That's right. I was recently looking for a hardtail MTB and checking out all the local shops. I narrowed it down to the Gary Fisher HKEK at one shop and Specialized Stumpjumper at another. I told the sales guy in the shop with the HKEK that I was pretty interested and that I was just going to check out a few more bikes elsewhere before I decide. He must have read my mind and said "dude, don't buy a Specialized. Those bikes are unreliable." He then recounted a story of how he once had a Specialized bike and the frame broke in half.

DAMN And to think, I was actually considering buying one of their bikes!

I then went on to buy the Stumpjumper since I liked the components better and got it cheaper.

Actually, I lied. This wasn't too recently. I've had the bike since Sept. and it hasn't broken in half yet. The bike kicks ass. I just remembered the story and thought it was kind of funny.

You could have been killed... or even worse!

I saw a Kona get smashed. It was on a rear tire bike mount and the car was rear ended. It was very eye opening. I'll never buy a Kona 'cause they will crush if a F150 smashes into it.... yikes!

WTF? Don't buy any bike brand that someone has managed to destroy in one way or another? Don't you think that's kind of a silly statement?

Not dissing you here, but just sayin' that ANY bike can be broken. Put any other bike in front of that F-150 and I'm sure the results would have been essentially the same.

I think that is called sarcasm.........

Head tube split on my Gary Fisher guess the are bad bikes and I should not have gotten another one it could split again =O!

I saw an RV with a trailer hitch bike rack that had broken and the bike was dragging on the ground and sparks were flying everywhere. Don't buy blue bikes because they're highly flammable.

so are red. thats the price you take for buying the fastest colored bike though.

So was the reply...

Anyhoo, my last MTB was grey and black and the suspension linkage snapped. The grey / black paint obviously weakened the metal.

They grey did it; solid black is strong (and blue is fast) but gets weakened by two-tone schemes.

Whahahahahahahaahahahahaaaa!!!!!!!!

If there is anything worse that an unsubstantiated story about bike frame failure, it is an unsubstantiated story about bike frame failure told by a salesman wanting you to buy something else.

- Mark

This one time, I bought a hurley and the guy getting his in front of me said Ash hurleys break. I bought mine anyway and it didn't break. But then it did. So I bought another and this on has not broke yet.

WTF!!! Jagoff!! Don't you know anything made out of wood will break if hit hard enough??!! I'm just saying... Telling people not to buy Ash Hurleys 'cause they break is not cool.

I saw a Schwinn in a junkyard once, it looked as though it had maybe snapped off one chainstay. I was not sure what to do. I then decided to go and write a lettet to the editor of my local paper. I wrote to him a long winded missive concerning several incidents where I had owned some items that other people had owned but their stuff broke. My stuff did not break. The editor had nothing to say to this. Then I told him about seeing a broken bike in a junkyard and he didn't reply to that either. I think it unnerved him.

Writing stupid ****e on the internet is the coolest. Using this guideline, I'm the coolest sonava***** in the known universe.

Quite possibly . . . but that junkyard fella wears argyle socks; and that Smashy guy runs argyle forks. So now who's cooler? And what really happened to D.B. Cooper?

I see. I was not aware of this. This changes nothing. Argyle is indeed a fineproduct but Miles Davis doesn't pee his pants half as much as me so I'm still the coolest idiot.
I think D.B. Cooper only jumped because the pilot told him a story about this one plane that someone saw. The plane broke. Then I think he got a spot on that niffty Fox show, 'Prison Break' and then they killed his character off. Or he stocks shoes at the local Shoe-Emporium down the lane. I'm not certain.

I rode a 99 s-works hardtail frame as my main ride until last year. Now it's a rigid single speed. That bike has been ridden over 10,000 miles and the frame outlasted 2 forks, 3 wheels sets, and 2-3 complete drivetrains. In the first half of last year alone I put over 1500 miles on the bike training for and then riding in the Cascade Cream Puff. The bike held up great and it still working great as a rigid single speed.

Just because you heard some dude broke his frame doesn't mean all Specialized frames break. What he probably didn't tell you is that he botched a 10 foot drop on his Hardrock, or something stupid like that. He probably also failed to mention how great the big S is with warranty replacement. I worked at a Specialized dealer a while back and they replaced stuff on warranty the was 15+ years old and/or very mistreated with no questions asked. They're a solid company.

Oh sh*t, my mountain bike is black and gray. It has a white pinstripe, too. Oh god. should I just throw it away? Would it be too irresponsible of me to sell it to someone who doesn't know how dangerous that colorscheme is?

At least I have my red bike. Is red reliable? Or just fast? Sorry I'm just a noob and no one ever told me this stuff.

I have had a specialized for the past 2.5 years and i love it, it feels very sturdy and beefy. Every company that makes even the slightest attempt to cut weight in any area, will at some time have problems here or there with frames cracking, best thing to do is ask around or check it out on MTBR, safety is always worth a few bucks extra.

Oh no ! A bike broke !!!


Stop riding bikes immediately. !!!

Any frame can be broken..

Completely true, but if the frame is used for what its designed, generally, it wont break. If it does, thats is when it becomes labeled as a bad frame, but news of frames like this spreads quickly and the manufacturer will either improve or discontinue the build. Hardrocks have been around for a long time and are known as sturdy frames, i can only recall of one ever braking, but it was being used as a DH frame, which would emphasize my point to use as designed for.

So i bought this track bike frame used, and the guy who sold it to me (for $30) said it had like 10,000 miles on it. Well long story short, one of the welds broke. That bike was a piece of junk.

Moral of the story... bicycles suck.

Yeah, well when I was looking at bikes back in '96 and '97 someone from an LBS told me C'dale frames crack if you get them over 45mph so they are not good mountain bikes. There road bikes were ok though. Of course they were not a C'dale dealer.

I've been riding my '95 Specialized Stumpjumper M2 FS for the past 13 years. When I bought the bike new in the spring of '95 I expected the frame to last at least five years; it has far exceeded my expectations. It has more scratches than paint (actually, it is powder coated), but it still works great. And, like some others, my M2 frame has outlived half a dozen wheelsets, four forks, three cranksets, and every other part/component on the frame except for the original '95 Deore XT front derailleur. I've also destroyed two derailleur hangers, glad they are replaceable.

That said, I'll be replacing the M2 in a month or so with a new hardtail. But, the M2 will be converted to singlespeed and will continue to ride. I like the M2 frame so much that I'm having a frame built that stays close to the M2 dimensions/geometry, but accommodates a 100 mm fork. I'll post photos of the new frame when it arrives...