Cycling UK Forum

I have recently bought a Revolution Cuontry Premier for Edinburgh Bicycle Coop, after about 200 miles of riding I was sick of the constant squeal from the brakes and rattling from the bars, then a spoke broke in the bake wheel and I noticed that two of the cables had rubbed paint off the head tube. I returned the bike and was told that the cable rub was "normal wear and tear" and that I should have placed protection on the frame and/or the cables and that they would not repair the damage to the head tube. In my opinion this is either a design fault or a fault in fitting the cables, after all if you found the tyres on your new car were rubbing the paint off your wheel arches and the garage told you that you should have fitted protection to the arches and then you would have to keep checking and replacing the protection for the duration of the cars life I think you would be astounded. Any thoughts form other members? I have requested a respray or replacement of the headtube or a refund for the bike only to be told aggressively that this was not an option and the bike was being returned whether I liked it or not. Any other members had problems with this firm?

I can see both sides of this argument.

FWIW many of these protective patches are to be had in black, and once they are on, it doesn't really matter if there is paint underneath or not.

Most bikes, from most decent bike shops, come with an offer to have the headset etc checked for adjustment after a couple of week's use. Such settling is normal to several parts of the bike and adjustments are often required. I do not advise people who are not mechanically minded to buy via mail order for this reason, since such adjustments are not possible.

200 miles is a very short distance. I'd be rather surprised if the paint rubbed through in that time, but it happens sooner or later anyway on most bikes if you do not apply protection. Obviously things that are not of merchantable quality are not acceptable, but then again new bikes don't stay new for ever, either.

Doubtless someone will know what the exact legal standpoint is, but in the absence of that, you should expect something that is 'reasonable' as an outcome.

cheers

Just had a similar experience.

Girlfriend bought a Trek bike in October, used it regularly, has had it's first service and a few tweaks done by the shop. Was cleaning it the other day (not the first clean might I add) and found these rubbed patches behind the cable housing.

I checked my bikes (all Specialized) and found clear paches on them to protect the paintwork.

I questioned the shop why these weren't put on. Apparently Trek don't supply them and we should have known. This wasn't acceptable to me either. I tried taking it further with the shop but they were not to be spoken to on the subject. Quite upsetting as we have spent a lot of money with them in the past few years (maybe service wasn't as good because the shop worker didn't know me and the bike was an £800 aluminium one rather than my £2000 carbon or £2400 full susser?).

The resolution is that they have applied some Trek/Bontrager stickers over the area and this does seem to cover up the scratches quite neatly. I was mostly annoyed at the fact that this was not just offered in the first place. Stickers of that quantity would cost how little to Trek? We would have even happily spent a tenner buying a sticker kit as an extra if it was pointed out to us beforehand. I was directed by one of the employees that it is clearly stated in the owners manual. Having looked at the manual (who really reads one anyway!?) it does indeed state that it can happen but only in "extreme circumstances". Quite a grey area and one that he couldn't quantify (I enjoyed making him squirm a little on that point).

In all, i'm happy that it has been resolved as the stickers have a logo on so cover up the scratches and have now been put on neatly. I am annoyed that it wasn't just done up front and either charged on top or not. What a way to ruin a neat looking bike.

I suppose that I'm not too annoyed as this is a part of the mechanics of the bike. Your reference to car wheel rubbing is slightly off track as that isn't a regular part of the workings of the bike/car however, do you inspect your engine bay for rubs/marks where the mechanics are taking place?

Gutting but i've come to accept as a fact of cycling. I will however be spreading to word to all friends who buy new bikes!

Jonro wrote: I have requested a respray or replacement of the headtube or a refund for the bike only to be told aggressively that this was not an option and the bike was being returned whether I liked it or not. Any other members had problems with this firm?

You sound like a customer from hell. Go away, do a few more miles on your bike, have the odd crash, let your bike topple over after leaving it leaning up a wall, have some vandal kick it when it is locked up in town, etc etc. If you were concerned about paint rub then you should have fitted an after-market solution to prevent this from happening.

I have some sympathy for Jonro, if he's not bought a new bike before, or for a while. I've learned my lesson and always apply anti-scratch patches to all new bikes, as soon as I get home from the shop. Decathlon sell a neat Carbon-lookalike set of patches for around a fiver. Most shops sell either these or sets of clear patches.

The company, Lizard skinz do these protective patches, either in black or see-through.

When I build a new bike I always put theses patches on. The Jagwire cable kits come will a rubber tube that clamps onto the housing and this protects the paintwork from damage.

It is upsetting when a new item gets damaged, but these things do happen. If you want to keep things as pristine as possible then there are ways but you do have to search form them. I would chalk this up to experience and just enjoy riding the new bike.

i buy clear fablon from diy shops and cut and apply to all new bikes where needed. this material costs something like £5 for several metres.

I found that a short strip of self-amalgamating tape (only because I had got a roll for other purposes) rolled into a cylinder round the cable outers where they would otherwise touch the headtube makes quite a good rub protector. I've also used some to stop a rattle caused by my panniers touching the rack (end of the bottom oval Ortlieb QL2 where overlaps one of the stays).

Rick.

Valbrona wrote:

Jonro wrote: I have requested a respray or replacement of the headtube or a refund for the bike only to be told aggressively that this was not an option and the bike was being returned whether I liked it or not. Any other members had problems with this firm?

You sound like a customer from hell. Go away, do a few more miles on your bike, have the odd crash, let your bike topple over after leaving it leaning up a wall, have some vandal kick it when it is locked up in town, etc etc. If you were concerned about paint rub then you should have fitted an after-market solution to prevent this from happening.

+1

Whilst they could've been a bit more sympathetic your complaint falls into the 'it can't be a puncture, i only bought it today' category of complaints we in the trade get on a regular basis.

I was in business 25years(not cycle trade) and can count on one hand the number of bad customers I had in that time.I always looked on customers as people who paid my bills and put food on the table,with that in mind I was always polite to them and tried to solve any grievance to their satisfaction quickly and and fully.
In fact I can only think of one customer in all that time as being a "customer from hell" who was won over polite explanation and an offer to meet them halfway in their grievance which was their misunderstanding of the work I was contracted to do.

IMHO this(tiny) problem could have easily been avoided by the shop by either fitting clear protective tape as a matter of course or offering it at cost at point of sale.
It should always be remembered by businesses that bad news travels fast,and that a satisfied customer will always sing the praises of good business practice.
I've told the story on here before of the old lady who lived next door to someone who's house I was working on.
She asked me if I could fit a tap washer,I did and didn't charge for it,some months later a friend of hers rang me and asked if I could fit her house out with new double glazed windows(£1500) and some time after that her son asked me price up a kitchen extension to his house(£10,000)a job which I got.all for the favour of a tap washer .
Business owners should remember,what goes around,comes around.

I'm thinking about suing Dawes. Even though I have mudguards fitted, on wet days I return home to find specks of dirt on the bike. Clearly the mudguards are faulty.

.

IrishBill76 wrote:I'm thinking about suing Dawes. Even though I have mudguards fitted, on wet days I return home to find specks of dirt on the bike. Clearly the mudguards are faulty.

This is wrong, un-protected cable rub is preventable, mud isn't... Are you trying to be funny?

Given that the manufacturers of bicycles know that the cables will rub off the paint, i am at a loss to understand, given the cost of whole sale clear patches, why they are not applied at the outset, or simply as a sheet so that the new owner can stick them on once the bike positioning has been set up. Even better every manufacturer should aleast attempt to place the cable guides so that there is no cable rub. Equally, in my ideal world each bike should be sold with a tin of paint that matches its colour* And they'd be no war or hunger either.

The only thing you can really do about this is go completely Zen and remember its not really about the bike, its just a tool. Its actually all about you and the journey, the bike is there as a means. Although going to a bike show, taking as many free stickers as good manners will allow and sticking them all over your frame its a good second best.

*So far the only manufacturer which has attempted to place the cable guides to ensure no cable rub on the frame and give you some matching paint was Thorn. Sadly, because i was using a different hub, i've had to completely ignore their routing... on the plus side i've got lots of little tins of paint to use up, and they're all different colours. Lovely...

My MTB has the paint worn off on both sides of the front forks where the cable touches them, when I bought my road bike the cable set up was the same so as I was aware of the problem I bought some soft spiral over-sleeves; about 50mm long, pack of 5 from Decathlon (not sure whether they are available in the Uk), no wear so far but I keep an eye on them.
Interestingly Cannondale supplied me with clear plastic protective patches for this very reason but as the cables ran across the front headtube and fork joint I an trying the oversleeves first.
Rob