Am I being ripped off?

shermer75 · Post by **shermer75** » 22 Jun 2010, 8:31pm

OK. So I bought a Dawes Galaxy- apparently a very good touring bike. On the first ride home the back wheel went very out of true and several bolts that held the rack and mudguards in place had started to fall out. Took it back, they trued the wheel, cycled the bike home. When I went to fit a front rack, two of the bosses on the fork were threaded. It had come from the factory like that. So now, considering I am planning to cycle this bike to Africa and it cannot seem to manage from Wandsworth to Clapton, I took it back again and felt I was within my rights to ask for a refund. This has been flatly refused. He is insisting on repairing the bike (a new fork is being fitted) so I'm not losing out in that way, but I have lost confidence in the bike. Am I right to ask for a refund? Should I be entitled to one? What's the general consensus on that one, eh?

thirdcrank · Post by **thirdcrank** » 22 Jun 2010, 8:53pm

For professional advice, ring Consumer Direct

http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/advi ... advice.cfm

bigjim · Post by **bigjim** » 22 Jun 2010, 9:19pm

I'd take the bike with the new forks and trued wheel. Can't really see the problem with that. I can't see why you would not have confidence with the bike. Going through all the legal crap could take forever. You need time to ride the bike and give it a good shakedown before any big trip. It's surely guarenteed anyway, so sort teething troubles before you go.

irc · Post by **irc** » 22 Jun 2010, 9:26pm

shermer75 wrote:On the first ride home the back wheel went very out of true and several bolts that held the rack and mudguards in place had started to fall out.

Sounds like they didn't check the bike properly before giving it to you. Checking bolts are tight is fairly basic I'd have thought. Where did you buy it?

gaz · Post by **gaz** » 22 Jun 2010, 9:47pm

rbrian · Post by **rbrian** » 22 Jun 2010, 11:56pm

PDI - Pre Delivery Inspection, or perhaps Pah, Didn't Inspect in this case, and amusingly when I got a brand new work van and called the AA after 4 miles when it broke down.

gbnz · Post by **gbnz** » 23 Jun 2010, 7:49am

shermer75 wrote:OK. So I bought a Dawes Galaxy- apparently a very good touring bike. On the first ride home the back wheel went very out of true and several bolts that held the rack and mudguards in place had started to fall out. Took it back, they trued the wheel, cycled the bike home. When I went to fit a front rack, two of the bosses on the fork were threaded. It had come from the factory like that. So now, considering I am planning to cycle this bike to Africa and it cannot seem to manage from Wandsworth to Clapton, I took it back again and felt I was within my rights to ask for a refund. This has been flatly refused. He is insisting on repairing the bike (a new fork is being fitted) so I'm not losing out in that way, but I have lost confidence in the bike. Am I right to ask for a refund? Should I be entitled to one? What's the general consensus on that one, eh?

I asume the bosses on the fork were cross threaded, not threaded (I can't see an issue with a boss that's threaded, as I normally use the threads to fit a rack etc, etc). In relation to the fork, wheel out of true and a few loose bolts, the LBS is dealing with these issues in good faith. They may have been at fault for not checking prior to sale, though other than the loose bolts, I doubt any LBS would check whether each and every thread on a bike is threaded/cross threaded or whether a wheel that may have of been in true at time of sale, was correctly tensioned prior to sale.

Personally I'd try the bike out and continue. The problems you've experienced to date, are no more than the minor issues which occur when on the road. I'd suggest it may be of greater importance to learn how to deal with minor issues, as wheel's out of true, cross threaded components, loose bolts,collapsed bearings, etc, etc are not unknown when away from home.

Tom Richardson · Post by **Tom Richardson** » 23 Jun 2010, 9:11am

I've heard criticism of the quality of wheel builds on Dawes Galaxy before. My rear wheel collapsed very early in the bikes life. Advice seems to be to have the spokes retensioned before serious use.

CREPELLO · Post by **CREPELLO** » 23 Jun 2010, 10:22am

Dawes haven't used hand built wheels for some years. This means the machine built wheels need finishing off by the LBS, unfortunately for them and yourself if they don't check this. Once trued they will be fine.

I think the bike should be fine after attention. I understand that it's disconcerting and disappointing to have a new product fail so soon. The bike, once sorted shouldn't be a rip-off though.

amaferanga · Post by **amaferanga** » 23 Jun 2010, 12:12pm

I'd get a refund and buy a bike with 26" wheels if you're heading to Africa with it.

scottg · Post by **scottg** » 23 Jun 2010, 2:39pm

If I were taking a new bike on tour, I'd take the bike to bits myself
and rebuild it correctly, both to check the bike and to make sure
I understood how to work on the bike.

“Adventure is just bad planning." Roald Amundsen

eileithyia · Post by **eileithyia** » 24 Jun 2010, 5:16am

A newly pu ttogether bike needs a "shakedown" regardless of who put it together, I would check bolts etc after a first ride or two to ensure they are still tight.
Can't answer forthe wheel, others have already done that. The bike is addressing the issues so probably not a rip off, just unlucky.
Would I use this bike for a tour of Africa? Emphatically NO.
Not because of the problems you experienced but because I would not buy a Galaxy for such a purpose, When the Galaxy range was launched I bought a Super Galaxy and would not consider the Galaxy as suitable for a serious tour.

scottg · Post by **scottg** » 24 Jun 2010, 2:16pm

A club member did a supported ride from Cairo to Capetown recently,
he used one of these. The "roads" often were little more than mud
tracks with road signs. Is the Galaxy considered a "roughstuff" bike ?

http://salsacycles.com/bikes/fargo/

bigjim · Post by **bigjim** » 24 Jun 2010, 5:13pm

When the Galaxy range was launched I bought a Super Galaxy and would not consider the Galaxy as suitable for a serious tour.

you can't leave it like that. You have to say why?

shermer75 · Post by **shermer75** » 24 Jun 2010, 5:23pm

I've got the bike back, with the fork replaced, everything seems to be working perfectly well. Spoke to Dawes (thanks Edric!) and they say that their policy is to only replace or refund if the bike cannot be fixed. So the shop (Stratton Cycles in Wandsworth, London) was doing everything right as far as the warranty was concerned,. They've fixed everything that has gone wrong so far, and in very good time. Reading some of the replies here and on the singletrackworld forum (where I also posted) it looks like they could have checked the bike over more thoroughly when I bought it, but maybe they were having an off day. Panic over! I've got my bike back. Woohoo!! :-)

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