Enigma Bikes

[sussex cyclist]

My review is mostly going to be a photo essay. First slide please (does anyone remember slides?):



In the beginning were the tubes, and they were good. Or at least I thought they were.



Mark Reilly [RIP] measured me up, took my specifications, and delivered my dream bike.



Five years later came the first crack in the dream.



It was repaired, rather than the frame replaced, which was probably a mistake, but not my call. Four more years of great riding, then:



Ouch. Also repaired, again grudgingly was my take on it, but that’s of course subjective.

This brings us up to last week:







Yeah, that’s a write-off. No problem, thought I foolishly, this had the (original) Enigma Lifetime Warranty. It turns out this is not going to be honoured - unless you count a request for £600 more for a new, presumably un-lemon frame this time, as reasonable. The man himself told me that 10 years is a good lifespan for a high end bike. Which was news to me.

Now, I know “lifetime” doesn’t mean absolutely forever and ever amen, but a measly decade? And 3 frame failures? You may detect that I am unimpressed. Pity, because I loved the bike. Shame about the customer service, and misplaced trust.

[Tiberius]

Van Nicholas have a 25 year guarantee on their titanium bikes. Any failures and the frame is replaced, not repaired.

That Enigma is a right mess for a ten year old frame.....IMHO of course.

[Maillot Rouge]

I believe 'lifetime' from many manufacturers in 10 years.Although with the issues you have had I would think they would either extend it or restart it after each repair.IMO the frame should have been replaced after the first fail.

[Tiberius]

IMO the frame should have been replaced after the first fail.

Precisely.

To the OP - I see from your blog that you have researched the various manufacturers of titanium frames and their warranties. It would appear that Enigma have stuck to the letter of their warranty and that is that.

Sabbath say something along the lines of 'For the lifetime of the original purchaser' That's more like it.

[sussex cyclist]

It would appear that Enigma have stuck to the letter of their warranty

Sorry, but how so? Note that their current warranty terms are not the same (i.e., they're worse) than was the case when I bought mine. I am the original owner, unfortunately now of some shiny scrap metal.

[Jdsk]

Your statutory rights are not limited by a vendor's warranty.

IMHO that sort of failure in that time in normal use shows that it wasn't fit for purpose.

Jonathan

[Tiberius]

It would appear that Enigma have stuck to the letter of their warranty

Sorry, but how so? Note that their current warranty terms are not the same (i.e., they're worse) than was the case when I bought mine. I am the original owner, unfortunately now of some shiny scrap metal.

Yes, my mistake. Their warranty is ten years NOW but not when you bought your bike.

Apologies.

[Maillot Rouge]

Your statutory rights are not limited by a vendor's warranty.

IMHO that sort of failure in that time in normal use shows that it wasn't fit for purpose.

Jonathan

Yes.
Any company worth its salt would also see that and replace it.Obviously a fault that goes back further than it’s evolution into tubing.

[@EnigmaBikes]

Whilst we won’t comment on individual cases we would like to re-iterate our position on warranty to original owners. If within the warranty period or lifespan of one of our frames we see evidence of manufacturing or material defects that has then caused a failure, we will undertake a repair or offer a replacement. It is important to realise that the expected life of a product is not always a quantifiable thing. If a frame has had an especially tough life, been ridden hard, crashed, abused or used contrary to its intended use then its lifespan can be greatly reduced. In these circumstances we will extend an offer under our crash replacement scheme and in certain cases we will go beyond this. We pride ourselves on our customer service and stand by our products. Full terms and conditions can be found on our website

[wirral_cyclist]

Whilst we won’t comment on individual cases we would like to re-iterate our position on warranty to original owners. If within the warranty period or lifespan of one of our frames we see evidence of manufacturing or material defects that has then caused a failure, we will undertake a repair or offer a replacement. It is important to realise that the expected life of a product is not always a quantifiable thing. If a frame has had an especially tough life, been ridden hard, crashed, abused or used contrary to its intended use then its lifespan can be greatly reduced. In these circumstances we will extend an offer under our crash replacement scheme and in certain cases we will go beyond this. We pride ourselves on our customer service and stand by our products. Full terms and conditions can be found on our website

Just give him a new frame, try and get some good publicity and not further point out the limitations of the warranty.
Why companies say lifetime* warranty is beyond me, just say 5/10/20 years and be done with it.

* lifetime really can only be the that of the owner, anything else is just weasel wording.

[Bonefishblues]

Having read your original blog regarding the first crack, one can see that seeds were being sown around this issue of the bike leading a 'hard life'.

The restatement of Warranty Terms by the builders in this thread doesn't do them much good, in my eyes anyway.

[mattheus]

Why companies say lifetime* warranty is beyond me, just say 5/10/20 years and be done with it.

* lifetime really can only be the that of the owner, anything else is just weasel wording.

I agree. (of course Enigma aren't the only ones doing this weaseling ... )

If they insist on using discretion, then I'd rather they said summat like:
" 5 years minimum, or longer at our discretion if we can see it's our fault and the bike's had an easy life"

-------------------
Do we know how much this frame+forks cost? Did I read £700 somewhere? (although I think the owner bought is as a built bike?)

[PH]

Your statutory rights are not limited by a vendor's warranty.

Have you a link to some statutory rights that would apply to ten year old goods?

[PH]

I've never had any cycling product that I haven't had good value from within ten years, of course it's nice if things last and last, in the case of a lightweight frame there might have to be some trade offs to increase that likelihood, I think I'd be satisfied with ten years and a decent discount on the replacement, that's not as good as some, but better than some others.

[sussex cyclist]

Whilst we won’t comment on individual cases
Standard opening boilerplate. Fair enough.

we would like to re-iterate our position on warranty to original owners.
Warranty in its current form…

If within the warranty period or lifespan of one of our frames we see evidence of manufacturing or material defects
So you'll be the ones judging your manufacturing prowess. Got it.

that has then caused a failure we will undertake a repair or offer a replacement.

It is important to realise that the expected life of a product is not always a quantifiable thing.
On this we can probably agree.

If a frame has had an especially tough life,
Here we go again. I realise you "wont comment on individual cases", but by commenting here, one may infer you are about to make implications about how I've treated my bike. Please do forgive me if that's an uncharitable reading.

been ridden hard, crashed, abused or used contrary to its intended use then its lifespan can be greatly reduced.
Goodness, just what do your other customers get up to with their bikes, I wonder? Do they use them as skydiving buddies? Ape Danny MacAskill and fail miserably? Hammer nails into boards with them? The mind boggles.

As for me, I rode seemingly endless loops (smaller with the pandemic of course) around my humble East Sussex home, taking great care not to crash or otherwise abuse it.

"Riding hard" is so subjective as to render the phrase almost meaningless, but I didn't do that, either. As one character witness has put it: "I know you to be a smooth, careful, rider. Me? I'm a large, heavy, clumsy lump, prone to go through, even cause, potholes rather than around them. I'm not up for "it's broken because CLEARLY you've been using it" type discussion with a boutique owner. If I want a work of art to hang on the wall I know artists whose work is much cheaper.

In these circumstances we will extend an offer under our crash replacement scheme
Yes: again, your current scheme. In any case, there was no crash.

and in certain cases we will go beyond this.
That's nice. Current evidence to the contrary.

We pride ourselves on our customer service and stand by our products.
Back to boilerplate.

Full terms and conditions can be found on our website.
Always important to read the fine print.

See also my open letter for more background.