CRACKED MY FRAME TWICE

[v8 jago]

I have cracked my frame on my scott ransom 10, So i took it back to the shop and they replaced it within a week and i had only done 50 miles and the same thing happened again. The bolt on the bottom shock snapped and the frame cracked again leaving me very dissapointed. So when i took it back to the shock again i asked if i could pay extra and get a limited frame which is a stronger weave of carbon, I feel to frightened to ride it hard incase it happenes again. Has anyone got a scott ransom out there and if so have you had any problems like this ???

[neil_bolton]

Putting my Bike Shop cap on for a minute I'd be thinking the following:

1. How are you riding the bike?
2. How heavy are you?

I'd be very surprised if you have been unlucky enough to get a faulty batch, as it were, as these things don't tend to happen - certainly not when it comes to CF where failures and replacements can be costly.

I'd be thinking that you haven't got it the right way round - the 'extra' priced frame will more than likely be a lighter bike with the same design but with more clever thinking applied to it to get that weight down.

With any CF frame you HAVE to accept that you make a trade off for weight over strength - if you are too heavy or riding it too hard you will end up with a fatal failure of the structure.

However it may well be that Scoot have just got their sums wrong when it comes to the design of the frame, and you may well be best looking at a different design.

The GT CF I-Drives are very good - however I'd leave the Trek OCLV Fuels - light and great to ride as they are, they are a bit flexy.

Can you give us some more infor on your weight and riding style?

[v8 jago]

Im 14 stone odd and do what it says it will do on the tin although not as much as it should take.. The advert says all mountain single track/ climbs very well 10ft drops and down hills not a problem.. Although i wont do 10ft drops or more to the truth i havnt got the balls to do them. We race single track cross country climbs and have a mess about among me and my mate who i ride with. At the begining of the week my mate has snapped his swinning arm and found his frame to be cracked in the same place as mine did. He is only 12 stone. The ltds come with a better design around the bottom of the shock, Nut and bolt rather that a bolt that can come loose and cause the other bolt to twist and then the frame cracks..
I must say that scott`s after sales if fantastic !!! They are very appologetic and cant do enough for you and all that comes with the help from the bike shop aswell.. I have been told that i am riding well within the bikes limits even with my weight... I dont ride this bike any harder than i rode my cannondale prophet 1000 with a lefty on and that took everything i threw at it...

[neil_bolton]

v8 jago said:

Im 14 stone odd and do what it says it will do on the tin although not as much as it should take.. The advert says all mountain single track/ climbs very well 10ft drops and down hills not a problem.. Although i wont do 10ft drops or more to the truth i havnt got the balls to do them. We race single track cross country climbs and have a mess about among me and my mate who i ride with. At the begining of the week my mate has snapped his swinning arm and found his frame to be cracked in the same place as mine did. He is only 12 stone. The ltds come with a better design around the bottom of the shock, Nut and bolt rather that a bolt that can come loose and cause the other bolt to twist and then the frame cracks..
I must say that scott`s after sales if fantastic !!! They are very appologetic and cant do enough for you and all that comes with the help from the bike shop aswell.. I have been told that i am riding well within the bikes limits even with my weight... I dont ride this bike any harder than i rode my cannondale prophet 1000 with a lefty on and that took everything i threw at it...

Fair enough - if Scott are being cool about it, I'd be asking for a different model - or even a completely different manufacturer - its obvious that the bike can't cope with it.

From the picture I saw of the model - theres no way in hell it'll do Freeride stuff without breaking - and I'd recommend that if you do - I'd consider the maxim:

Big Stuff and Lightweight bikes = A+E visit for stitches.

[v8 jago]

When i got the bike it was a toss up between ransom and a santa cruz nomad. I sat on the ransom everytime i went to my bike shop and loved it. I need an inbetween bike as we cover anywhere from 12 to 30 miles of quick pedaling when we go out so need something that is around the 30lbs mark and got a nice riding position. I like toe ibis but only weighing in around 26 or 27lbs but it was the weight that put me off for obvious reasons..

[Roman]

I think I'd be looking for an aluminium framed bike too. Carbon is quite a brittle material and I'd only feel comfortable using it for XC or road riding personally.

[ALawson]

Going back a few years I had a Marin Quake 5, that frame suffered a failure when the bolt through the shock sheared, this bent the plates that the seated the shock. Result warrenty replacement at 8 months old with a Quake 9 frame (Better BB and Shock)

This frame lasted 18 months before it failed at the bottom bracket. This was replaced with a Mount Vision frame.

2 years later frame cracked and was replaced again.

I was only riding the bike XC and weighed 13 stone at the time. The bike got eventually stolen out of the shed, but Marin were almost "pleased" to get there hands on the breakages and replace them. If I ever had to buy another bike, I am currently considering it I would go with them just on the customer service. Although that may failure was a bit disconcerning.

Next bike will be a hardtail though.