Bike shop seems to have marked my frame
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Posts: 1,664
I have just picked up my bike after its first service. I put it into an Edinburgh Bicycle Co shop as they appeared quite professional. I had a quick ride of the bike and everything seems okay mechanically. However as I was about to load the bike into the car I noticed a scratch/paint chip on the frame at the front fork. I took it back into the shop and a young guy told me that it would have been done by the gear cable rubbing against the paintwork on the frame as I turned the fork even although the cable is in the plastic casing here. The mark is about half an inch below where the cable sits anyway, so there is no chance it happened this way.
I got more annoyed as I drove home as 1) I was absolutely sure the mark wasn't there before it went in for the service, and 2) I was also sure it couldn't have been caused by cable rubbing due to the location of the mark and the fact the bike is only just over a year old.
The chip is a small one but seems to be through to the metal so I am worried about rust. When I got home I noticed another scuff mark above the cable at the start of the frame's bottom tube just inches from the main chip. As it is near the front break area, I think that the mechanic doing the service has let an allen key, pliers or other tool slip as he was servicing the bike.
I would like your views on whether:
1) you can have any recourse against the bike shop if they mark your frame in a situation like this?
2) Even if I can have recourse against the shop, what could they do to fix it as I doubt they do bodywork jobs
To fix properly I would guess that it would need sanded down, resprayed and the varnished. It is a silver-painted Reynolds 631 frame on a Dawes Audax bike so i want to keep it good.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I got more annoyed as I drove home as 1) I was absolutely sure the mark wasn't there before it went in for the service, and 2) I was also sure it couldn't have been caused by cable rubbing due to the location of the mark and the fact the bike is only just over a year old.
The chip is a small one but seems to be through to the metal so I am worried about rust. When I got home I noticed another scuff mark above the cable at the start of the frame's bottom tube just inches from the main chip. As it is near the front break area, I think that the mechanic doing the service has let an allen key, pliers or other tool slip as he was servicing the bike.
I would like your views on whether:
1) you can have any recourse against the bike shop if they mark your frame in a situation like this?
2) Even if I can have recourse against the shop, what could they do to fix it as I doubt they do bodywork jobs
To fix properly I would guess that it would need sanded down, resprayed and the varnished. It is a silver-painted Reynolds 631 frame on a Dawes Audax bike so i want to keep it good.
Any advice would be appreciated.
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Okay, I've got a photo but not sure to upload it here??redddraggon wrote:Take a picture to show us, 'tis the best way - a picture says more than a thousand words after all.0 -
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You could be wrong and the frame marking may have happened whilst you were riding or using the bike.
You cant prove that they did it, and they cant prove their innocence either.
At the end of the day - its a bike - the enjoyment should be in riding it - and with that comes the risk of getting the paint chipped. You could put it on the wall but whats the fun in that.
I did hear of a guy who whenever he got a new bike would push it over to get the worry of scratching the frame over and done with, then he could enjoy riding it.0 -
Okay, here is a photo I took earlier. Not very good, but at least you can see the mark just below the cable on the fork:
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Personally I think you're being a little picky. It's your prerogative to do so of course, it's your property at the end of the day. A chip like that could easily go unnoticed though, are you sure it wasn't there when you left the bike? A dawes tourer made from good quality steel tubing is worth looking after but every bike is going to get marked.
I would be fuming if a shop dented one of my bikes (if I didn't do everything myself) but i'd not get too upset about a chip in the paint. Partly because I wouldn't know if it was already there and partly because all my bikes have been chucked down the road at some point anyway.
Hypocrisy is only a bad thing in other people.0 -
Looks a lot like a cable rub mark - have you turned the bars fully to make sure? It's also not likely to be the place a frame would pick up a mark from poor handling. You can buy little stick on patches to protect your paintwork - stick some one and don't worry. It's inevitable that you'll pick up little dinks, scuffs and scratches, particularly if you put your bike in the back of the car.Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..0
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What's the frame material? It'll only rust if it's steel. On an aluminium bike it's cosmetic. (Sorry should have read all you're post).
Don't know which EBC you took it to but I've used Leeds store and they're knowledgeable and approachable so if you think you've got a beef then go and talk it over with them.Where the neon madmen climb0 -
Thanks guys,
I admit I am fussy as regards things like that.
It's a steel frame and it seems to be down to the metal as it looks brown, but can't believe there is rust there already!! I am concerned that if it is rust it will get worse.
I don't fling my bike about and haven't fall off it yet. I've cleaned and dried the frame recently so I'm 99% sure the chip and scuff mark weren't there before. I was quite impressed beforehand when they told me they always connect bikes to the stands by the seat post so as not to mark the frames - and then the frame comes back marked, so I'm not too happy.
Even if I can't get the bike shop to sort it, is there any way I can get it professionally touched up so it's hardly noticed and doesn't rust?0 -
If its rusted already - then it cant have just been done.0
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The cable housing did it. Happened to my Schwinn S-20 after I ran solid from front to rear because of Schwinn's really bad cable routing scheme.0
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Maybe it was the cable housing that did it.
Is it best to touch up the paintwork to stop it rusting? If so, would a bike shop do this for me?
I was also looking at these clear frame patches that you can use to protect the frame:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.a ... %20Patches
Are these sort of things any good? Is that likely to stop it getting worse and stop rust taking hold?0 -
looks like the brake adjuster thingy did it when you swung the bars arround when you put it in the car.. I would just go down to my local hobby shop and pick up a small thing of model paint and clear laquer and give it a blue peter tlc
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Personally I'd just get out there and touch it up now. Leaving a bike with a shop always has its risks, but I don't think that mark is really worth worrying too much about.0
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I would take it up with the manager of the shop. They are well insured against this sort of damage . Because you didn't establish the condition of the bike before you left it with the lbs you haven't much of a case really. You might be lucky and get some compensation from the shop if they want to keep your custom . At the end of the day its just one of those things.
I took my car into the local garage for some work when it came back all the paintwork on the roof was scratched where they had placed stuff on the roof. I couldn't prove they had done it and I wanted to take my car back again so I didn't mention it. really annoyed me though0
