BE WARNED !!!!

Speed_King

Hi all, usually i come on here to post comments about others bikes or to say how nice they look and sometimes to gloat over my own ones lol, but on this occasion i ask you all especially those who own a Focus be it mountain or road? To read this blog carefully and with interest.
Firstly and most improtantly i want everyone to know i had no prior grudge to Wiggle or Focus and it is important you understand that as this may seem like the opposite once i have finished writing this blog. When i purchased my racing bike from them on Dec 23rd 2009, was very happy to be finally purchasing a Focus, i had after all heard great things about their bikes and was eager to try one for myself.
I Brought myself a 2009 Focus Culebro which i believe is the step down from the very popular Cayo, On first glance it seemed great my expectations were matched by the great bike i had in front of me.
That was three months ago, and i went to put it in for a service (as you do) this weekend, when i came back to take my bike from my trusty mehanic i was horrified when i heard what he had to tell me, firstly (although i suspected as much as i was suffeing from some mis- alignment when shifting all be it very slight). I was told i had an Ultegra cassette and chain that were practically beyond any further use, he went on to add that he was surrpised i hadnt cause more expensive damage to the rest of the drivechain, Considering i have only used this bike at weekends so far due to work commitments, this was a very big surprise to both of us, he had looked at the chain and cassette very closely and came up with the conclusion that it wasnt a brand new one that had been fited but a used version!! As if that wasnt enough to deal with, he then informed me of the other two problems, i had a rising crack in a brand new Pro-lite carbon seatpost a total of three centimetres salong the post sticking aou tabout half a centimetre out from the post and if used anymore would obviously cause me great personal damage, and it needed replaceing immediatly. Then came the ultimate surprise.. He pointed out to me that underneath my shiny new paintwork across my top tube where it says Focus in bright white lettering is the shadow of another word which i cannot make out as yet but it is clear to me that the bike i had purchased was not sporting a Culebro frame at all !! But something totally differant and it had just been given a new paint/graphics job..
To say the least i was shocked and horrified at the same time i have immediatly emailled Wiggle along with photgraphic proof of said problems to prove my points and am awaiting a reply. So to all you customers of Focus and indeed Wiggle please be carefull when purchaing items from there especially bikes, many of you who praise Wiggle (inc me) hope this does not tarnish your image of the companies when you read this

Thanks for reading

Anonymous

Did you fit the seatpost yourself?

Did you use a torque wrench if you did?

Have you got some photies to show us all?

Very interested in this! Crikey...

Speed_King

NO, so NO again, and i have indeed was just loading them up for you as i knew there would be interest hold on..














There you go Nap D and everyone else proof of my problems, and before anyone else asks (and im glad you said it first Nap D) i did not fit the seatpost my mechanic did, so he would have done it right.

acidstrato

bloody good mechanic you got if he can tell you that your brand new bike in Dec was fitted with a used cassette and chain, by the sound of it he's psychic

interested to see pics of the frame

acidstrato

it says culebro doesn't it?

sticker thats been painted over perhaps

Speed_King

acidstrato wrote:

bloody good mechanic you got if he can tell you that your brand new bike in Dec was fitted with a used cassette and chain, by the sound of it he's psychic

interested to see pics of the frame

He was going by the fact he knows me really well as we are also friends, and obviously the quality of said cassette plus he knows how hard and how much i ride (approx 8 miles each time) as he does come with me on some of the rides i do.

I know some of you are going to think yeah..yeah.. but the facts speak for themselves and as much as i would love to say its nothing more than my own fault unfortunatly it isnt tht simple

Speed_King

acidstrato wrote:

it says culebro doesn't it?

sticker thats been painted over perhaps

Not too sure i thought that at first glance, but even if it is and i cant make it out tht clearly it should not have been painted over !!! Should it?

rollingthunder

It does like like the "BRO" at the end of Culebro. Even if that is the case, it's shoddy workmanship from Focus, and shoddy dealership from Wiggle.

It sounds as though Wiggle owe you a replacement, with upgraded groupo, and an apology.

Hope it gets sorted out to your advantage.

Scrumple

It does say CULEBRO

which is what bike you have....

Go the right one, then...!

Speed_King

My thought exactly, i will have to give them back the original parts though, handlebars stem and post as i brought them seperately at the very least i would like the apology and some form of compensation from them this is very disapointing indeed!

CarbonCopy

Seems abit strange this one.
The first thing i do when i recieving something i`ve paid for is thoroughly inspect it.
So your saying you actually didn`t notice the frame had been resprayed with a sticker being visable under the paint? Or the the Cassette had been used?
You have had the bike since December 2009.
Yet you send it to your mechanic who noticed these things straight away?.
Sorry but im a not convinced at all. Something smells rather fishy to me.
I appologise if my views offend you but thats how i see things.

orbeaorca

So your mechanic fits the replacement seatpost but didn't notice any of the supposed defects at the time?

Scrumple

the wording may be deliberate - the transfer under the laquer...

Could be intentional?

Radioactiveman

Can you measure the chain? that way you can tell exactly how much wear it has. The sticker thing is weird, cant think why unless it was a factory respray.However if it was a warranty return or something it shouldn't have been sold full price.

I have a focus cayo pro and it came brand new,immaculate and no issues. I am surprised you didn't spot the drivetrain wear immediately. A brand new cassette and chain are very different visualy to one that has been plentye. Be interested to hear when you have spoken to wiggle.

Speed_King

not at all carbon copy opinions are welcome whatever the answers,
and no stupily enough i didnt inspect the frame apart from to see that it wasnt damaged but i didnt look that closely at the lettering , you can onyl see it in certain light hence why i did the picture at the angle you see it at and yes my mechanic noticed it under his workshop lights and having had it for nearly the entire day as he was giving the bike a full service looking at the bike in a whole picture like the one below it is hard to see it is imperfect in any way, so maybe its my fault for not noticing BUT the fact remains it is shoddy workanship and sailsmanship from a pair of companies with large reputations !!

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/8409/p2602101439.jpg

Apologies for the slight fuzziness quality but it should be clear enough still

Supergoose

You've not got a leg to stand on re; the chain or the seat pin. If, when you had received the bike you noticed the chain had stretched or had rust or signs of use then yeah but any more than 2 days after I would tell you to jog on. Same goes for your seat pin. I have burst these in the past, you'd be very surprised how little force is required to crush a carbon pin at the alloy reinforced seat tube section of modern c/f frames. Im not saying you are lying but who's to say you didn't crush the seat tube yourself, or even your pal has done it. Like I say I don't know, devils advocate and all that

Be careful what your saying about Wiggle though as its bordering on slanderous.

The paint job does look kind of strange but its not unheard of to get imperfections. Id say contact Wiggle re paint and take it from there. Coming on here and to air your grievances isnt the way to go especially if you haven't given the vendor the right of reply nor the chance to rectify any issues.

Radioactiveman

Speed_King wrote:

BUT the fact remains it is shoddy workanship and sailsmanship from a pair of companies with large reputations !!

I have to disagree it is only shoddy if after you contact wiggle they fail to provide recompense or explanation. Give them a chance to prove their reputation.

Scrumple

If your bike wasn't set up right you may have ruined the chain, then the cassette by using it. Did it shift perfectly since new?

Seatpost - down to you and tightening it . They may replace but only as goodwill.

acidstrato

just checked and it should be a white "Culebro" sticker

either painted over the sticker (perhaps some donut stuck the decal on before painting) or the sticky remains from the sticker a noticable print in the paint. Dunno how i'd feel about this, a little pissed i suspect. but surprised you didnt notice sooner. Plus they do tell you to examine the bike before you sign for it

with regards to the other issues, I see no facts that speak for themselves...? some time has passed and the bike has been used. Now I'm a little rusty here but I believe the sales of goods act states for the first 3 or 6 months its for the retailer or manufacturer to prove no defect exists from the manufacturing stage. Check it yourself for abit of ammo if you want it because just the word of a "mechanic" wont help you in the slightest

the used cassette and chain issue is way beyond a little far fetched for me. If its way beyond any further use, then you'd have been having problems with the chain ages ago

Speed_King

The seatpost has only been on the bike two days mate and this is the second one i have had of the same make!
Radioactiveman the chain was measured in front of me at the time i went back to get it, and it shows full wear and immediatly needing replacement ASAP.

I will keep all posted when i get reply from Wiggle which should be tomorrow i hope

tonyw43

Speed_King wrote:

i had a rising crack in a brand new Pro-lite carbon seatpost a total of three centimetres salong the post sticking aou tabout half a centimetre out from the post and if used anymore would obviously cause me great personal damage, and it needed replaceing immediatly.

The seatpost has only been on the bike two days mate and this is the second one i have had of the same make!

Unfortunately, this isn't an issue for wiggle. If you bought the bike in dec'09, and the seatpost has only been fitted two days, it is unrelated to the original purchase. Would be hard to prove it wasn't caused by overtightening. That said, the frame issue, with the unreadable name does smack of poor qc. Do give wiggle the chance to resolve the issue before resorting to other means though, you may find they resolve it to your satisfaction.

Supergoose

Speed_King wrote:

As if that wasnt enough to deal with, he then informed me of the other two problems, i had a rising crack in a brand new Pro-lite carbon seatpost a total of three centimetres salong the post sticking aou tabout half a centimetre out from the post and if used anymore would obviously cause me great personal damage, and it needed replaceing immediatly.

So you replaced the seatpin although the bike is only 4 months old? Why did you have reason to change the seat pin? Who installed the new seatpin? And your slighting Wiggle for this? Im a bit confused by this tbh. In my opinion your not being realistic. The stcker/paint issue okay, for sure enquire about that but, the chain and seat pin, I think not.

SBezza

My Focus CX bike came all brand new, and perfectly set up, only thing I had to do was adjust the seat height, and straighten the bars.

TBH I would be surprised if the cassette and chain were worn when the bike was purchased, plus a used chain/cassette is very easy to see. If it has been mis indexed, then that might have caused accelerated wear.

By all means talk to Wiggle, they have always been good with me, but I think you will be hard pressed to get anything out of them for the chain/cassette, as these are wear and tear items. Paintwork is a bit funny, but they maybe able to explain this.

The seatpost cracking is not really a Wiggle problem, unless the seatpost was cracked prior to fitting.

Speed_King

Supergoose wrote:

You've not got a leg to stand on re; the chain or the seat pin. If, when you had received the bike you noticed the chain had stretched or had rust or signs of use then yeah but any more than 2 days after I would tell you to jog on. Same goes for your seat pin. I have burst these in the past, you'd be very surprised how little force is required to crush a carbon pin at the alloy reinforced seat tube section of modern c/f frames. Im not saying you are lying but who's to say you didn't crush the seat tube yourself, or even your pal has done it. Like I say I don't know, devils advocate and all that

Be careful what your saying about Wiggle though as its bordering on slanderous.

The paint job does look kind of strange but its not unheard of to get imperfections. Id say contact Wiggle re paint and take it from there. Coming on here and to air your grievances isnt the way to go especially if you haven't given the vendor the right of reply nor the chance to rectify any issues.

As i said already, wiggle arw aware of the email, and im sure they will reply accordingly.

Speed_King

Hi all i have this mornign had a reply from Wiggle and hey wish in this case to pick the bike up from me and examin it themselves which obviously i have said i am happy for them to do they are sending me a new box and wrapping to put it in and then arranging a date for collection, they have all the pictures in their email i sent yesterday that you guys have seen on this blog, they agree with me on the cassette issue judging on how much i have said i have rode it.
The frame they are going to speak to Focus about after they see it in person which is fair enough, and will also look at the protruding fracture in the seatpost. So now we will wait and see?

cheehee

Good Luck with it SK. I hope it gets sorted <thumbs up emoticon>

Steveorow

I have always been told to have the bolt on the seatpost clamp facing forward toward the Bars if using a carbon seatpost . Not facing the rear wheel like you have ( ie 180 degrees rotated from how you have it ) to avoid compression damage on carbon posts .

To do with the bolt compressing the endges of the slot on the downtube into the seatpost .

I once had the seatpost clamp setup like yours and after 6 months my seatpost broke in 2 ( luckily lifting it down from storage and not on the road ) . Not sure if this is causing your seat post issues or not ,

Speed_King

Good point mate thanks for that tip, didn't know that could happen, i suppose if i had turned it round as you say opposite to the slot it would having nothign to dig in with.

bails87

I'm really struggling to understand what the seatpost has got to do with Wiggle.

You fitted a new seatpost 2 days ago, it broke, and now you want the shop you bought the bike from 4 months ago to replace it?

Speed_King

No mate i dont neccesarily want them to replace it , but take a look as they told me in the reply email that they will be able to tell if it was something that was caused by the split at the top of the seattube Which is to do with them as the clamp is fitted that way when purchasing the bike, so i am wondering if it happens to all : ie does the "split" dig into all posts fitted into ths bike or just carbon ones?
And it has to "do with them" cause i brought it from them lol

bails87

Ah right, the seatpost was from Wiggle too?

It all sounds very odd, I've always found Wiggle to be excellent though, so maybe they'll sort it all for you.

You'd better hope they don't find this thread though. "My mate says you need to give me a new bike....."