In July I got my hands on a 2021 Trek Boone. I was so excited, the first new bike I’ve ever bought! It took the local bike shop 4 weeks to building up (long story). Every Wednesday since August I’ve been doing CX practice in a field by my house. This past Wednesday I remounted the bike and heard a loud “pop.” At first I thought I hit my cleat on the peddle or something. But as soon as I began to roll forward I knew something was wrong. The bike felt squishy. I got off and check the frame over and found at large crack on the seat tube…. It’s toast.
I took it to the shop I bought it at and they put in a warranty claim the same day. Trek has not gotten back to us yet. Does anyone have experience with Trek’s warranty department?
My concern is my CX season is over and I haven’t even raced yet. I don’t have a spare bike and everyone I’ve asked does not have a pit bike I can borrow. I do have a road bike its old and only first up to 700x28mm tires.
In your opinion, should I hold out hope and keep training like Trek will get me a new frame quickly and that I can have it build up before the CX seasons ends (there are races in St. Louis area until December 5th)? Or do I hang it up for this year, regroup, and target next year?
Feeling pretty broken up about all this cause its not just the racing. I find my community and lots of joy through cycling and without racing I feel I am losing my community.
Hoping someone can offer me some words of encouragement.
That sucks, I know I would be gutted in this situation. I had dealt with Trek warranty service twice, and each time it has been quick. However, in the current climate, it could be totally different. The frame that they need to send you could honestly not exist.
What size, and do you have a QR wheelset? I have a size 56 Specialized Cruz (2011) hanging in my garage (it’s my old pit bike), but I don’t have wheels for it. Mechanical disc brakes, 1x10 drivetrain, just needs wheels and a chain. It’s yours if you want it, we can split shipping. It’s honestly doing nothing but hanging there right now.
@ccftri Thanks for your words of encouragement. I’m feeling a little more optimistic about the future. I ride a 56cm. I have a set of wheels I can convert to QR. I’ve got a 1x10 chain too.
Ugh… Thanks for posting this @Lysdahlz, as I have a similar situation, and it’s therapeutic to know that I’m not the only one with bike woes, which in my case utterly crushed my excitement.
Last Saturday I was cleaning/prepping/tuning my 2019 Trek Boone in preparation for The Last Best Ride this coming weekend in Montana. I discovered a crack along the bottom of the BB shell. NO!!! I felt like a deflating balloon as all my excitement to shred on a new-to-me bike along with just received new Hunt wheelset evaporated.
My TR training has been going spectacular, so I’ve got the fitness, but now will have to ride the race on my old touring bike with much smaller than ideal tires. At least I can still ride, and I simply need to get my head around racing it ‘old skool’, but can’t help my disappointment. We’ll see how Trek comes thru for me, though I bought the bike used, so while bikes ‘shouldn’t’ fail in this way, I’m not holding my breath.
(yes I realize this is an old post, but I had to get it out somewhere… so thanks for listening y’all)
I’ve used Trek’s frame warranty on 3 occasions, in every case Trek came through. I wouldn’t say the process is fast, took at least a few weeks in every case, and none of mine were in the midst of a pandemic. Trek will look after you, I just wouldn’t expect it to be immediate.
I did have a madone crack and trek warrantied it. I will say I had to chase down a number for their department, find my claim number and ask them to respond - it basically fell through the cracks and no one responded until I inquired.
Then they initially denied the claim but I will admit I cried over the phone and that helped. They wouldn’t replace a old madone with a new madone and they only frame in my size was a top of the line emonda.
It worked out well in the end but probably was 2 stressful months.
Oh, man that’s terrible…. It’s so frustrating to put so much into preparing for the season only to have it derailed because of a broken piece of equipment.
I hope you’ve made some headway with Trek. I went through my local shop to get things straightened out. Fortunately, I got the new frame 2 days before the first race and got it built up in time to complete. Finished 9th of 20 something. Not bad for the all rushing around and stress.
Anyways, I hope you can salvage some of the season and get racing.
P.S. I had several TR user reach out and offer to ship me their pit bike. This community is so amazing! I bet if you posted something asking for help people would be happy to lend a hand or maybe even a bike.
treks warranty has been really good in my experience. What may be good news is that all the new Boones are the same spec now, so theres not 5 different SKUs for them to search for… its just “Boone” When I bought my 22, they actually had both colors in stock in my size in the local shop. If your shop doesnt have one, id say its a safe bet they can get it, whether its just a frame or a full build. I wouldnt get deflated yet, you may miss a race or 2 but I think youll be fine!
