I strongly disagree. I did not and would not suggest lying to Surly. Still, there is nothing "underhanded" or wrong with asking what if anything they can do for you unless you lie about the cause. Lying would be really foolish anyway since it will be obvious that the cause was a crash.

I know for example that when I broke a ww kayak hull of a boat that I bought second hand, I told the vendor that I knew it wasn't under warranty, but wondered if they could give me a break on a replacement hull. They agreed that it wasn't under warranty but said if returned the bare hull to them they would give me a new one at a very reduced price. Surly just might do something similar, stranger things have happened.