Cannondale “Carbon” – is a FRAUD! Cannondale Warranty is a SCAM! Manufacturing fault nearly cost me my life

I am the original owner of Cannondale Quick 2016, which I have purchased from one of the Authorized Cannondale shops.

Everything went well to begin with, and the bike rode very well. But one day, while cycling on a straight, tarmacked road, all of a sudden my front wheel begun to wobble uncontrollably; the wobble was strong enough to set me straight under a heavy traffic, it was a very near miss. I had to do an emergency stop and on inspection of the bike I have discovered a massive crack along the Front Fork. It was clear that the damage was severe enough to render the bike useless and a danger to life if operated. Therefore, I had to be evacuated with the bike by a taxi.

The letter was written to Cannondale regarding this incident. Their answer was for me to get in touch with my regional dealer, which in our case was “Trial-Sport”, in Russia.

I would like to note here that the bicycle in question was originally purchased in a completely different country, and not through “Trial-Sport”. Nevertheless, I have followed all the claws of the warranty, as listed the Cannondale website, in particular: purchased the bike from an Authorized Cannondale Retailer, in assembled and adjusted condition; being the original owner; registered the bike with Cannondale on the first day of purchase; used the bike exclusively as per the supplied owner’s manual.

Initially, “Trial-Sport” was refusing to accept my bicycle for assessment, due to the fact of it being purchased in a neighbouring country and not through “Trial-Sport” directly, despite the clear warranty conditions listed on the official Cannondale Website : ” For any warranty claim to be considered, the bicycle must be brought in to an Authorized Cannondale Retailer on the same continent on which the bicycle was purchased.” After lengthy deliberations and numerous telephone calls to Cannondale, “Trial-Sport” have finally agreed to undertake a warranty-required detailed examination of my bike, as they are in fact an Authorized Cannondale Retailer in Russia.

Two weeks later I have received the results of my bike examination, in a letter from the above named shop, where they have concluded that: “the Front Fork does not have any traces of mechanical impact that could have resulted in damage from improper use; the observed crack originated exclusively due to the manufacturing defect”. “Trial-Sport” has sent the copy of this letter to the Cannondale head office, copying me in this correspondence.

Following this, Cannondale has stopped answering my emails completely and blatantly ignored my every effort at getting this calamity resolved. I have managed to get in touch with the actual director of “Trial-Sport”, who in turn was able to get hold of Cannondale, requesting them to speak to me directly, as the shop has already completed every obligation prescribed to them by Cannondale Warranty Conditions. Faulty Front Fork must be replaced by the manufacturer, end off.

After this ordeal and more than a month later, I have finally managed to get an answer back from Cannondale in which they were requesting for me to get in touch with yet another shop – the original place of purchase. This was impossible to accomplish due to the simple fact that 1. the original shop ceased to exist, 2. was based in another country, 3. that country has already strained relationships with Russia. And yet again we have entered into a long, fruitless arguments via lengthy email trail revealing a very simple fact that every Warranty Condition listed on the Cannondale website is a complete SCAM.  Cannondale will demand pretty much anything they can think of in order to avoid their legal obligation to replace faulty parts resulting from poor manufacturing practices, which ultimately endanger their customer’s lives. The list of unrealistic demands is endless, here’s some examples: travel to another country (Ukraine); keep and provide the original bicycle box and packaging (unfortunately, I am not a hoarder that keeps every piece of carboard supplied with the Lifetime Warranted goods, or I would have nowhere to live); an actual proof that the bicycle was used exclusively on well tarmacked roads (again, unfortunately I am not CSI! How can you possibly provide a proof of use beyond the written summary of an Authorized Cannondale Retailer examiner?!); etc… My argument is that EVERY single Warranty Condition listed on their website was followed to the dot; and the additional conditions requested have no place to be, as they were not written anywhere, but pulled out of thin air, in order to avoid replacing the faulty part. Additional conditions contradict not only the laws of the country where their product is represented in Authorized capacity, but also the consumer laws of the US, which all were blatantly ignored.  This backwards and forwards correspondence lasted well over two months, at the end of which, Cannondale declared that the “Lifetime Warranty” is in fact the lifetime of this particular model, stating that the “Lifetime Frame Warranty provided for Cannondale Quick 2016 has ended as soon as the newer model, Cannondale Quick 2017 has entered the market”, therefore rendering any claims made on their website for a Lifetime Warranty – absolutely useless.

Following this culminating statement from Cannondale, I have realised that I am wasting my time. During this painful process I have also found many similar sad stories, where Cannondale refuses to satisfy warranty claims even if a bike was used on a trainer, for example. Therefore, I’ve given my “Righty” Fork for repairs at a specialised carbon repairs shop. In addition, I’ve asked the mechanic to photograph the insides of the fork.

The final revelations of the repairs shop shocked me to the core! According to the manufacturer’s claims, my Front Fork was supposed to be made of monocoque carbon fibre. It was in fact made of three separate parts: aluminium crown, plastered with decorative carbon, and glued-on carbon feet! In addition, at the point where the blades join the fork there’s only two layers of carbon, which had dry empty cavities devoid of resin! I’d like to point out here that it was a decorative 3K carbon and NOT the unidirectional one, which should have been used in this particular advertised construction.

The mechanic has pulled apart the second foot of the fork and determined that it was made in absolutely the same fashion. Therefore, the fault observed was not even a manufacturing default, but a standard technological process at Cannondale. It becomes apparent that all of their seemingly carbon forks are constructed using the same technological principle – therefore Cannondale is defrauding their customers globally.

I would like for everyone to come to their own conclusions and decide whether or not it is worth to get involved with these scammers, who’s products might just cost you your life. I am a living proof that even a “Noname Chinese carbon” is more reliable than the Cannondale products, plus Chinese are a lot better at honouring their warranty obligations, and do not tell their customers to piss off.

The mechanic at the repair shop has applied a bandage to both blades of my “Righty” fork out of UD carbon and I am continuing to use my Quick. Let’s hope that the aluminium frame won’t surprise me with similar shenanigans… 

Pictures are here: https://twitter.com/Cracked01430254/status/1168920553283084288?s=20

Please retwit it.