raleighnut
Legendary Member
- Location
- One of the 'Elite'
New Bike Delivered Damaged - How?
- Thread starter Gav2000
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
IanSmithCSE
Guru
- Location
- Worcester, Worcestershire
Good morning,
I know very, very little about CF steerers so feel free to mock me.
I recently had a new Ribble delivered, the wheels were in place, the stem had been tightened to at least the minimum specified torque and the handle bars were intentionally not mounted onto the stem. All that was needed was to undo the front clamp on the stem, place the bars in the correct position and do up the front clamp.
But what would happen if I was an idiot at the factory and;
This explanation has the advantage of complying with Hanlon's razor - Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity
Bye
Ian
I know very, very little about CF steerers so feel free to mock me.
I recently had a new Ribble delivered, the wheels were in place, the stem had been tightened to at least the minimum specified torque and the handle bars were intentionally not mounted onto the stem. All that was needed was to undo the front clamp on the stem, place the bars in the correct position and do up the front clamp.
But what would happen if I was an idiot at the factory and;
- Tightened or over tightened the pre-tensioner,
- Tightened or over tightened the stem onto the steerer,
- Clamped the bars into to stem
- Decided to rotate the bars so that they were parallel to the frame and not perpendicular and then unclamped the bars from the stem?
- This would probably required putting the front wheel between your legs and turning, as was not uncommon with quill stems and not fully undone expanders.
This explanation has the advantage of complying with Hanlon's razor - Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity
Bye
Ian
Last edited:
Illaveago
Guru
- Location
- Chippenham,Wiltshire.
To me the breakage doesn't look like a torsional break but more of a clean snap caused by 2 ends being supported whilst pressure was applied to the centre of the stem. There is a strange line coming up from the fork crown which seems to suggest that something was pressing against it whilst pressure was applied from above.
I know that they sometimes test things to destruction for safety purposes but not on customers bikes!
Reynard
Guru
- Location
- Cambridgeshire, UK
To me the breakage doesn't look like a torsional break but more of a clean snap caused by 2 ends being supported whilst pressure was applied to the centre of the stem. There is a strange line coming up from the fork crown which seems to suggest that something was pressing against it whilst pressure was applied from above.
I know that they sometimes test things to destruction for safety purposes but not on customers bikes!
A failure caused by torsion would likely also lead to the layups fraying rather badly along the line of breakage.
froze
Über Member
- Location
- Fort Wayne, Indiana
And still no word as to who the bike manufacturer is.
Since there is no word, I'm suspecting that it was a direct buy from a Chinese factory. If that is the case, he will not get a new bike and there won't be anything he can do about it, he is simply going to be out whatever money he spent. I've seen this sort of thing before on other forums over the years from Chinese factory direct bikes, and they will not honor any warranty or shipping damage and will put the blame on the buyer, no American lawyer can do a damn thing about it.
Since there is no word, I'm suspecting that it was a direct buy from a Chinese factory. If that is the case, he will not get a new bike and there won't be anything he can do about it, he is simply going to be out whatever money he spent. I've seen this sort of thing before on other forums over the years from Chinese factory direct bikes, and they will not honor any warranty or shipping damage and will put the blame on the buyer, no American lawyer can do a damn thing about it.
Kingfisher101
Über Member
Where did you get it? A reputable U.K company wouldnt speak to someone like that because they would know the consequences.
If you have bought direct from China or from a private buyer then you have been scammed and you wont see your money again. How did you pay? If you paid by credit card you may be able to get some help.I'd take it up with the bank.
It was from Merlin Cycles. They have now collected the bike and given me a refund. After that initial customer service exchange their contact was much improved.
The bike was one of the Raymon road bikes that they are selling on their website. I'd not heard of the manufacturer but I saw that they sell bikes in Europe and are part of the Husqvarna group.
I took a chance with an unknown brand but as frames all seem to be made in the far east I tend to think that the brand is little more than the graphics on the frame, maybe this experience has shown me that is not quite the case!
I'm now back to riding my aluminium framed Merida, it's 12 years old but I've just installed a new (threaded) bottom bracket and it's now running very smoothly. Maybe I'll stick to what is already tried and tested!
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
froze
Über Member
- Location
- Fort Wayne, Indiana
I'm very glad you got your money back and all is resolved. Do you think you'll try getting another bike from them, or are you done with them? Seems like they were honest about it all, I wouldn't be afraid to order from them another bike due to their fast and courteous service.
They were out of stock of the size I wanted by the time I got the return sorted so I didn't have a choice to make. Putting the damaged steerer aside the bike actually looked really nice and the geometry was good for me (tall seat tube but not too long a reach to the bars). I'm not sure what I'd have done if they had more stock available.
Last edited:
