90 days, one year, 5 years, or lifetime, the warranty should be on the item, regardless of the current owner.
I disagree that most other industries have transferable warrenties. A
quick serach shows a wide range of products that do not have it and my own personal experiences back this up. Autos are about the only thing that comes to mind that has a transferrable warranty (although I know there are others).

Most people probably don't think of it, but warranties are built into the cost of the product. I assume the non-tranferrable part is a way of cutting this cost. And we all know that most people want cheap products. Just look at how well Walmart does...
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Old 07-14-05, 10:41 AM
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At $400 a frame is a non-transferable warranty that big a deal? This isn't an IF Crown Jewel, or something. Go buy a new frame.
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Old 07-14-05, 10:50 AM
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Was the crack in the weld or the tubing itself?
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Old 07-14-05, 10:54 AM
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Originally Posted by krispistoferson
Go buy a new frame.
Or spend the whopping $10-20 it'll cost to fix it. Or $0, because he has a friend who is a welder.

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Old 07-14-05, 03:15 PM
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The surly hub problem could be related to the crack in the frame. I noticed the crack yesterday, it could have been there for weeks or months for all i know. I just think that a company should stand behind their products. 400 bucks for a frame is not super expensive compared to 3000 dollar road frames, but it is not cheap either, not for me at least. As for surly being a work horse... obviously it is not. Although i have probably put around 6 or 7 thousand miles on it in the past year. That could be part of the problem with the hubs too. The crack is in the tubing, not on a weld. As for the hub, adjusting the cone nuts is not rocket science.

Im not trying to piss people off... im just expressing my discontent for a company that i thought was better than this.
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Old 07-15-05, 04:05 AM
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once upon a time.....i bought a new ross mt. hood. lotsa good rides.....then the chainstay broke. then ross went out of business. couple years later they were back in business so i contacted them about a replacement frame via the warrenty. no problem...but must be replaced by original dealer. no problem. original frame and fork (both light lugged steel) was taken away, to be replaced with sort of a crude tigged water pipe like steel with chromed unicrown fork. dealer went crazy trying to transfer all my worn out parts and needing cable hangers etc. i had to pay dealer labor. nobody was happy. years later.....i stll have it after making it a single speed. replacement forks broke...now cheapo nashbar with beer can shims....bullhorn bars broke....and replaced. it was headed for the dump, but makes a great beater go anywhere bike that i've enjoyed riding. and nobody's got one like it (for good reason).
moral is....just get over it and go forward. crap happens.
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