Bend me, Break me

Back in my BMX days in the eighties we rode just as hard as the guys today. We had trails with dirt jumps, kickers and dirt quarters, even hip jumps and transfers. Nothing new - just way more over the edge nowadays I guess. I digress - the point is we rode hard, raced hard and sometimes fell hard. We broke bars, frames, rims, cranks and ourselves.

Never once do I recall trying to get a warranty claim for any of that stuff. In fact I can't remember any of my riding buddies trying to warranty anything either. Maybe we were just ignorant or maybe we just accepted the responsibility that came with our riding. Imagine that - taking responsibility for the way we rode or (mis)treated our bikes.

Skip to the nineties and then we were riding mountain bikes, which were in no way as tough as BMX bikes, but then again neither were we. Trying to treat a mountain bike like a BMX bike has it's problems. Just take a look at the size of the thing - those wheels for instance, and the longer tubes. A mate of mine bought a new 'Dale and taco'd the rim so badly (all on video tape) that even the trees bent over in empathy!

I remember bending a set of chromoly forks dirt jumping in the early nineties. I took my bike to a local dealer in London with my first "I'm a grown up I don't bend stuff cos I've been riding all my life" approach. And while I didn't appreciate what the bloke said at first, he was right. "Maybe it's your technique" he suggested. The cheek! Anyway he was right - my one landing had been a bit too "front-end" and had bent the fork. It wasn't a manufacturing defect or even a workmanship issue, it was my fault. That landing sucked. Simple. I wasn't just riding along...

Fast forward to today and the warranty thing is almost out of hand. From racers to dirt jumpers to downhillers to freeriders - people are pushing the limit of mind, body and bicycle. But it seems to me that the attitude is that the responsibility for all of that is someone else's. Not in all cases but in most it seems. Now if a rider crashes into a tree almost putting themselves in hospital, the damage to the bike must be the responsibility of the manufacturer not the rider! You got to be kidding me.

Consequential damage is the fault of the rider. No-one made you crash or try dirt-jump your cross-country bike. No one put a gun to your head and said try that drop-off or enter that downhill race to see for yourself the thrill. Where's this going to end? Riders want cheaper, lighter stuff but want it all to be unbreakable with a lifetime warranty that covers all of the riders risk-taking or irresponsibility. That's just not realistic, let alone fair on the environment.

Warranties cover manufacturing defects and poor workmanship for the usable life of a bicycle or it's parts. Everything has a life. Everything can break. Everything wears out. Replacements cost money. Things don't last forever especially when they're used in a way they weren't designed to or face forces, weather, circumstances or the like
that place more than a reasonable stress on the equipment. I'm happy to help with true warranty claims like most industry-types. Just please consider your actions carefully and accept responsibility when the fault is your own.