chug666
Active Member
Just posted this on BikeRadar and thought I'd duplicate here, a long winded whinge about a broken frame- sorry!
I've commuted happily on my Charge Plug SS for 18 months or so, enjoying the low maintenance world of single gear riding. In wet weather I made sure to remove the seat post, turn it upside down to get water out of the frame, and sprayed some GT85 into it by way of TLC. Also occasionally gave it a squirt of waxoil for good measure, although I'm not convinced that was particularly effective. I clean it (occasionally), oil it (regularly), adjust the chain etc etc- so it has been looked after, albeit as a hard worked commuter beasty.
At the weekend, giving it a quick wash for the coming week, I found a big crack running horizontally from each side of the seat post slot. Did a double take, popped the seat post out, and it is possible to lift the top inch or so of the frame to leave a jagged gap. Not a good look. Its a 56cm (large) frame, I'm a bit over 6 foot so run a fair length of seat tube but well within the limits, and at 75kg I'm not particularly chunky, so I was really surprised to see it fail where it did.
Confession time- I bought the bike used, from a chap who'd had it a few months but preferred gears. He gave me the receipt, so I know it is a 2015 model. But from a warranty perspective I'm on dodgy ground. I thought it was worth giving Charge a go in any case, and was told there was nothing they can do to help (they weren't at all interested in investigating the failure from a safety perspective either). Similarly Evans, where the bike came from originally, were entirely uninterested.
So a few questions:
- has anyone else had a failure like this, and found the reason? If i buy a replacement frame I'm keen to avoid a repeat!
- any maintenance tips for a daily use steel frame would be great
- what replacement would you go for? I've looked at expensive (Cotic Roadrat), cheaper (il Pompino) and unknown (fabricrace light alu frame looks pretty good) but I really can'd decide...
- Do you think Charge (or Evans) should have done more, or am i being unreasonable as a dirty second hand buyer? I was careful not to demand a new frame from Charge, just pointed out the failure and asked if they would look into it, so i thought they'd at least want to see why it happened.
Will try to attach a photo, but I'm struggling...
Cheers all!
I've commuted happily on my Charge Plug SS for 18 months or so, enjoying the low maintenance world of single gear riding. In wet weather I made sure to remove the seat post, turn it upside down to get water out of the frame, and sprayed some GT85 into it by way of TLC. Also occasionally gave it a squirt of waxoil for good measure, although I'm not convinced that was particularly effective. I clean it (occasionally), oil it (regularly), adjust the chain etc etc- so it has been looked after, albeit as a hard worked commuter beasty.
At the weekend, giving it a quick wash for the coming week, I found a big crack running horizontally from each side of the seat post slot. Did a double take, popped the seat post out, and it is possible to lift the top inch or so of the frame to leave a jagged gap. Not a good look. Its a 56cm (large) frame, I'm a bit over 6 foot so run a fair length of seat tube but well within the limits, and at 75kg I'm not particularly chunky, so I was really surprised to see it fail where it did.
Confession time- I bought the bike used, from a chap who'd had it a few months but preferred gears. He gave me the receipt, so I know it is a 2015 model. But from a warranty perspective I'm on dodgy ground. I thought it was worth giving Charge a go in any case, and was told there was nothing they can do to help (they weren't at all interested in investigating the failure from a safety perspective either). Similarly Evans, where the bike came from originally, were entirely uninterested.
So a few questions:
- has anyone else had a failure like this, and found the reason? If i buy a replacement frame I'm keen to avoid a repeat!
- any maintenance tips for a daily use steel frame would be great
- what replacement would you go for? I've looked at expensive (Cotic Roadrat), cheaper (il Pompino) and unknown (fabricrace light alu frame looks pretty good) but I really can'd decide...
- Do you think Charge (or Evans) should have done more, or am i being unreasonable as a dirty second hand buyer? I was careful not to demand a new frame from Charge, just pointed out the failure and asked if they would look into it, so i thought they'd at least want to see why it happened.
Will try to attach a photo, but I'm struggling...
Cheers all!
