At the end of last year i bought a Iron horse MKIII Elite mountain bike, all was well for 9 months until i started having problems with the rear tyre hitting the inside of the trailing arm under torque.. this was traced to a crack in the trailing arm upright on the right hand side..

linky to manufacturers web page

this was replaced... all was well again untill about 3 months later until the same thing happened again.

during the time i have had the bike Ironhorse has gone bust and spare rear frames have dried up! and the new owner hasn't said if they are going to take on warranty issues. I am getting a few hopefully broken rear frames back to try and fix.

So what i am asking is who would be best and what design changes within reason can i do to try and resolve this issue.

On a legal note does anyone know if the bike shop i bought it from is legally responsible in any way?

Any ideas gratefully received... 3 months now..

Is it ali or steel?

Which member is breaking?

bloomin bike


red line both times... ally

[Edited on 4/11/09 by macspeedy]

Can you make new parts in steel or s/steel ?

you mean half way up the uproght in the rear triangle?


broken frame

that is weird place to go - I can only guess that the tube is far too thin.

to fix that, install a thicker tube or sleeve the old one, easier said than done.

alternatively some fillets down either side.

are you fixing this for yourself? if you are fixing other peeps bikes, then are you covered if your fixed frame falls apart causing injury or death?

[Edited on 4/11/09 by 02GF74]

Yeah this is a weak spot that is known worldwide with this frame. It is my bike that i am fixing for me. I have put the fact the frame broke down to the fact most of the frames for xtrail or downhill bikes have a lot longer length of that frame member, therefore spreading the stress..??

linky to discussion on forum

linky

just looked at that linky it has been updated recently... i am raging i was told there was a worldwide shortage of rear frames.. bullSH*T LINK

cant believe it someone is gettin an ear full tomorrow !

ffs!!!! aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh

[Edited on 4/11/09 by macspeedy]

Well I can answer the legal question. The contract between you and the shop contains the implied term that the bike/frame would be of satisfactory quality. In deciding whether goods are satisfactory regard must be had to whether they are durable.

It seems to me very likely that 2 failures in a year would suggest that the goods were not durable and point towards unsatisfactory quality. Reasonably strong case I would think. If you purchased with a credit card you have the same argument with your card company (useful if the shop goes bust too).

You might face arguments that you have been abusing the bike etc however your internet searches suggest that this was a design fault in which case you are cruising....

Having said all that......If a polite but forceful approach to the shop does not work...you would have to be particularly pissed of to bring a small claim - think a day off work and a few hundred pounds in court fees....

nice bike...cracking in fact ....sorry!

blimey - the whole thing looks beefed up.

Looks a very light-weight structure for the sort of use these bikes are expected to cope with, as is the whole frame. On the other hand it should be a straightforward job for a decent fabricator to fix and beef up.

Typically during a take-over the new owner will have to honour warranties. It should form part of their due diligence. If they are just buying assets it's different.

well i have the second of the broken frames back, this one broke in a different place.

I am looking at making a plate of ally 3mm thick high quality stuff and getting it welded to the front leading edge of the triangle as it sits on the bike.

what do you guys think and can anyone here help, or suggest anywhere to get it done?

Thanks
Graham

[Edited on 7/11/09 by macspeedy]