Hole in the frame

[rh2705]

Hi everyone - I wonder if anyone out there has ever experienced this issue.

My sons Giant cycle is one year old and it went to the shop for a service today.

About ten O clock the shop called me to say that they had found a hole in the frame created by the rear tyre rubbing against it - see pic:

Repair was not possible (they say)
He needs a new bike (they say)
You didn't get it serviced and your boy rode it recklessly (they suggest)

All of this might be true, he has gone through crank bearings, axles, lights and tyres and innertubes at an alarming rate.

BUT!!!

I got the bike home, inverted it and no matter how securely I fit the wheel in the frame, it sits skewed so the rear tyre is always 2mm from the frame:

When you peddle hard, sure enough it bites right into the frame - when you peddle lightly, it behaves normally.The play in the wheel is about the same as my cycle (a four year old Halfords subway 1) heres a pic of my bike

At first I thought, no problem, I'll find an engineering firm to weld up the hole, but then I thought - 1) this will only cure the symptom, not the cause, and 2): Isn't this a manufacturing fault? Does anyone else share my belief that the frame has been incorrectly manufactured or twisted? I wonder whether I might have a claim under the Sale of Goods Act? I reckon it might pay me to argue this out in the small claims court - the £25 fee is a lot cheaper than a new bike!

All hints suggestions and advice very gratefully received!

 

[rh2705]

!Hmm sorry folks the pics don't seem to have uploaded

pic 1

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40766706@N03/3753619036

pic 2

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40766706@N03/3752823553/in/photostream/

pic 3

http://www.flickr.com/photos/40766706@N03/3753662290/?eOrig=3753618322

 

[mickle]

The frame is bent, without any shadow of a doubt from being crash landed. They certainly don't leave the factory bent and even if they did the bike shop would have picked it up during PDI. Giant have the finest quality assurance in the business, don't waste your time and the shop's time by pursuing this.

Your son did it.

 

[rh2705]

The frame is bent, without any shadow of a doubt from being crash landed. They certainly don't leave the factory bent and even if they did the bike shop would have picked it up during PDI. Giant have the finest quality assurance in the business, don't waste your time and the shop's time by pursuing this.

Your son did it.

OK - any doubts I had that my son was not to blame have now been blown to smithereens! (thanks anyway!)

Fixable? Or does he have a long wait til I can afford a new one??

 

[Steve Austin]

top work on the frame wearing!!

its not fixable. ally frames don't take well to welding and patching (i know someone will say it can be repaired in mmm the next post though) so the frame will need scrapping. its unridable like that.

lots of bargains on the On_One site. one 456 frames very cheap, and most of the parts will be transferable. ime of young folk and bikes. they ride them till they break completely. the whole bikes generally need replacing them.

 

[simon_brooke]

Hi everyone - I wonder if anyone out there has ever experienced this issue.

My sons Giant cycle is one year old and it went to the shop for a service today.

About ten O clock the shop called me to say that they had found a hole in the frame created by the rear tyre rubbing against it - see pic:

Repair was not possible (they say)
He needs a new bike (they say)
You didn't get it serviced and your boy rode it recklessly (they suggest)

All of this might be true, he has gone through crank bearings, axles, lights and tyres and innertubes at an alarming rate.

BUT!!!

I got the bike home, inverted it and no matter how securely I fit the wheel in the frame, it sits skewed so the rear tyre is always 2mm from the frame:

When you peddle hard, sure enough it bites right into the frame - when you peddle lightly, it behaves normally.The play in the wheel is about the same as my cycle (a four year old Halfords subway 1) heres a pic of my bike

Both bikes are buggered, then. There should be NO PLAY AT ALL.

The frame is bent, without any shadow of a doubt from being crash landed. They certainly don't leave the factory bent and even if they did the bike shop would have picked it up during PDI. Giant have the finest quality assurance in the business, don't waste your time and the shop's time by pursuing this.

I'm not convinced the frame is bent. RH says it runs centred when pedalled lightly but skews under load. That isn't (necessarily) a bent frame, it's a loose quick-release or completely shot wheel bearings.

However, it is not a manufacturing problem and it's not 'fair wear and tear'; it's abuse and neglect.

The frame is beyond repair because although it could be welded up welding it would undo the heat treatment which is a critical part of the strength of an aluminium frame, causing localised weakness. The moral of the story? Teach the lad to repair his own bike. Oh - and - don't get him a new bike, get him a second hand frame that's compatible with the parts he has, and, as a project together, transfer the parts from his old frame, replacing only as necessary.

The bike I was given when I was a kid was an ex-army roadster my father picked up in a junkshop for ten bob. Pretty much everything on it was knackered and needed repair. The consequence? I'm a reasonably good bike mechanic and to this day enjoy few things more than repairing bikes.

 

[Bigtwin]

Spare bit of metal, few hose clips and some duck tape - job's a goodun I reckon.

 

[byegad]

If it's worn that much it has been out of true for a long time and anyone sensitive to mechanical things would have noticed the sound and fell of it when power was applied. To wear like that the sound alone would be noticable.

A normal pre ride check would be enough to spot it. The scew mentioned by the OP is the hint.

 

[barq]

RH can check if the frame is bent by attaching a string to one rear drop out, passing it around the headtube and back to the opposite side drop out. Mark the string at the mid point of the head tube, remove string and compare lengths on each side. Longer on one side = bent frame.

 

[mickle]

There's a better way barq; run a length of string from one drop-out, around the head-tube and back to the opposite drop-out. Measure the distance from the string to the seat-tube on each side. If your two numbers match your frame she is straight.. It avoids the issue of inaccuracy associated with the use of stretchy string.

 

[hubgearfreak]

i'm amazed he didn't hear it happening, it must have buzzed and made progress slow.

anyhow, do they really make bicycle frames out of material that's softer than rubber

 

[Mr Pig]

i'm amazed he didn't hear it happening, it must have buzzed and made progress slow.

You know what some kids are like, they just abuse and knock the sh** out of everything. Personally, I'd make him pay for another bike if he wants one.

I like to put lots of effort into getting good kit for my kids. I'll spend hours scouring the net for recommendations and good deals. The flip side is that they're expected to look after things. If you just throw new toys at them every time they break one they'll never learn the value of money.

I'd say to the kid that yes, he can get a new bike but as he trashed the last one he'll have to buy it, or at least pay a large part of it. That'll teach him that there are consequences of not giving a sh** about his things. Either that or buy him a crap Halfords bike. I certainly wouldn't buy another good one if he's just going to wreck it anyway.

 

[Mr Pig]

Giant have the finest quality assurance in the business.

Hang on, what size of bike is it? The reason I ask is that son had a Giant bike, a 24'' wheeled one. The rear drop-outs, the slots the back wheel fits into, were so off that the back wheel sat completely squint, just like your sons bike!

In hindsight I should have taken the bike back to the shop and rejected it. Why I didn't I don't know but I didn't. I 'fixed' it by moving the wheel to the right position by bolting up one side, it didn't have quick release, then pulling it into place and bolting up the other.

The quality of that bike was nowhere near the best in the business, the bike had lots of faults, some dangerous. I'll have to take back what I said before. Maybe your son did hammer this bike but maybe not. I've seen one Giant bike with terribly squint rear drop-outs so it's not impossible there are others.

 

[peanut]

its difficult to tell from the images but it looks to me like the rear wheel isn't sitting the same depth in each of the rear drop outs. Could we have a closer image please.
Is the rear wheel pushed right into both dropouts ?

 

[peanut]

its difficult to tell from the images but it looks to me like the rear wheel isn't sitting the same depth in each of the rear drop outs. Could we have a closer image please.
Is the rear wheel pushed right into both dropouts ? there isn't an adjustment screw in the back of the dropout is there?


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