Hello

wtdog

New rider here, well 5 months.
Can anyone else tell me about bad service they have received?
I had terrible service at EVANS in Gateshead. I feel totally ripped off and let down. They had my bike for 5 weeks due to 5 broken spokes which turned into a new wheel, cassette and chain, on top of a service. The bike was NOT rode in wet weather or off track, always in cycle lanes or designated bile tracks, like Hadrians way on the banks of the Tyne. However, when I came to query it's poor performance, I was told it " was not maintained or treat correctly!"
I cannot prove them wrong and got a £171 bill.
It is a Specilaized rockhopper, seemingly made out of balsa wood :evil:

The Northern Monkey

Sounds about right...
The wheel needed a rebuild/new wheel was needed.
Cassette's wear... need to be replaced along with a chain, which also wears.

I take it that the £171 includes the normal cost of the service?

Only thing I can see wrong is the turn around time of 5 weeks... bit lengthy.

Anonymous

Also, the fact that they did all this extra work without asking? Is that right, or have I misunderstood?

The Northern Monkey

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Also, the fact that they did all this extra work without asking? Is that right, or have I misunderstood?

Yea I was gonna say... I take it they asked you if they should change the cassette + chain.
I gather that you would realise that having a new wheel/wheel rebuilt wouldn't be included in a service!

CycloRos

Like the others have said you shouldn't feel ripped off, that seems quite reasonable for the work they did.

Whether the work actually needed doing though, only you know the answer to that one. Had you been cleaning and re-lubing components regularly? If not that would accelerate wear.

and how did you manage to knacker 5 spokes having never taken it off road? :shock:

P-Jay

Well, £171 is reasonable for the work they did however........

I find it hard to belive you needed all that done after 5 months!!

I get longer out of cassets/chains and I'm off road in all weathers!

I guess your spokes failed because they came loose after the initial build, this happens a lot. Happend to me on a really expensive set of hand-built wheels. I guess if you're new you wouldn't know to check. Like me when I started out, I expected stuff that's designed to work off road, to work faultlessly off-road. Sadly not always the case.

New wheel?? I can't fathom that, maybe riding with loose spokes would buckle the rim and you'd need a new one. The hub shouldn't be damaged from that.

5 weeks!! bloody nora.

Anonymous

Cassettes can wear down much quicker than that if, like many people, you just use old sump-oil to lubricate them!

paul.skibum

5 weeks is crap - the cost is reasonable.

Doing the work without your OK? Not good.

5 broken spokes - are you a "larger" gentleman?!

5 months for a worn cassette and chain sounds a mite disturbing for minimal off road use - my commuter has had the same chain and cassette since I bought it second hand in 2004 - My mate has been using it with pretty much no maintenance or cleaning for 2 years and I am using it 10 miles a day now for the last 3 months - no issues, changes gear smooth. It's not like the rockhopper cam ewith pimp but flimsy components - should have beena solid as a rock deore cassette

BurtonM

Mate i use evans in gateshead as im from there. the reason it took 5 weeks is because there is only 2 lbs in our area bit. Evans and Edinburgh cycles. if you think of the amount of people wanting bike servicing, you see how many bikes theyv got in the back when the staff walk through the door. the 171 pound, thats reasonable. Ive heard of much worse put it that way.

jay12

i went on their website and to fit a bottle cage it's £12 :shock: it's not hard to put in 2 screws

supersonic

Always get the shop to tell you exactly what they are doing and the cost. If it is going to be more, they should phone you. Get them to write this out. You can refuse to pay for unsanctioned work.

RealMan

You broke 5 spokes on a rockhopper? I had a rockhopper for like a year, and I think I broke one. And that was from constant XC and a bit of jumping, 3 or 4 times a week. And the one that broke was from a guy riding into me, not really my fault..

Always in cycle lanes and cycle tracks? What do you weigh? How did they break?

supersonic

They use 1.8 PG spokes. Which are a bit crap really.

Loghopper

I would never ever trust Evans to do anything to my bike! I bought a Specialized Allez from them a while back, there was a problem with the front mech. I ended up having to take the bike back 3 times as they did not fix it properly and it took about 4-5 weeks!! I would always go to Edinburgh Bicycle if I had a choice as the service is brilliant - in my opinion anyway

OH NO Dan

If they didnt get your consent before doing all that i would say something.

Ive only ever been to the evans in nottingham and the guys in there were awesome. Bought some SPD shoes, he offered to fit my cleats, and gave me loads of helpfull advice.