I have this colleague who has gone through several crappy BSO during the time we have worked together. Then finally as his latest pile of pooh was starting to fall apart I started to show him interesting bikes. To my delight he fell in love with the Pashley Sovereign saying with the rack and mudguards its perfect for commuting in style. After a few weeks of constantly going on about it he finally ordered one.
So 13 or 14wks later it arrived and it was truly a thing of beauty. He was glowing with pride and seemed in love. But then he got some hub gear slippage which his LBS sorted immediately. Again he was happy and on Monday morning he arrived at work saying how good it was. I noticed a couple little things which just needed a quick adjustment but nothing serious. On Tuesday it was a bag o shite and the Pashley brand was rubbish. Apparently he was getting some slippage issues again and a rubbing noise and then there were all those problems I had to fix. What was going to go wrong next he said. I just cant rely on it and I must be able to he said. The rubbing btw was just a little adjustment of the rear mudguard which he refused to let me touch. Also he lives about 3 or 4mls away and has a newish car
I tried to argue these were just niggles, its hand built and its a bike not a car which could cost thousands if it went wrong. Nope it was dead to him and he was getting his money back. And he did just that. I again started showing him similar interesting replacements but he went into his local Halfords and ordered a Boardman hybrid, which he moaned about the first morning as it had no mudguards and his ass got wet. He then found out he couldnt fit full mudguards
Oh im a fair weather cyclist he said the next morning as he arrived the next morning. In his car
So 13 or 14wks later it arrived and it was truly a thing of beauty. He was glowing with pride and seemed in love. But then he got some hub gear slippage which his LBS sorted immediately. Again he was happy and on Monday morning he arrived at work saying how good it was. I noticed a couple little things which just needed a quick adjustment but nothing serious. On Tuesday it was a bag o shite and the Pashley brand was rubbish. Apparently he was getting some slippage issues again and a rubbing noise and then there were all those problems I had to fix. What was going to go wrong next he said. I just cant rely on it and I must be able to he said. The rubbing btw was just a little adjustment of the rear mudguard which he refused to let me touch. Also he lives about 3 or 4mls away and has a newish car
I tried to argue these were just niggles, its hand built and its a bike not a car which could cost thousands if it went wrong. Nope it was dead to him and he was getting his money back. And he did just that. I again started showing him similar interesting replacements but he went into his local Halfords and ordered a Boardman hybrid, which he moaned about the first morning as it had no mudguards and his ass got wet. He then found out he couldnt fit full mudguards
Oh im a fair weather cyclist he said the next morning as he arrived the next morning. In his car
