Boardman Comp Crank Arm Thread!!

sfearons

I got my first Road in February and today my left pedal became loose. I hopped off to check what was going on.

I took the pedal off to discover the thread on the crank arm was coming away with pedal. The hole is now completely thread bear!

I have a triathlon next saturday and need to get it sorted asap... surely this is a warranty issue and should be covered by Halfords?

Anyone had similar issues? Would a repair/replacement be done in time?

Would I be better getting it sorted with LBS? Just worried about expense that way.

bompington

sfearons wrote:

surely this is a warranty issue and should be covered by Halfords?

Errrr, have you tried asking them?

sfearons

Looking for a bit of ammunition before I phone them tomorrow.

Dont have the time to get fobbed off by an ignorant sales advisor (potentially).

Havent much experience with these types of problems, thought someone here might.

desweller

Well I wouldn't have thought cranks could be considered consumable items, if that's what you mean.

How old is the bike?

nicklouse

sounds like you have ridden it with the pedal lose for some time.


it is possible to have the threads repaired with a threaded insert which a good LBS may have.


you maybe able to get just the LH crank arm as well.

sfearons

I have had it since February, 2010 model.

I check my set up, clean, and maintain chainset every Friday. No indication of loose pedal on Friday just passed.

As soon as I felt the loose pedal yesterday I stopped riding straight away.

Im just off the phone with the branch I purchased it from and unfortunatly they met my extremely low expectations.

I was passed through to the bike hut and described my problem - converstation went a little like this:

Halfords - "sounds like a maintanence issue, you shouldnt have ridden with the pedal loose"

Me - "I didnt. I've only had the bike four months, surely its a defect and covered by warranty?"

Halfords - "you could argue that yeah, hard to tell. You would need to speak to the manager but he's not in, you see im just one of the bike guys"

Me - "right, warranty aside, I need it fixed asap"

Halfords - "ah right, well, you see, we've had total management restructure and we have about a 30 repair backlog, it will take a while to work through these to be honest"

I would love to say I was dissapointed but I hadnt expected much in the first place.

When I purchased the bike I got such poor service I was tempted to cancel the whole thing but my heart was set on the Boardman.

desweller

After only four or five months in my view you are entitled to ask for a full refund stating unfit for purpose as the reason.

rake

i dont see how it could happen unless you rode without knowing the pedal was loose. hence the maintenance issue. it wouldnt have to be flapping about to cause damage just not very tight. if you dont go warrenty the job will take 15 mins yourself. just get a fresh crank arm.

hounslow

DesWeller wrote:

After only four or five months in my view you are entitled to ask for a full refund stating unfit for purpose as the reason.

NO. the bike is not unfit for purpose. also, no retailer in their right mind is going to take a hit like refunding a bike over a crank arm.

sfearons, take the bike in, talk to the manager. i work in a repairs busy halfords and we make time for warranty issues if they arise, its only fair.

SurosaRider

Hello,

Maybe ask Halfords why on earth a pedal on a less than 6 month old bike would come loose unless the thread had been stripped when it was assembled? I'm sure the good people at Truvativ aren't turning out shoddy cranks so the fault is entirely that of whoever put the pedals on the bike. Anyone who has ever changed a set of pedals will know it's a delicate operation and essential to get right and not to force it!! If Halfords don't see you right and fix that bike at no cost I suggest you write directly to Chris Boardman himself!

rake

SurosaRider wrote:

Hello,

Maybe ask Halfords why on earth a pedal on a less than 6 month old bike would come loose unless the thread had been stripped when it was assembled? I'm sure the good people at Truvativ aren't turning out shoddy cranks so the fault is entirely that of whoever put the pedals on the bike. Anyone who has ever changed a set of pedals will know it's a delicate operation and essential to get right and not to force it!! If Halfords don't see you right and fix that bike at no cost I suggest you write directly to Chris Boardman himself!

anyone who has fitted pedals will know you wont get it very far on with it cross threaded. certainly not enough to strip all the threads. you would also notice it was twisted when pedaling it would feel strange. if it was assembled very badly why has it lasted for 6 months? what pedals does to op have on the bike and did they come on it. if hes changed them he hasnt got a leg to stand on. he would have noticed at the time.

SurosaRider

yes, agreed, if he changed them himself he's to blame but if they were fitted by Halfords I see no reason why new, good quality pedals on a niceish bike should come off after 6 months!

I have to come clean and say that a long time ago (!!!!) I myself stripped the thread of my cranks when I attempted to fit new pedals (it was the first time I'd tried SPDs and the first time I'd changed pedals). I have to say, although at the time I thought "crikey, these are a tight fit" I nontheless was able to attach them without too much effort (I now know that it should take hardly ANY effort). A few months later, sure enough, my pedal fell off while I was going round a roundabout.

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sfearons

The pedals were on the bike when I bought it, supplied free by halfords. Apart from them being toeclips I know little else about them.

The biggest issue I have is that I need it for a triathlon race next weekend. The store has already told me it wont be able to repair it in time (whether I pay for it or not!).

I contacted a reputable LBS yesterday who informed me re-threading is an expensive fix and they only know of an engineering works close by that have been able to do it before.

They advised the crank arm would have to be ordered and payed for and they would fit it for me, but they couldn't advise how long that could take.

As a matter of principle I feel as though I should refuse to pay at all for a repair but on the other hand I need it fixed ASAP.

cougie

If i were you - I'd just buy a LH crank from anywhere. Doesnt matter if its not the same make as the other one - just so long as its the same length and fits the BB.

That way you get to race the triathlon and can sort out the issue with halfords later. Entry fees for the tri would be more than the cost of the crank, and you've probably spent a lot of time and effort training for it - so that should come first.

benpinnick

If the pedals were fitted by halfords then it sounds like shoddy fitting or defective parts. Most likely the former. If the pedals wre yours though there could be a case for the pedals being the issue. It takes two to tango. Either way any lbs worth it's salt would fix as they should have told you about any thread defects on the pedal before fitting them. If haylofts won't Sort you out then you'll join the long list of halfords haters on this forum. Don't let anyone fob you off with some maintenance BS. If a shop can't fit pedals so they stay on for as long as you choose, that's bad fitting. In my 15 years of cycling. Getting them off again is however down to maintenance!

Monty Dog

FWIW I don't feel you've got much of a valid warranty claim - this isn't about defective design or manufacture, but more about proving whether the crank thread was damaged by Halfords when it assembled the bike - the fact that it's taken 6 months suggest that riding the bike with a loose pedal is the culprit - and the 'narked' threads the evidence.
I expect it's an external bearing BB, therefore just getting a replacement crank is going to be tricky.
If your LBS is saying that fitting a Helicoil is difficult / expensive then I suggest you find one that knows what it's talking about! The operations isn't tricky - drill out and tap crank to suit helicoil insert and then fit steel Helicoil insert - £15-20 should see it sorted. Experienced mechanics have plenty of experience of 'I was just riding along' kinda problems and 99% are due to operator error.

desweller

Like benpinnick I have never, ever experienced pedals coming loose by themselves. If the pedal has come loose then it is either due to an incorrectly formed thread on the crank insert or the pedal, or the Halfords mechanic has not tightened it sufficiently, or the bearing in the pedal is so bad that pedalling torque has undone the pedal. In all three cases the fault lies with the supplier and should be rectified FOC by the same.

Monty Dog

If every LBS gave a FOC replacement for those "just riding along" problems they'd be out of business - there's something endemic in today's culture about it being someone else's fault!
Why can't people accept that things can break / get damaged by their ignorance / ineptitude, put their hands in their pockets and put it down to one of life's experiences rather than bleating on here?

rake

+.

desweller

Monty Dog wrote:

If every LBS gave a FOC replacement for those "just riding along" problems they'd be out of business - there's something endemic in today's culture about it being someone else's fault!
Why can't people accept that things can break / get damaged by their ignorance / ineptitude, put their hands in their pockets and put it down to one of life's experiences rather than bleating on here?

If the OP has removed and refitted the pedals him/herself then sure, user error applies. If they are as installed by the supplier, then the burden of correcting the fault clearly lies with them. I know what my customers would do if, on their returning a faulty unit, I just shrugged my shoulders and said, 'What do you expect? Just one of those things.' They'd p1ss off somewhere else.

Besides, pedals coming loose (after just four months!) doesn't fall into the same category as, say, snapping an old chain or suffering dodgy gearshifts due to old cables (which is what I'd class as 'just riding along' problems). Those little buggers should be done up tight!

sungod

it's a mass-market bike, it is perfectly reasonable to expect the pedal/crank supplied and fitted by the vendor to give years of trouble-free service, anyone who thinks otherwise is a fool

tell halfords you want it fixed, now, or you go straight to trading standards

if they start whining about no spares, if you see the same bike in the store, tell them they can take the crank off that, otherwise you'll have to wait

any hassle, contact the local trading standards office that covers the location *you* were located at during the moment of purchase

after years of geting messed around by shops, i learned the best option is start polite, but any crap then instant escalation, that way you get the fastest resolution, you paid, you're entitled to get decent product

sfearons

*Update*

I have sacked Halfords off. I took it to LBS in my home in Ireland and he will be re threading it tomorrow for me.

Halfords could not give me a time scale for getting the crank replaced. I didnt see any point arguing the warranty issue over and over if the couldn't get it sorted asap for me.

Lesson learned. Never buy from Halfords again. Which is a shame because I LOVE my Boardman, and the Team Carbon was next in line. Maybe Boardman will have reconsidered their sales strategy by then. (Dream!)

Thanks for all the advice too.

rake

hopefully not.