Frame snapped in half mid-ride, at the site of a product recall that went unactioned in the UK for over a year.
- Report
- 001
- Status
- Broke · case closed: refunded under Section 75
- Model
- Cowboy C4 ST
- Edition
- Edition MR
- Purchased
- 21 Jan 2023
- Price paid
- £2,590
- Mileage
- over 9,000 km
- Failure
- 22 May 2026
- Recall reference
- OPSS case 2504-0239 (9 May 2025) · Cowboy notice 2 May 2025
- Standard cited
- EN 15194 (non-compliant)
What happened
The owner bought a Cowboy C4 ST (Edition MR) directly from Cowboy in January 2023 for £2,590 (a £2,871 order with accessories and theft insurance). It was their main form of transport in London.
In May 2025, Cowboy contacted the owner to say the bike was affected by a manufacturing defect: the welded joint between the headtube and downtube could develop fatigue cracks after around 2,500 km, and in some cases the frame could fail. Cowboy told the owner to stop riding immediately and said they were eligible for a free replacement frame. Days later, the UK Office for Product Safety and Standards published a formal recall (case 2504-0239), finding the frames non-compliant with the e-bike safety standard EN 15194.
Over the following twelve months, Cowboy did not provide a replacement frame, a repair appointment, an interim bike, or any concrete timeline. No recall service hub opened in the UK, while hubs opened in six continental cities. Cowboy’s own co-founders acknowledged in writing in August 2025 that delays had mounted and communication had faltered. The owner had been told to stop riding but was given no means to do so and no alternative, and continued using the bike.
Told to stop riding immediately, then left for a year with no replacement, no repair and no alternative. Then the frame snapped in half.
On 22 May 2026, while the owner was riding at low speed on a clear road in London, the frame snapped in half at exactly the defect location identified in the recall. The rider came off the bike and sustained minor injuries to a shoulder and wrist. The injuries were minor only because of the low speed and clear road; the same failure at higher speed or in traffic could have been far worse.
In the weeks after the failure, Cowboy acknowledged what happened but provided no refund, replacement, or any concrete remedy. Its main response was to ask the owner to sign a broad non-disclosure agreement, with no offer attached, before any further discussion. The owner declined, and no NDA was signed at any point.
Then, in a written response on 9 June 2026, Cowboy told the owner that “the decision to continue riding after receiving explicit safety guidance was ultimately your own”: this to a rider it had told to stop riding a year earlier, then left with no replacement, no repair and no alternative bike. In the same message, Cowboy made a confidentiality agreement a prerequisite to any settlement, citing the owner's decision to make the matter public: no NDA, no discussion of a resolution.
On 7 July 2026, the owner's credit-card provider, MBNA, agreed to refund the £2,590 purchase price of the bike under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, which makes a card issuer jointly liable for a faulty purchase; the refund was received in full on 14 July 2026. That recovery came from the card provider, not from Cowboy. It covers the bike price alone: not the accessories or insurance, the year spent unable to ride a bike Cowboy had told the owner to stop using, the injury from the failure, or the consequential costs. Cowboy's own first offer of a remedy, a replacement bike, came on 9 July 2026: 48 days after the frame snapped, 433 days after its stop-riding notice, and only after the Section 75 claim had been brought and the matter reported to Trading Standards. The owner declined it. How the case ended is set out in the Outcome section below.
Outcome
The frame snapped mid-ride at the headtube/downtube weld, the exact defect identified in the recall notice. The rider came off the bike and sustained minor injuries.
Cowboy offered a replacement bike (a Cruiser ST, around £3,000 in value): 48 days after the frame snapped, and 433 days after its stop-riding recall notice. The offer came only after a Section 75 claim had been brought and the matter had been reported to Trading Standards, and was declined.
A full refund of the £2,590 purchase price was received from the credit card provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. No non-disclosure agreement was signed at any point.
The safety matter is with the Office for Product Safety and Standards (recall case 2504-0239) and Trading Standards. Their investigation is independent of this site.
What Cowboy said
Drawn from the recall notice and the correspondence held on file, set against the time since each was said.
We are asking you to stop riding it immediately.
We’ve now completed a comprehensive testing phase and are preparing to begin production of the new frames.
We chose to remain silent until we had tangible progress to share.
Delays mounted. Communication faltered.
We are truly sorry.
Our first recall hub is operational, with more cities to follow this summer.
The decision to continue riding after receiving explicit safety guidance was ultimately your own.
The confidentiality agreement remains a prerequisite to any discussion of a settlement proposal.
What the rider says
The rider’s own words, as submitted.
Sorry, but this isn’t going to work.
Your bike nearly killed me.
Being added to a priority list for a frame replacement at a hub that does not exist in the UK is not a remedy. It is the same offer Cowboy has been making, and failing to deliver, for over a year.
Issuing a recall and then repeatedly failing to deliver on its own stated timelines for more than 400 days is unreasonable, and Cowboy’s failure, not mine.
Any agreement I might consider must place no restriction on my ability to speak about the safety defect, the recall, or my experience with the bike and Cowboy.
Review the paper trail for yourself
Cowboy’s own recall emails and notices, redacted and published in full. Pick a document to read it; the line that matters is highlighted on the page.
Important Safety Notice
Open PDF ↗Timeline
Every entry is anchored to a date and, where possible, an underlying record. Flagged entries mark the key moments.
Ordered a Cowboy C4 ST (Edition MR) directly from Cowboy: £2,590 for the bike, £2,871 for the order with accessories and theft insurance.
Order #151950 · 21 Jan 2023Cowboy emailed to say the bike was affected by a frame defect, was over the 2,500 km threshold at which fatigue cracks can form, and that the owner should stop riding immediately. Confirmed eligibility for a free replacement frame.
Cowboy email · 2 May 2025The Office for Product Safety and Standards published a recall (case 2504-0239), finding the frames non-compliant with the e-bike safety standard EN 15194.
OPSS recall · gov.ukA Cowboy update stated that testing was complete and that the company was preparing to begin production of replacement frames.
Cowboy email · 16 May 2025Cowboy’s co-founders apologised (“we are truly sorry”), admitted “delays mounted” and “communication faltered”, said they “chose to remain silent until we had tangible progress”, and promised more recall hubs “this summer”, meaning summer 2025.
Cowboy email · 14 Aug 2025Cowboy announced recall hubs opening in Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris, with London listed only as a future location.
Cowboy email · 18 Sep 2025A Cowboy update listed recall hubs operational in Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Copenhagen, Berlin and Hamburg. London was still listed as “in progress.”
Cowboy email · 4 Feb 2026The frame failed at the headtube/downtube weld while the owner was riding at low speed in London, at the defect location identified in the recall. The rider sustained minor injuries to a shoulder and wrist.
See evidence: photographs & videoCowboy acknowledged the failure and added the case to a priority list, but offered only a wait for a UK recall hub that did not yet exist: no refund, replacement, interim bike, or timeline.
Cowboy support · 22 May 2026Cowboy sent a broad non-disclosure agreement, with no offer attached, as a precondition to further discussion. The owner declined.
NDA · held, described not publishedIn a written response, Cowboy said that having been told to stop riding, “the decision to continue riding after receiving explicit safety guidance was ultimately your own”. The owner had been told to stop riding a year earlier but was never provided a replacement, repair or alternative bike.
Cowboy email · 9 Jun 2026In the same response, Cowboy cited the owner having “continued to publish information relating to this matter online” as reason a confidential framework was needed, and said it was “not prepared to enter into settlement negotiations ... outside of a mutually agreed confidentiality arrangement”. No offer was attached.
Cowboy email · 9 Jun 2026The owner's credit-card provider, MBNA, agreed to refund the £2,590 paid for the bike under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which makes the card issuer jointly liable for a faulty purchase. The refund covers the bike price only, not the accessories or insurance, and was agreed but not yet paid. It came from the card provider, not from Cowboy, which has still provided no replacement, repair or remedy of its own.
MBNA · 7 Jul 2026Cowboy offered a replacement bike (a Cruiser ST, around £3,000 in value): 48 days after the frame snapped in half, and 433 days after telling the owner to stop riding. The offer came only after a Section 75 claim had been brought and the matter had been reported to Trading Standards. The owner declined it. The "days broke" counter on this report stops here.
Cowboy email · 9 Jul 2026The full £2,590 purchase price was refunded by the credit card provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. The refund came from the card provider, not from Cowboy. No non-disclosure agreement was signed at any point.
Card statement · held on fileAs of July 2026, the safety matter is with the Office for Product Safety and Standards (recall case 2504-0239) and Trading Standards. Their investigation is independent of this site, which is preserved as an archive.
OPSS recall · gov.ukOther evidence on file
The failure footage and photographs are in the gallery above, and Cowboy's own recall emails and notices are published in full in the paper trail. What stays off the site is the material carrying personal or financial details: the order, the payment record and the NDA. That material is held on file and can be made available privately on request.