Today I was washing my bike and I noticed that I've got a nice long crack across of the front of the bell crank mount. Total bummer. I don't know how this happened. Bad design maybe? It seems like there is a lot of force put on that small section of welding/material. Hopefully I can get a new frame/front triangle from Diamondback without much hassle. I hope.
Can you plz post some pictures tell us a bit more of your riding style...drops, jumps. I ride aggressively and have owned my mission for a few months now...just wondering if I should be concerned.
I dont have any pictures right now. I ride this bike mainly for trail riding. Pedal to the top, bomb down hill. I don't ride like a retard, but i certainly like to go fast and push myself to the limits. no huge hucks or big drops to flat.
I had cracked mine in the same place on my mission 2 frame. They got me a new frame. I know that the 09 frame is better. Here is a pic. I mostly ride xc but do go fast downhill and don't do huge jumps or drops. The frame was 7 months old.
On a very positive note, I got in touch with DBTrevor and he is going to help me get things resolved. There is something to be said about good customer service.
I love the guys at DB. They are cool and are very easy to deal with warranty issues. I have had nothing but postive customer service from them and love my mission a lot. I plan to purchase an 09 misson 3 in a few months. I can't wait to try the hammerschmidt!!:thumbsup:
Interesting. This seems to be a more common issue than I thought. I killed 2 Mission frames with cracks exactly like the one in the above post.
I was bottoming out my shock a lot on both frames (it had bad internals and zero bottom out resistance). It's possible that the hard impacts are to blame and not a lack of strength on the frame's part. That possibility is why I'm still willing to give the Mission a chance. I got my shock custom tuned before riding my latest frame. If I get another crack, I'll know the Mission isn't strong enough for proper AM use. I hope that's not the case though because it's such a fun bike to ride.
Dave, would you happen to know exactly how the '09 is frame better. My dealer mentioned the same thing, but didn't give me details. Did DB add the same reinforcements as on the Goat's frame?
I was hearing a creaking and occasionally "pinging" noise on my Mission for a couple of weeks. Well, my bike was super muddy so I couldn't really see anything.
I wasn't happy with the stock shock valving, so I sent that off to PUSH last week - which caused me to have to clean the bike. Well, I have a small crack at the exact same spot. I contacted DB last week and they shipped me out a new frame today. :thumbsup:
Should be here in a couple of days. That's the type of service you'd hope to get and I'm stoked to get a new frame (with ISCG tabs too). FYI, I was told that the way the rocker piece is welded on now helps diffuse the stress better and the downtube is thicker there.
Ask them nicely if they will do a crash discount. You're not entitled to get one, but some companies do it to satisfy customers and keep them on the brand. It's worth a try if you really like the bike and the company. The pitfalls of buying second hand. Only a couple companies offer transferable warranties, but it might become more common in a couple years.
Great to hear that they take care of there customers, I too am very happy with my DB Mission 3 (07), and feel reassured that if anything happens to frame they will take care of it. Awesome company and group of folks working there.
One of my buddies is buying a Mission as well because he rode my bike and fell in love with it.
What is the cost for getting your Float R "Pushed"
I have looked at the site and was wondering what you guys ask for them to modify, ie bottom out resistance and pedal platform? For your missions. I wanted to get some feedback on it and if it is worth the cost? Thanks. Dave.
Wondering if Trevor will read this, but my new Mission 3 has been nothing but wonderful. Still, I wonder if I should ask to replace prior to potential issue, or ride on, and hope I don't have a catastrophic failure? I admit to being a lighter rider than most, but I'm a physically heavier rider than EB. 220 > 160 when wet. So... what do you think?
really depends on the type of trails you ride..how much you have to climb. If you have terrain like the Bay Area, lots of climbing yes I would recommend it but if you live on somewhat flat place don't bother the suspension design is efficient enough.
I would ride it like you should and just clean and inspect the frame after your rides. I am more or less a xc rider. I weigh 160 lbs and noticed the crack after one long ride which was about 30 miles of rough terrain. The frame was about 6 months old. I am no begginer, I've been emursed in MTB culture since '96. I am also a mechanic, so I do have tons of experience.
Anyway, not sure how long it was developing under the paint? You'll see a nice hair line fracture right above the weld. Mine even had buckled slightly(See pic above) I would say it all depends on how soft or firm your suspension is setup and how hard you ride. I now run about 10 psi more than I used to on my old frame(160psi vs 170psi) and it rides better and I don't seem to bottom out as much. Still getting good plush ride with less pedal bob. I was thinking that hard hits with less air will maybe cause more stress at that weld since your bottoming out harder and/or it could be a bad weld. That is what the 09 frame had updated, a beaffer weld and downtube from what I can gather.
I know that DB makes great products and every year they make 'em better and fix mistakes rather than try to hide them like some other companys.
So, the cats out of the bag, we now know that a few of us Mission owners out there had this problem. DB knows about it and they will make sure we, the customer, our taken care of.
For real !! The bike is not going to break apart and fail out on the trail. This was something I noticed once I got home. Just to fill you in on what I wrote earlier.
Diamondback doesn't offering a trade in before they brake. There are a lot of people who have these frames and they don't have any problems. I have dozens of customers who have owned them for a year plus. Nobody I KNOW personnaly has cracked a frame. If it was a big problem with this issue there would be a recall. So worry not my friend, If you ride that frame a lot and don't have any issue for a good year I would say your in the clear. It seems to happen sooner than later from what I've heard. AND AGAIN , it is not a common problem. You've got a 5 year warranty and you'll be taken care of if anything did go wrong. Ride on and enjoy your mission.
David, the PUSH factory tune was definitely a worthwhile upgrade for me. You already know how sweet the Mission feels with a stock Float. A PUSHed Float makes the ride even better; more plushness, less bottoming, less unwanted suspension compression from rider weight shifts, and no significant decrease in pedalling efficiency. I can't think of any other upgrade that would make a similar improvement to my Mission (except of course a similar service on my fork). Letting PUSH tune my Mission's shock was one of the best things I've ever done for my bike and well worth the $150.
However, I don't suggest that anyone with a new Mission or shock run off to PUSH. It's makes more sense IMO to leave the shock alone except for routine service until the 1yr Fox warranty is up. Give PUSH a call once the shock needs work after that year. I ended up PUSHing my Float after just a few months, but only because my shock was defective (bottomed out way too often) and Fox's techs didn't fix the problem when I gave them a chance. I didn't specifically ask PUSH to modify anything. I just described I ride and let them know that I was having problems with bottoming out. They reccommended the "aggressive trail" tune and an internal bottom out bumper. I think its best to call and talk with a rep instead of using the online order form.
For the folks who are now a bit concerned about cracking their Missions in the middle of a ride, please don't be. I cracked my frame in mid October. DB offered me an improved '09 frame if I was willing to wait until they came in. I ended up riding my cracked Mission almost daily until January without any problems. The crack only grew a few mm on either side of the down tube. Now I don't recommend that anyone follow my bad example and keep riding a damaged frame for months. It isn't a great idea. However, I think my experience should demonstrate that this issue isn't a safety hazard. A cracked Mission will not immediately disintegrate. If you pay reasonble attention to the area in question (i.e check it periodically), you'll catch any problem in time.
Dude, it's a crack where the rocker pivot sits on the downtube. It's not like a sheered headtube or something. I rode on mine like that for a few weeks. It wasn't until I cleaned my bike that I saw the cracks. Quite the drama queen, rarroyo...... ut:
For the record, I suspect a couple of hard bottom-outs helped speed up my the process on my frame. I think the RP23 is valved fine for XC/ trail riding, but set up with proper sag, it didn't play well when 50-50'ing big hips or hitting medium sized (6-7') drops. That's a big reason why I threw down to get the shock PUSHED.
well, it isn't bottom out, repeatedly, on my bike. ditched the stock float for a dhx for exactly that reason. so what now.
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