6 Week Check

astormatt

Hello all, can somebody please shed some light on what the score is regarding the 6 week check after you have bought a new bike.
Basically i bought my Stinky about 3 weeks ago and already the gears are slipping so obviously needs a tune up, as i bought it online from Cardiff, i dont really want to drive all the way out there and take it back to them to do this but my LBS wont touch it.
Now i obviously would be paying them to do a quick check and tune up as i did not buy it from them, my mate was the same when he bought his Orange they would not touch that either.
Is this just a standard thing where only the bike shop which sells the bike is able to do any maintenence work on it for the first year? or are they just being funny?
Its pretty annoying as the fact is i will have to take days off work to drive to Cardiff for anything to be done to it, if i'd had known this, i may have bought a bike from my LBS to avoid all this trouble.

Cheers Matt

Raymondavalon

I think your LBS sounds more like a retailer than dealer.
Perhaps they've got a bad attitude because you didn't buy it from them, or they don't feel qualified enough to undertake work on FS bikes?

Anyway you're bike needs indexing if the gear aren't meshing right, that's a no brainer for an LBS.
You should be able to do the rest of the maintenance yourself as long as you have the right tools like a torque wrench and decent tools

astormatt

They are a Giant dealer and that is 95% of what they stock, they do service and look after loads of different brands so i was thinking that they were just being funny as i did not buy the bike from them, i am currently making a list of tools to get as i want to be able to do my own maintenence eventually, but i dont have a stand or anything yet and so any work is a bit of a ball ache to be honest

supersonic

They won't service your bike? How odd.

stumpyjon

They're being funny. To be honest the six week check isn't worth the hassle of taking the bike back even if you are local to your LBS. All they'll do is retension the gear cables (we all can all turn an adjuster quarter of a turn) and check to see if any bolts are loose etc. It's not a service. If anything is actually wrong with the bike it's worth taking it back specifically for that, there's no guarantee the six week check will pick it up.

Clum84

Just take it to a LBS and ask for a service. Sounds like they're just being funny to me. Any bike shop can give the bike a simple tune up which is all that a 6 week service is. Shouldn't set you back more than £20 quid which is probably less than what you'd spend on petrol going to Cardiff anyway,

astormatt

It is very annoying as i just spent £125 on wednesday in there having the rear mech replaced on the Boardman along with new rotors, they are kind of shooting themselves in the foot as i am so stubborn with stuff like this i will probably never go in the place again.
If they refuse again after i speak to the main man then i will just have to go to the bike shop in worcester 10 miles away which i dont really want to do as my LBS is literally 2 mins away from my house. :roll:

cooldad

Do a bit of homework and do it yourself. Basically adjust gears, check nuts, bolts brakes etc, bit of lube.
All things that need doing regularly anyway, so you might as well start.
Sooner or later something will go wrong on a trail, sods law says at the furthest point from your car.
Good idea to have a basic knowledge of how things work. It's not rocket science.

Torres

If they're being like that i'd make a point of not using them again, in the age of the internet good customer service is the only thing that sets and LBS apart from an online retailer, and in this instance they appear to be showing a very poor level of this.

Get yourself a cheap comprehensive toolkit [the lifeline one on wiggle's very good] and have a read of parktools; the tools will pay for themselves after a few months; and if you ever have a mechanical before/during a ride you'll be well prepared to sort it.

cooldad

Changing mechs, rotors etc are straightforward jobs, and take a few minutes, with basic tools.
I enjoy doing it myself, am also a cheap bugger, and I know the job has been done properly.
Have a go.