Originally Posted by
McBTC
Maybe as simple as finding a bike shop and transferring over your components if you get stuck on a tour with a broken frame --e.g.,
TREK CARE LIMITED WARRANTY
We've Got You Covered
Every new Trek bicycle comes with our industry's best warranty and loyalty program - Trek Care. Once your Trek Bicycle is registered the Trek Bicycle Corporation provides each original retail purchaser of a Trek bicycle a warranty against defects in materials and workmanship, as stated below:
LIFETIME
Frames for the lifetime of the original owner (except forks, the Session, Scratch, Slash, and Ticket model frames, and the swing arms on all full suspension bicycles)...
That's a good warranty but does it cover crashes (I see defects and workmanship only)?
Not to be a naysayer but I can see a couple of possible problems with relying on that though. First you have to find a Trek dealer, and then you have to hope they have an applicable frame to swap, or you could wind up sitting around waiting for them to source and ship one. When I look at my planned route this fall and the Trek website I see dealers in Winnipeg, Regina and Calgary (plus others through the mountains to the coast). That leaves gaps of 575 and 750km's. But that could be remedied by planning ahead and emailing those dealers to see what the turn around would be.
Aside from that though, and back to my point (which also isn't the main reason I ride a steel bike). Within those 1300km's of small prairie towns I am far more likely to find someone who can repair steel than Aluminum or Carbon fiber. Almost every farmer has a welder and some can be quite talented both at welding and at effecting jury rigged repairs. Unlike some who have a low opinion of others but a high opinion of themselves, I tend to find farmers and developing world repairmen to be incredibly talented at fixing, rather than replacing, equipment.