it's definitely too short a frame. Nice catch. I ride my wife's v-rex sometimes and the seat gets in that exact position. I've nearly lost it climbing 10% or plus hills.

Ben,
Thanks for posting the photos of your V-Rex. Mine is the same year, and you've motivated me to give mine a careful inspection.

Most of the failures on your bike are seat related: accelerated mesh wear, flute-tube, rad-loc clamp, and finally the "seat-stays" welds. We know you're a big guy from the extreme rearward seat position, but how much do you weigh?

Failure of the flute tube(s?)(RANS defective design) with the seat all the way back, would have concentrated all of your weight on the seat clamp, directly over that weld. This is arguably ALL related to the flute tube failure. If RANS wants to maintain a decent reputation, they should replace your frame: their cost can't be that much, and reputation is HUGE.

Please let us know how they treat you.

One more note: my Screamer Captain's seat had a single telescoping aluminum brace tube with a clamp for a quick release skewer welded to the bottom of it. The welded aluminum cracked, which RANS should have replaced. Instead, I chose to cut an inch off the brace (and its mate), which lets me recline the seat back to about the same angle I ride the V-Rex at. I had to spend $30 for a Salsa seat clamp, but my recumbutt vanished.

After reading your post, I regret not complaining loudly to RANS about their poor aluminum welding technique.

Im curious if Rans replaced the OPs frame??? As im looking to upgrade from my used Vision and purchase a New higher end bike....and wanting to buy from a company with a good warranty and customer service.

Why would they replace such an old, obviously abused frame? I wouldn't. However, RANS is one of the oldest in the bent business for a reason. They give great service. I have a 12 year old rans v-rex that is still going strong with all original parts except for the idler. Still has the original wheels.

Update: Got my bike back with a new frame. The new one is yellow. I hope it holds up better than this one.

Tackdriver56: My weight is 200lbs.

I hope the new frame works out better for you. I am about 200 lbs, and I can't imagine my V-Rex failing that way. Shouldn't have happened, short of a rear-ender by a car.

Yellow is a better color anyway! :)

What no pics?

A new frame!! Thats awsome, go RANS! I hope I never have similar issues with my bacchetta. If the unfortuante were to happen, they better have my back

Yellow/silver, I bet.

Yeah, the new frame colors are pretty sharp:

http://www.ransbikes.com/VRex09/LeadShot.jpg

They finally took my suggestion to do yellow! Or, maybe they ignored me and did yellow anyway. No matter, I like the new paint.

Well here's an update. New frame is still intact, but I broke another seat bracket. This marks the third seat bracket that has broke on me through RANS. Because I figured it would be pointless to replace something that kept breaking, I opted instead to get one manufactured out of aluminum. I took some pictures of my new seat bracket with my camera phone and apologize for any blurriness.http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...clebraket2.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...clebracket.jpg

What is the abuse we are talking about? I see a lot of scuff marks, but no dents. Cosmetic damage to the paint isn't abuse IMO. Some people are very careful with their bikes and some are not. Dents, gouges or DIY modifications would classify as abuse in my books - as well as riding the frame with a load above its state weight capacity. If the frame broke due to rusting from the inside I'd chalk that up to a lack of maintenance vs abuse, but I'd say that was the responsibility of the owner - however, I don't think we can tell from the photos what happened at the break in enough detail to be useful.

Hmm. The frame cracked *downward*? Just how the heck did that happen under normal riding conditions?

Looks like totoboy is trying to pull a fast one.

After seeing the pic of the now-1.5-year-old-frame, I'm pretty sure totoroben is just plain hard on his bikes, and he'd be having problems with whatever he rode. A V-Rex is a pretty sturdy bike, and yet he's destroyed one and is well on the way to destroying a second one. All those scuffs may not in themselves qualify as "abuse" but they're pretty indicative of the level of care the bike is receiving.

On another note, it looks like he's still got a too-small frame, and is reclining the seat so far that the seat frame is levered against the back of the main tube - possibly the cause of the first failure. Look at how the paint is gouged off the back of the main tube.

Thats from the seat bracket ripping out and sliding to the back. Again, not my problem. Perhaps if RANS made a decent seat bracket that wouldn't happen.

I'm almost afraid to ride my V-Rex to work in the morning.

The RadLoc broke?

JanMM, Bikes are made to be ridden. I still ride this bicycle to work in the non-salty months. The seat bracket should be able to take the backward pedaling pressure of a human being, but apparently I'm superhuman. I've experienced breakage in both the radlock and the V clamp.

I rode mine to work today - no problem.
I wondering what about your riding style is so different than other V-rex riders that both styles of seat clamps break.
The solid aluminum clamp looks robust.

I've ridden mine on all sorts of roads, with all sorts of front fairings, tail boxes, and even full fairings. It started life as a 21-speed, was upgraded to 63-speed, and now it's 27-speed. Over the years, I've commuted with it, and used it for club rides and tours. The only problems it's ever given me were wear-related: seat fabric and bearings in the idlers.

My 97 V-rex is still ticking, with all original equipment except tires, idler, brake pads, chain and cassette, and seat mesh - all parts that wear out on bikes that haven't been abused. The wheels have never even needed truing.