Cracked 2007 Condor Pista

Without reading around the subject...

4.5 years for a frame seems less than you might reasonably expect a frame to last.
If you buy a TV with a 1yr warranty and it fails after 13 months then you can still go back to the manufacturer.

'The Condor crack' implies it's a known problem and a manufacturing fault rather than yours? You would expect durability from a frame... certainly see what Condor can do for you. If it's nothing you might be able to push a bit harder anyway.

They will give you a replacement I think if you are the original owner.

I need to pay for my replacement frame since I bought it off a guy on here. I've been riding the Kinesis for power-related shenanigans so haven't been able to pick it up.

Time of ownership probably isn't very meaningful. It's probably done ~30,000km including rides like the Bryan Chapman 600, Elenith 300 and London-Edinburgh-London 1400km Audaxes. It's the bike I was going to use for Paris-Brest-Paris 1200km in August.

Still, if it's the too-short-seatpost-shim problem then I'd expect something more than suggest buying a replacement at full cost.

I'm the original owner, and anal enough to probably have all of the original receipts/documentation somewhere.

I'll take it in to Condor on Tuesday since they're only 2 miles up the road from my work.

Generic condoor: DO NOT WANT. [insert potatochop of tinyslain running from cracked seat cluster]

I saw a Paris Galibier built for Condoor just come out of the jig when I went to see Dave Yates. Wonder if he builds other custom stuff for them. Bet their clusters are sound.

Yeah he does.. and charges lots. I had to wait two years for my custom build.. and he lost some bits i sent him for the frame and got really arsey with me when i asked for them back as they had been sustituted for poorer quality parts. I know now it's far easier and cheaper just to get a better frame from Japan.

There i've said it.

Early stages of lurgy yesterday so I took the train. Nursery drop-off/collection today but I'll be able to take it in to Condor tomorrow. Hoping it'll be a fruitful trip.

Less of a problem now, it was stolen two days ago: http://www.lfgss.com/post2240144-6368.html

So my Condor has also cracked, on both sides, in the usual place. It's a 2008 model, pictured above. So it looks as if the problem isn't just restricted to the 2007 model.

I'm going to pop into Condor this week, and see what they say.

Reading through this thread, and other threads regarding Condors with cracked frames, the following on this forum have suffered with the "Condor crack" problem:

pavid - Condor Pista 2005
Zed - Condor Pista
Hippy - Condor Pista 2007
velocipede65 - Condor Pista
Mashton - Condor Pista 2007
Glowboy - Condor Pista
bigcoggs - Condor Pista 2007
Clever Pun - Condor Pista
606 - Condor Pista 2008
dougal - Condor Pista 2007
Zippie - Condor Tempo
Greenbank - Condor Tempo 2007
overandout (a friend of) - Condor Pista 2007
lucky (a friend of) - Condor Pista 2006
MrSmyth (a friend of) - Condor Pista 2007
Muddly001 - Condor Percorsa Ti 2009

From what I can gather, under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 the frames could be classified as a defective product, due to defect in design - the shim being too short. This would mean that Condor would have to issue a product recall, and replace the frames (whether you are the original owner or not), or be liable for any injury caused by the frame cracking.

Off to Condor later in the week.

Do they really? I still ride mine, not having the money to pay for its replacement yet.

Well if you do a search in Bike Radar for recalls http://www.bikeradar.com/search/?type=&dateTo=&dateFrom=&sortBy=relevancy&category=&searchTerm=recall&searchType=siteAdvancedSearch&searchResponseHeader=false&rows=20&searchIndex=bikeradar You find that most recalls are for problems far less serious than frame cracks.
Though if the item is sold in the USA that's where the recall tends to start, due to the more litigious nature of their society.

Here's a Giant that can develop a frame crack: http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/article/giant-anthem-29er-models-recalled-28431

@606, what did Condor have to say. I'm betting they weren't that helpful.

@606, what did Condor have to say. I'm betting they weren't that helpful.

They've been generally very helpful with the situation. Be careful when making unfounded judgements...

@606, what did Condor have to say. I'm betting they weren't that helpful.

Condor offered to sell me a replacement frame for £415, not sure how helpful that is. Going to get it TIG welded by a friend, and will attempt to remove the shim, as I think it's press-fit, and not bonded.

£415? that doesn't sound that helpful :s

Mine was a 2010 frame and they replaced it no questions asked... I only had it for 3 months...

You were the original owner though.

I'm after a broken frame for a project. One of these Condors would be perfect, as I don't need the seat cluster.

If anyone has a broken frame which is at least 56cm (preferably 58cm+) then I'll happily buy it for a modest yet tidy sum. PM me.

You were the original owner though.

I musta have been a fat fnck...

Reading through this thread, and other threads regarding Condors with cracked frames, the following on this forum have suffered with the "Condor crack" problem:

pavid - Condor Pista 2005
Zed - Condor Pista
Hippy - Condor Pista 2007
velocipede65 - Condor Pista
Mashton - Condor Pista 2007
Glowboy - Condor Pista
bigcoggs - Condor Pista 2007
Clever Pun - Condor Pista
606 - Condor Pista 2008
dougal - Condor Pista 2007
Zippie - Condor Tempo
Greenbank - Condor Tempo 2007
overandout (a friend of) - Condor Pista 2007
lucky (a friend of) - Condor Pista 2006
MrSmyth (a friend of) - Condor Pista 2007
Muddly001 - Condor Percorsa Ti 2009
Miep - Condor Pista 2007

From what I can gather, under the Consumer Protection Act 1987 the frames could be classified as a defective product, due to defect in design - the shim being too short. This would mean that Condor would have to issue a product recall, and replace the frames (whether you are the original owner or not), or be liable for any injury caused by the frame cracking.

Off to Condor later in the week.

My 2007 Condor Pista cracked after about 14 months. They offered to replace it with no mithering but I decided to pay the difference and get a Classico Pista which took about three months to arrive. Bah!

My 2007 Condor Pista cracked after about 14 months. They offered to replace it with no mithering but I decided to pay the difference and get a Classico Pista which took about three months to arrive. Bah!

I did this too. Then had it stolen.

FML.

.

Put your finger into the seat tube, and see if you can feel the end of the shim. If you can't you should be ok.

I will finger the seat tube tomorrow... [\perv]

As I couldn't be arsed paying Condor £415 for a new frame, I went down the following route.

Used a hacksaw blade to get the shim out. It's 60mm long, and glued in.

Removed the paint to see the extent of crack.

Then I drilled holes to stop the crack spreading. Used it like this for a while.

Decided to get it sorted/bodged properly, and took it to Ted James who brazed it up, and added a pseudo lug over the top of the joint.

Will see how long it lasts, but it's better than throwing the frame out, I guess.

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Dunno about anyone else, but if I had a frame from them, that is now WIDELY known to crack in a few regular places (i.e. its bollocks) I would be embarrassed as a retailer and get the fuck upon it, not 'at best' offering a slight reduction from the RRP (they still be making a very decent figure on that £415) and at worst shrugging shoulders at the problem. No-one gone to trading standards yet? All you need is a hand ful of similar failures and bobs your uncle, they will get upon it for you.

There have been major international product recalls over lesser failures found in far smaller numbers FFS!