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Bike brands with crash replacement in Japan

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Nick Bike-n-Beer

Cruising
Apr 6, 2018
26
8
Recently a friend crashed and damaged his Marida carbon frame. I told him that I'd seen on www.merida-bikes.com that they offer 50% off for crash replacement frames. He spoke to his LBS/dealer and was informed that such a scheme does not exist for Merida in Japan. I was quite surprised by this since I've seen (in English language media) that most companies do have some sort of reduced price crash replacement scheme. So I wonder, is Merida an outlier in Japan, or is it common here to not have some sort of crash replacement system?

I know that Canyon Japan does discounted crash replacement, but I'd be interested to hear if people know about others.
 
Most subsidiary brands offer a crash replacement: Trek, Specialized, Cannondale come to mind.

I would think most small/mid-tier brands that use a distributor (not subsidiary) would not have a program as its complex to implement and keeping inventory of X frame/size/color takes a lot of planning and overhead.

Merida UK`s own crash replacement itself is somewhat complicated: limited to stock on hand, payment direct to Merida UK, assembly charges to be negotiated between the assembler and customer.

I would recommend your friend get his frame repaired with reputable carbon repair company such as carbon dry Japan. Likely will be cheaper to do that than any crash replacement program.
 
Trek DJ said:
Most subsidiary brands offer a crash replacement: Trek, Specialized, Cannondale come to mind.

I would think most small/mid-tier brands that use a distributor (not subsidiary) would not have a program as its complex to implement and keeping inventory of X frame/size/color takes a lot of planning and overhead.

Merida UK`s own crash replacement itself is somewhat complicated: limited to stock on hand, payment direct to Merida UK, assembly charges to be negotiated between the assembler and customer.

I would recommend your friend get his frame repaired with reputable carbon repair company such as carbon dry Japan. Likely will be cheaper to do that than any crash replacement program.
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Thanks for the insight.

As for this specific case, he's already getting a quote from CDJ. AFAIK at least the top tube needs to be repaired. From my own experience with CDJ this will likely cost 70,000 - 80,000 JPY. However there may be additional damage elsewhere on the frame. If there is, then the repair could cost double, which is entering into the territory of about 50% of the cost of a new frame: hence the interest in reduced price crash replacement.
 
My 3T frame and wheels also have a crash replacement program. I needed to register them after sale and I don’t think it is transferable. The latter is a common restriction, I think.

If I were your friend, I’d contact Merida directly and ask. Personally, I don’t think I’d want to ride a damaged carbon frame. Resale value is also affected.
 
@Evo if this friend of yours doesn't race, then a few extra grammes won't matter. Suggest a steel frame to him.
 
He can get his frame repaired by a number of companies... it's almost always going to be cheaper than a new frame.
The exact cost depends on whether he wants paint matching, or is OK with having a bare carbon section.
 
I'm well aware that carbon frames can be repaired but that is off topic. This thread is about which brands in Japan do reduced price crash replacement frames.
 
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