This is a Canaan Elite. And yes I own one also, in fact we both have the same bike. His is less than 60 days old, mine 3 weeks. Mine will be going back to Performance for a full refund. I'm not taking any chances, I mean he is lucky to be alive and this happened while riding on smooth ground at the bottom of a gully. I hope the rest of you guys have better luck. I would be carefull and inspect the welds and the holes where the water bottle cages are drilled. It appears that a crack formed at the water bottle bolt hole, and spread from there during the compression part of the gully. The welds look ok but the metal looks like it was weakened from too much heat during the build process and it just broke away from the weld.
It's too bad because the bike rides great and has fantastic components for the price. But it looks like maybe the frames are less than good quality. Well at least his was for sure.
Please be carefull and check your out too be safe.


http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken1.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken2.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken3.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken4.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken5.jpg

Holy sh*t!! That is the definition of catastrophic failure. Glad you're friend is ok. That is horrible.

Can you repost the links to the 4 other pics that aren't working please.

Try these.
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken1.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken2.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken3.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken4.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken5.jpg

Sorry it doesnt work.
Just drag the first one into your address bar and then change the numbers to 2,3,4,5 and you can see his picks.

at least the headtube gusset worked ;)


good luck with mongoose

(snip) ...and this happened while riding on smooth ground at the bottom of a gully... (snip)

I'm glad everyone is OK! I hope the dealer and manufacturer refund/replace the busted frame!

I'm just wondering, how is it possible that EVERY failure picture that gets posted on the interweb happens while "riding on smooth ground".

Come on, be honest - could there have been some rough treatment that lead to the failure? ;)

No bad treatment, unless you are not supposeed to ride a mountain bike on trails. No jumps just trail rides on smooth and rocky trails. It broke at the bottom of a smooth trail that is like a roller coaster type run.

Wow...I'm suprised it broke in so many places.

Hmmmm, I call BS. I don't like mongeese either, but I don't think the frame suffered a failure in 3 places at once on a "smooth ground." Did you by any chance score the tubes so they would break and you could send it back becasue you actually hated the bike?

Tim

Everything that I said is the truth. I dont want to belive it either because I own the exact same bike and I really like the ride and components that came on it. And the price was a steal also. But I really dont feel like I can take the chance that it is not a design flaw or poor workmanship in this bike frame. Since he and I both weigh about the same, I feel like I would be pushing my luck to keep riding mine. The trail is called the Wall and the location is Rocky Hill Ranch outside of Austin.
I'm sure someone else has been there and can tell you what it is like. A bike should'nt fail doing what it was designed to do!

Everything that I said is the truth. I dont want to belive it either because I own the exact same bike and I really like the ride and components that came on it. And the price was a steal also. But I really dont feel like I can take the chance that it is not a design flaw or poor workmanship in this bike frame. Since he and I both weigh about the same, I feel like I would be pushing my luck to keep riding mine. The trail is called the Wall and the location is Rocky Hill Ranch outside of Austin.
I'm sure someone else has been there and can tell you what it is like. A bike should'nt fail doing what it was designed to do!

Okay, I guess I'll take your word for it. Keep us enlightened on what Mongoose says!!!(You are gonna tell them right?)

Tim

I doubt mongoose would believe that either. Most companies stand behind their workmanship and any frame that busts in 3 pieces riding on flat is obviously a piece of junk.

He sent emails to Performance, Mongoose and I think Pacific Cycles. The only one who replied was Performance and they said " sorry for your bad experience, take your bike back to the store manager and he will give you a full refund". No ****! You can get a full refund on anything you buy from Performance, whether it is broken or not, at any time. Its called the Performance 100% satisfaction guarantee. No questions asked. Just tell them you are not satisfied with the product and you will get a full refund.
Well at least Performance replyed. He hasnt heard a peep from Mongoose.

I've sold a few of those bikes myself and never heard of any issues. that being said, it's a marathon racer-style bike, and I wouldn't go with one for general trail riding. Yeah it might be doable as far as travel and geometry and components go, but it is built to be light and needs a good rider. But this would also explain why mongoose has been so loud about proclaiming that the '08 version is much stronger. Sorry for the issues, I love the bike too, almost got one if it wasn't for the GT Force coming out!

Where can we buy a gt force though? I'm liking them but cant find a dealer.

performancebikes is your best bet, only GT dealers around where I am atleast. Plus the aforementioned 100% satisfaction thing. The bikes are coming into the country mid-november according to a GT guy I spoke to a month ago.

I am wondering how this story ended? I assume by now you also know that Mongoose and GT are part of the same company, so I won't belabor that. Looks like Mongoose held up their end of the deal in that the welds held up. Well atleast we know where the weight saving is on these bikes :-)

Anyone else had any prons like this?

Pacific Cycles ended up taking the broken Mongoose back and gave him a GT Marathon in return. It seems to be a very nice bike and he says it climbs very well. I wondered if by not giving him another Mongoose Canaan Elite, they were acknowledging a problem with that frame design, but I think they just figured he wouldnt want another one for peace of mind reasons.
My Canaan has been great so far, although I am in the process of getting a Titus Racer X. I think maybe he got the bad apple of the bunch. Although they say the apple doesnt fall far from the tree.

Cool deal! Interesting point about Pacific's actions. I hear good things about the Racer X. Regards

I wondered if by not giving him another Mongoose Canaan Elite, they were acknowledging a problem with that frame design, but I think they just figured he wouldnt want another one for peace of mind reasons.
.

Or they simply didn't have any Canaan Elites on hand. If you warranty a Specialized frame(no one's EVER had to do that :rolleyes: ) and it was even like 6 months old you usually ended up getting a later model because they sell out fairly quickly after release and they only make a predetermined batch.
I would say if you're riding yours on flat ground too and haven't fallen on your ass like probably 300 other Canaan owners in the US, I'd say it's obviously pretty safe to say he got a bad apple. It's a bicycle, not a Bugatti, stuff breaks, no biggie.
Ride. Break. Replace. Repeat.

These are the same pics from John that are posted in the reviews section where he admits that he crashed to make the frame break apart. Read the end of his review.

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/xc_full_suspension/product_128481.shtml

I have a Canaan Elite and have had great fun with it...after replacing the pedals and tires.

These are the same pics from John that are posted in the reviews section where he admits that he crashed to make the frame break apart. Read the end of his review.

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/xc_full_suspension/product_128481.shtml

I have a Canaan Elite and have had great fun with it...after replacing the pedals and tires.

He doesn't say that he crashed and caused it to break he says that it broke and he crashed. It probably broken in one spot and that caused him to crash and caused much further damage.

He doesn't say that he crashed and caused it to break he says that it broke and he crashed. It probably broken in one spot and that caused him to crash and caused much further damage.


Whoops...my bad. You're right. I still find it hard to believe that a frame could break like that. Hope that I have a good one.

Whoops...my bad. You're right. I still find it hard to believe that a frame could break like that. Hope that I have a good one.

Well, let me answer everyone who thinks that the bike is a good bike. My Mongoose Canaan Elite also broke. And it broke in the exact same spot John's broke. Luckly i did not get hurt and caught it before a serious injury. The bike is a piece of crap. It has a design or manufacturing flaw and I would suggest that anyone who has one return it before you get seriously hurt.

Check your bike frame right above the welds for the shock mount and also the seat stay/cage that holds the seat tube up. You will find small cracks/fractures if your frame is giving way.

Performance has treated me very well since the frame broke and I was given a new bike , not a Mongoose, as a replacement. It is a much superior bike than the Mongoose in every way, should have bought this one first and saved the ********.

So it sounds like the '07 Canaan had a design of mfg flaw. I don't think that can be generalized to the entire Mongoose lineup. But...

I cracked the rear triangle of my '05 Teocali Super after about 2500 miles. Mongoose (through Performance) replaced it for free. Other than that setback, I have really enjoyed the bike.

Yes, I should have titled it the Mongoose Canaan Elite is crap! But you never know, maybe there other bikes are suspect also. I hope not for the owners sake, not Pacific Cycles.

I think that could be a couple things. one possibility is a bad alloy, or an error on the part of the tubing manufacturer. however, whats more likely is improper heat treatment if its 6061. welding on thin wall tubing (and all metal for that matter) creates what is known as a "heat effected zone" which changes the metal on a molecular level, creates a weak point in the metal by allowing the atoms to basically become all jumbled up. if heat treatment is not done correctly, ie: wrong temp, or it cools too quickly, you will end up with no gain in strength, and sometimes weakened metal. the reason i say this is due to where it broke. from what i can see in the photos, it broke NEAR welds, but no welds broke, which is a classic sign of a heat effected zone failure.
thats just my 2 cents from a welders point of view. either way, quality controll is lacking, and could have resulted in some serious injury... sorry you had to deal with that, but at least the bike is replaced and nobody was seriously injured.

not all Mongoose r bad , 3yrs of dh and me still in god shape . look for pics NXDH...

You guys who had frame failure need to report this. That's some serious ****.

http://www.cpsc.gov/

http://www.cpsc.gov/talk.html

https://www.cpsc.gov/cgibin/incident.aspx

Well, let me answer everyone who thinks that the bike is a good bike. My Mongoose Canaan Elite also broke. And it broke in the exact same spot John's broke. Luckly i did not get hurt and caught it before a serious injury. The bike is a piece of crap. It has a design or manufacturing flaw and I would suggest that anyone who has one return it before you get seriously hurt.

Check your bike frame right above the welds for the shock mount and also the seat stay/cage that holds the seat tube up. You will find small cracks/fractures if your frame is giving way.

Performance has treated me very well since the frame broke and I was given a new bike , not a Mongoose, as a replacement. It is a much superior bike than the Mongoose in every way, should have bought this one first and saved the ********.

My guess is that you got an MkIII or an Azure instead.

I've done some ridiculously stupid things on my only slight-overbuilt MkIII, and it's taken all the jumping, freeriding, and 4-foot drops to flat I can throw at it. I'm 170lbs. with gear.

-Mike

I've never been a big Mongoose fan. As for Performance, I would just stick to buying tubes and bike clothes there. Here are the links corrected so they can be viewed:

http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken1.jpg
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken2.jpg
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken3.jpg
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken4.jpg
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken5.jpg

He sent emails to Performance, Mongoose and I think Pacific Cycles. The only one who replied was Performance and they said " sorry for your bad experience, take your bike back to the store manager and he will give you a full refund". No ****! You can get a full refund on anything you buy from Performance, whether it is broken or not, at any time. Its called the Performance 100% satisfaction guarantee. No questions asked. Just tell them you are not satisfied with the product and you will get a full refund.
Well at least Performance replyed. He hasnt heard a peep from Mongoose.


How long does this guarentee last for after you buy a product?

How long does this guarentee last for after you buy a product?

No time limit.

Did you snap it apart after it cracked? I've never seen anything like that.

Did the shock bottom on a heavy landing, post big jump?

Glad you are OK. You could have been killed.

I still bought one though.

There were stories of GT STS frame snapping back in 1997 but I bought a first gen. It was the best bike I ever owned, never broke and was stolen in 2002. How you ride has to be a factor.

I've really enjoyed my '05 Teocali so I hate to post this, but this happened about a month ago.

<a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa270/ddauwalt/?action=view&current=DSC00788.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa270/ddauwalt/DSC00788.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Note the 1 ft drop in the background.

<a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa270/ddauwalt/?action=view&current=DSC00789.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa270/ddauwalt/DSC00789.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Notice that I had to replace the rear triangle about 150 miles earlier. Actually, everything has been giving out on my bike at about the same time, around 2600-2800 miles. I don't really attribute this to Mongoose quality but to the fact that I'm about 235lbs and ride hard. I don't do over 3 ft drops (mostly under 2 ft), but I've bombed down Porcupine Rim at 35-40mph and really rip other downs.

I've been really happy with the 'goose warranty. First they warrentied my cracked rear triangle. Next my rear suspension linkage. Finally, after the frame wreck above, Mongoose sent me a brand new '05 frame, including rear triangle but excluding the shock.

Again, I think its a combo of miles, my weight, and my riding style. I would buy another 'goose, BUT I DON'T HAVE TO BECAUSE THEY KEEP GIVING ME NEW AND FREE STUFF (I go through Performance for warranty work).

I have a couple questions and statments on this...

1.) I dont guess anyone has ever seen this type of damage happen to any other well known brand of bike??? :confused:

2.) If your answer to question 1 was yes, then if this where a trek, kona, cannondale, shwinn, etc. would we be having this discussion? :eekster:

3.) If your answer to question 2 was yes would the topic read "XXXX brand is CRAP?" :madman:

I rest my case and,
need I say more? :nono:

Well I bought my 2007 Canaan Elite even after reading this thread. I'm 205 lbs (fat) - I should be 160. I'll report back on any failures.

So far I love the bike - a lot.

I love my 8 teocali super as well, no problems here. To say a company is crap is a far stretch from the truth. A handful of users experience problems which equates to a small fraction of the total consumers. People usually only voice their opinion when they have a problem, and like others have said, you think the other bike frame manufacturers don't have problems like this as well?

time to up-grade

This is a Canaan Elite. And yes I own one also, in fact we both have the same bike. His is less than 60 days old, mine 3 weeks. Mine will be going back to Performance for a full refund. I'm not taking any chances, I mean he is lucky to be alive and this happened while riding on smooth ground at the bottom of a gully. I hope the rest of you guys have better luck. I would be carefull and inspect the welds and the holes where the water bottle cages are drilled. It appears that a crack formed at the water bottle bolt hole, and spread from there during the compression part of the gully. The welds look ok but the metal looks like it was weakened from too much heat during the build process and it just broke away from the weld.
It's too bad because the bike rides great and has fantastic components for the price. But it looks like maybe the frames are less than good quality. Well at least his was for sure.
Please be carefull and check your out too be safe.


http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken1.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken2.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken3.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken4.jpg
http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken5.jpg
Maybe the folks who head up current Gooses' are crap, but I own a 1996 Hilltopper (rebuilt) that still thrills my soul to this day! :thumbsup: (Maybe some Mongoose martyr makers took over)...:confused: ...:madman: ...:p

Maybe the folks who head up current Gooses' are crap, but I own a 1996 Hilltopper (rebuilt) that still thrills my soul to this day! :thumbsup: (Maybe some Mongoose martyr makers took over)...:confused: ...:madman: ...:p





Now im worried because i just ordered the 2006 Mongoose Pro Wing Elite and i hope is not a bad one. Does anyone know of this bike has it broken before on someone else or is it a good bike??

Don't worry about it. There is very little chance of it breaking (all brands have frames that crack), and Mongoose has a great lifetime warranty. Just make sure you keep your reciept.

Don't worry about it. There is very little chance of it breaking (all brands have frames that crack), and Mongoose has a great lifetime warranty. Just make sure you keep your reciept.





Hey Dauwalt thanks so much for your time, i was concerned about this issue. i ordered the bike from amazon yesterday i will receive it on tuesday. will i have problems with it been bought there, and been that is a 2006 model, and does this bike really have a lifetime warranty?

The review says "it happened on the 8th time I rode it", but the photos show a lot of rust and dirt for a bike ridden 8 times.

It doesn't take a lot of looking to find broken frames from manufacturers large and small.

I bought my '05 Teocali new on ebay (Aug. '05), and Performance Bicycles still does warranty work for me (and Mongoose works willingly with them). Hopefully you have a Mongoose dealer nearby.

Happy riding.

I bought my '05 Teocali new on ebay (Aug. '05), and Performance Bicycles still does warranty work for me (and Mongoose works willingly with them). Hopefully you have a Mongoose dealer nearby.

Happy riding.
Ok, do you know anything about this bike or someone that might of have it 2006 Mongoose Pro wing Elite? because if there is issues with this one i will return it back to amazon

Don't worry about it. There is very little chance of it breaking (all brands have frames that crack), and Mongoose has a great lifetime warranty. Just make sure you keep your reciept.

I'm seriously considering a 2008 Teocali Super. Seems like an outstanding bike for the money. However, I'm not as concerned with Mongoose's warranty as much as death and dismemberment from one of these catastrophic failures.

Anyone care to share some recent opinions or reassurances that this may be an issue they have successfully put behind them?

I'm seriously considering a 2008 Teocali Super. Seems like an outstanding bike for the money. However, I'm not as concerned with Mongoose's warranty as much as death and dismemberment from one of these catastrophic failures.

Anyone care to share some recent opinions or reassurances that this may be an issue they have successfully put behind them?


As mentioned above all companies have frames that crack or fail,just check out the Rocky Mountain forum and others and you'll find them.From what I can tell it wasn't a wide spread problem,no re-calls or anything like that,but they did re-enforce the frames on the Elite and Team models for 08.

I bought an Mongoose Team frame that's being built up right now,I can't wait to get it.I will give my impressions and post pictures when I get the chance.

As mentioned above all companies have frames that crack or fail,just check out the Rocky Mountain forum and others and you'll find them.From what I can tell it wasn't a wide spread problem,no re-calls or anything like that,but they did re-enforce the frames on the Elite and Team models for 08.

Amen brotha'

hmm, is that to say they did not reinforce the Super frame? maybe I'm better off building up an Elite. I'd actually prefer a Pike and SRAM drivetrain to the Marzocchi/Shimano on the Super anyway.

hmm, is that to say they did not reinforce the Super frame? maybe I'm better off building up an Elite. I'd actually prefer a Pike and SRAM drivetrain to the Marzocchi/Shimano on the Super anyway.


The reason they did that for the Canaan Elite and Team was because they were the ones having the rare failure problems,I don't think it affected the others.I just got my Team build back today,it's very nice!I can post a pic or two if you like.

Interesting. I've got an '05 Teocali Super thats been used and abused on 6' to flats, and its been pretty low maintenence. Replaced the needle bearings on the lower link about two months ago, and thats it. This might be due to my low weight (150lbs,) and generally smooth riding style, but I'll still be keeping an eye out for any problems.