Really Really Pi$$ed!!!

[p90ade]

2 weeks ago i brought me a bianchi 100 strade, i have done 2 60 mile rides on it and while cleaning it after going out on it this morning i noticed a crack!
A BLOODY CRACK!!!!!
its realy pee`d me off and put of carbon abit.
will be outside the bike shop at 9am tuesday morning.

 

[p90ade]

its where the bottom bracket joins to the bottom of the rear stay.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Bad luck fella. Just be sure it is a crack before venting your spleen at the LBS. Because of the ragged nature of that line, it could.....only could, be an imperfection in the finish. Don't ride it until you have an expert opinion.

 

[Ceedee]

Sorry to here about the bike, im sure they will sort it out and you will have another nice new bike I had a similar problem, brought mine home and noticed the front mech had n't been set up so in the small ring it hit the down tube and chipped the paint, rang the shop and they exchanged it. That pi$$ed me off as well.

 

[p90ade]

it wasnt there before gerry so i think its definatley a crack.

 

[Gerry Attrick]

You could be right, but the road muck can gather in previously un-noticeable blemishes in the finish and look worse than they are. Can you feel a crack with your finger nail?

 

[p90ade]

You can definatley feel something when I rub my nail over it.
If it's dirt ina blemish it should polish out realy shouldn't it?

 

[Gerry Attrick]

Possibly, but don't try it before seeing the lbs.

 

[accountantpete]

It might be a crack in the paintwork due to the flex of the carbon - trouble is that you won't be able to clean it out entirely so you might need a bit of over-painting to diminish the effect.

Trouble is that if you ever sell it on then this is going to affect the price so I'd return the bike as faulty.

 

[Mark_Robson]

That's a strange one. I have a carbon bike and lots of carbon fishing rods and I haven't seen anything that looks like that. I'm no expert but I would imagine that the finish on bikes is designed to withstand flexing,as it does on rods. So if I had to guess I would say that it looks like a scratch. I would still get it checked out though as it is an area of high stress.

 

[p90ade]

Yea I'm going to take it back Tuesday

 

[GrasB]

That looks like a paint rather than carbon fracture but take the bike back to the shop to get it checked out.

 

[accountantpete]

BTW - if it is flex it's not a great advert for the quality of the bike. You really need a super stiff bottom bracket area.

 

[Mark_Robson]

Agreed

 

[p90ade]

What should I expect the lbs to do? It's only just over 2 weeks old so should I expect a replacement or a refund if they haven't got a replacement? Or are they going to try fob me off and say it needs going back to bianchi?