No customer service at Alpkit / Sonder

[Deleted member 91092]

Then it would be more interesting if some of you could report on how often (in terms of mileage and years) you replace bike wheels, and why (failure, or upgrade).

As for replacement wheels, I find basically nothing in 700 size, 32 spokes, 11s road hub and 135 QR axle (or 142 with adapter, I guess). Size basically implies gravel wheels, which have less spokes.
One solution would be to assemble a wheel from separate components, but this is costly...

 

[vickster]

Superstar components?
Or for an EU seller, Rose always used to have a good range of wheels
https://www.rosebikes.fr/composants-de-vélo/roues
If touring, get 36 spokes if you can

 

[Kingfisher101]

Then it would be more interesting if some of you could report on how often (in terms of mileage and years) you replace bike wheels, and why (failure, or upgrade).

As for replacement wheels, I find basically nothing in 700 size, 32 spokes, 11s road hub and 135 QR axle (or 142 with adapter, I guess). Size basically implies gravel wheels, which have less spokes.
One solution would be to assemble a wheel from separate components, but this is costly...

Just go to a wheelbuilder and state your requirements.It wont be that much,they will start at about £100. Your not going to get one for a shilling and sixpence nowadays.

 

[HobbesOnTour]

In fairness to the OP and in respect of the mileage on the wheels....

my riding style is very mild, mainly daily commuting (about 13000 km) with very little load on the rear rack, local day trips, and ~4000 km family touring (sleeping in hotels and b&b) with no more than ~10 kg luggage.

So about 17000km in three years. 4000km touring I think is the significant thing. Touring can be heavy on a bike.

Are you one of these kind of guys who spend 3000 GBP in a bike to ride it 6 miles/week ?

And

Are you a cop ? Are you working at Alpkit

That's playing the man and not the ball. It's really not helping your image

When there is a conflict about a warranty, the seller must prove the user's fault, otherwise the seller must take the repair in charge. That's the law, and brexited UK is no exception.

Most warranties that I'm aware of exclude consumables and have conditions. We can't go out and thrash something then ask for a replacement under warranty
Why don't you post the text of the warranty that applied to your purchase at the time of the sale?



I can't quote it but your bike supplier has offered you the same wheelset at a 50% discount. And you want them for free?*
If it was me I'd snap their hands off for that deal! Three years use and a half price wheelset? A bargain!
Then I'd buy a decent rear wheel for my touring. Win. Win.
* I understand they're currently not available but someone as well versed as yourself

I'm regularly contributing to an open access local bike workshop. All the people there, who are more experienced than me

knows that there have been massive supply problems for bikes and bike components for two years now.

Do you want my criminal record ? My vaccination certificate ?

Again, you're really not helping yourself with this kind of posting style.

It really boils my urine when people pop up to slam companies, especially the smaller ones. Naming names when someone isn't around to defend themselves is pretty low behaviour in my book.
Some people here are actually trying to help you but it seems like you're so angry nothing is getting through.

I've never bought anything from Alpkit but honestly, after this thread I'd be more likely to do business with them than before.
Keep posting and you might get the wheels gratis for commission

 

[wiggydiggy]

Then it would be more interesting if some of you could report on how often (in terms of mileage and years) you replace bike wheels, and why (failure, or upgrade).

As for replacement wheels, I find basically nothing in 700 size, 32 spokes, 11s road hub and 135 QR axle (or 142 with adapter, I guess). Size basically implies gravel wheels, which have less One solution would be to assemble a wheel from separate components, but this is had one (rear) wheel rebuilt <6 months after buying the bike as I kept breaking spokes (I'm a large chap), I've had no issues with the rebuilt stronger wheel.

I had one (rear) wheel rebuilt <6 months after buying the bike as I kept breaking spokes (I'm a large chap), I've had no issues with the rebuilt stronger wheel.

Another bike the wheel has been fine with a lot of miles, some on quite rough stuff, though the hub did fail after about 4 years.

Lastly I had one wheel break the same as yours has though that bike was a sub £400 bike and I was happy with the life it gave me.

The only true failures I've ever had have been frame cracks, all replaced under warranty.

Bike parts are a bit of a mystery to me at times, my oldest bike is still running the original wheels. MTB (Profile pic) that whilst hasn't done the most miles it's arguably been ridden the roughest. It has however had the drive train replaced twice over.

 

[Randomnerd]

As others have said, component lifespan is all guess-work.
To be fair to Alpkit, their offer seems very reasonable. A good wheel-builder may be able to tell you why your rim failed: could be wrong spokes; overtight lacing; too heavy a load etc etc….Or just a “Friday” wheel.
For any touring or rough stuff, I would lace wheels with 36 spokes, front and rear. Personally, I wouldn’t have trusted the wheels you picked, but you are where you are.
Take the offer of cheap wheels. Buy some touring rims locally, laced by someone competent. Learn. Move on. (You may have gained more sympathy here had you not called out the staff member, or taken into account more logically the state of small businesses at present.)

 

[cougie uk]

Last bike I got from PX needed new bearings after two years. Cheap wheels.
Wheels are usually the component you want to replace on most bikes sold for a price.

 

[Deleted member 91092]

In fairness to the OP and in respect of the mileage on the wheels....

So about 17000km in three years. 4000km touring I think is the significant thing. Touring can be heavy on a bike.

4000 km of family touring on Eurovelo routes, lol. I can't believe you actually ride a bike.

And

That's playing the man and not the ball. It's really not helping your image

I am attacked because I was lazy about a brake that was functioning well until it failed suddenly. Are you 100% efficient in anticipating potential failures on your bike (if you have one, now I'm not sure) ? And what is the relation between a rusted cable and a cracked aluminium wheel ? I'm still waiting for an answer to my question of how I should have maintained my wheel to avoid theses cracks.

Most warranties that I'm aware of exclude consumables and have conditions. We can't go out and thrash something then ask for a replacement under warranty

Very funny indeed. Are you aware that bike wheels are not consumables (in contrast to cables) ?

Why don't you post the text of the warranty that applied to your purchase at the time of the sale?

Here you have. No more details, Alpkit's style.

I can't quote it but your bike supplier has offered you the same wheelset at a 50% discount. And you want them for free?*

I want they apply the warranty associated to their products.

If it was me I'd snap their hands off for that deal! Three years use and a half price wheelset? A bargain!

Why would I spend another 100€ for a pair of wheels that won't even last 3 years ?

It really boils my urine when people pop up to slam companies, especially the smaller ones. Naming names when someone isn't around to defend themselves is pretty low behaviour in my book.

I only said that this guy was unpolite. Alpkit team is perfectly aware of this, to the point that somebody else took the relay and was perfectly kind with me, although I found the final compromise not really satisfying.

Some people here are actually trying to help you but it seems like you're so angry nothing is getting through.

Be sure you're not among these people. You added zero information to this thread.

I've never bought anything from Alpkit but honestly, after this thread I'd be more likely to do business with them than before.

Feel free to spend 1500 GBP with them, and to not get what you paid for, and to have faulty products on which they refuse to apply the warranty.

So this time goodbye. I don't like the atmosphere on this forum (apologies to those who tried to be constructive).

 

[HobbesOnTour]

4000 km of family touring on Eurovelo routes, lol. I can't believe you actually ride a bike.


I am attacked because I was lazy about a brake that was functioning well until it failed suddenly. Are you 100% efficient in anticipating potential failures on your bike (if you have one, now I'm not sure) ? And what is the relation between a rusted cable and a cracked aluminium wheel ? I'm still waiting for an answer to my question of how I should have maintained my wheel to avoid theses cracks.


Very funny indeed. Are you aware that bike wheels are not consumables (in contrast to cables) ?


Here you have. No more details, Alpkit's style.
View attachment 651712

View attachment 651709

I want they apply the warranty associated to their products.


Why would I spend another 100€ for a pair of wheels that won't even last 3 years ?


I only said that this guy was unpolite. Alpkit team is perfectly aware of this, to the point that somebody else took the relay and was perfectly kind with me, although I found the final compromise not really satisfying.


Be sure you're not among these people. You added zero information to this thread.


Feel free to spend 1500 GBP with them, and to not get what you paid for, and to have faulty products on which they refuse to apply the warranty.

So this time goodbye. I don't like the atmosphere on this forum (apologies to those who tried to be constructive).

Yeah, you got me. I'm not really much of a cyclist.

Au revoir!

 

[Bonefish Blues]

I suspect you are diminishing your chances of a successful outcome here. I'd have offline discussions with Alpkit if I were you. If however the attitude you are displaying is representative of the one you're adopting with Alpkit, then I think you've done very well to get the offer of 50% discount. My attitude, were I Alpkit, would likely have been rather more uncompromising.

Just saying what I see

 

[Milkfloat]

Then it would be more interesting if some of you could report on how often (in terms of mileage and years) you replace bike wheels, and why (failure, or upgrade).

Just 2 weeks ago I busted a rim on a Fulcrum 900. It lasted just under 30 miles from new and was 2 days old. Totally my fault as I took a heavy landing over an unexpected drop. I will source a new rim at some point and rebuild it, probably better than it came out of the factory.

 

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Stainless steel cables can corrode badly (100% section loss) in anaerobic conditions, particularly if soaking in salty water. A sag in continuous cable housing can allow that to happen. I would chalk that up to experience.

A cracked rim in a wheel (within the warranty period) that hasn’t been knocked out of true and/or poorly trued is a failure by the wheelbuilder. Either the spokes were improperly tensioned to start with or the rim was under-specified for the intended use. Given it is a ‘trail adventure wheelset’ with a three-year warranty, it should be able to cope with the described use. I am on the OP’s side, though I would have expected replacement of the cracked rim and spokes alone.

 

[Time Waster]

Am I missing something. That warranty, as I read it, basically says that if there's a defect within three years of purchase that is down to a manufacturing fault they'll repair, replace or refund as you prefer. Otherwise they'll try and help you get a solution at their discretion.

Basically they've given a fairly typical warranty that they've put marketing into the wording. Where you have to show its a manufacturing fault to get them to replace or other option wholly at their expense. I do not think you have proven your case but they have given you a resolution that helps you, namely a half price wheelset. If you disagree then you have to prove it's a defective wheel. You might not like that but I do not think they did anything wrong with that.

To counter their actions you have gone on a public forum putting your side of the matter in what I took as a questionable manner. You might not like my opinion on this but it's an open forum and I am only expressing an opinion without insults.

My advice is take the discounted wheels or not but stop slagging a small company off on a public forum. If it's a choice between believing your side or alpkits side I must admit I'd tend to go with alpkit's side purely because of all the ethical activities it does. It's a very forwards looking, community focused company from what I've seen.

 

[Deleted member 91092]

I have requested deleting of my account and my posts on this forum. As I said, I don't like the atmosphere, which is completely different from the forums I'm used to. That said, a few comments before the deleting:

- most comments here on typical bike wheel lifetime are wrong. The first cause of failure for a wheel is related to the wear from rim brakes but here we're talking about disc brake wheels
https://www.bikeforums.net/touring/1028379-how-long-do-wheels-last.html
https://www.bikeforums.net/bicycle-...-you-get-out-aluminum-rim-brake-bike-rim.html

- obviously my attitude here as a response to cougie uk and hobbesontour is not correlated to the one I have with Alpkit in private. I was attacked here pretty unfairly, with completely non-sense arguments like "you shouldn't tour on a touring bike equipped with touring wheels" and "you let a cable rust so you don't know how to maintain a wheel". I apologize for having bought a 1500₤ touring bike and having toured with it, I should have left it as a shiny decoration in my living room

- everything I said about Alpkit are objective facts, and it has nothing to do with the size of the company (btw, they seem to grow up very quickly). For sure the Sonder team is made of bike experts who know what they're doing, for sure their frames are great, but their customer service needs improvement, and some of their OEM "Lovemud" parts do not match the quality of the bikes

- I don't really care about a successful outcome with Alpkit (except it's virtually impossible to find a ready-to-use trekking/touring wheel with a road hub, all come with a MTB one that would be incompatible with my road drivetrain). As I said from the very beginning, my intention was to warn potential buyers. If in 2019 I would have read about Alpkit not able to deal with requests of customization (in contrast to their claims at that time), I would not have bought an expensive customized bike from them. That's the only reason why I related my experience here, but again everybody is free to ignore it.

 

[Time Waster]

Your attitude was wrong from your very first post not in response to anyone with the comment about alpkit response to your warranty claim as being illegal. The very wording you quoted and highlighted imho undermined your argument.

So I'm sorry imho it's not the response on here that's created a bad atmosphere. If you leave it will not bother anyone but stating with a different attitude might change people's minds about your comments.