carbon forks for boardman team carbon small

brabus

i took some advice from here and bought a boardman team carbon small ....a new bike , still in the box, but from someone on ebay.

when it arrived - guess what no front forks! (the packing for the forks was there! )everything else seems to be there!

i now have the predicament of trying to get the full money back from the seller and returning the bike or maybe trying to get a partial refund and buying a new set of forks.

what is the likelihood of getting a set from boardman? (and how much?) i cant find any contact details for them on their website but via halfords and dont fancy that interaction...or having any success with them.

is it an opportunity to upgrade the forks ...or just get my money back and try again!

if i fit an aftermarket set....is this a good or bad idea.....and if so what do people recommend for that small frame boardman?

thanks

nochekmate

Get your money back and try again - particularly if you have paid the price for what you thought was a frame & forks package.

Shouldn't be too difficult to sort out if you have used Paypal.

brabus

hi thanks

it was quite a good price i got it for....and he has given me an option of a partial refund to buy the forks.........decisions decisions!

what do others think?

money back or chance for an upgrade?

cheers

jairaj

up to you mate but if the refund is enough to buy a new set of forks then go for it.

also if the forks are missing have to you checked if the crown race is missing too?

Avanti Roman

Has he offered enough of a partial refund to cover the forks? On the Boardman I understand they are 11/2th" at the bottom not the standard 11/8th" so suitable forks are harder to find and more expensive than standard ones - price some up before you agree a suitable refund figure.

rake

id go for the standard set of rorks to make it complete. theyre pretty good. you dont want to mess up the handling. work out the cost minus the refund and decide if its a good deal, otherwise send it back.they sometimes come up on ebay, but you have to ask yourself why. so be careful. if you can find new ones you have added piece of mind.

brabus

thanks

had a another look and cant see the stem either, so then not sure if the headset will be complete ...it would need that nut thing for the top also? there are some fsa shim type things attached to the headset tube but cant see any bearings....and dont know if can buy if a different size of steerer tube? then if the fork isnt there the front brake caliper isnt there....

so think i am looking at buying:

front fork
brake caliper
headset?
stem

the rest of the bike looks ok, bar and levers and mech all there - all sealed up but looks like someone has had the front end off it! looks costly to put right. although he says price it up and he will refund to be fair. Any idea how much that lot would cost?

sorry for being stupid but whats the crown race? i dont know much about bikes!

flasher

Have you been scammed or has the parcel been raided by a 3rd party, or did you not know exactly what you were purchasing?

All sounds strange to me!

jairaj

brabus wrote:

Any idea how much that lot would cost?

sorry for being stupid but whats the crown race? i dont know much about bikes!

The crown race is part of the headset have a look on the Park Tools website they have some useful, "How to"s

As far as cost, no idea. Check on the Boardman website what components are missing and use google to find out how much it will cost to buy these. Maybe even try asking in a Halfords store?

If it was my decision i'd stay well clear of this. You don't know if there is anything else missing, you then have to go through the hassle of sourcing the parts and fiting them etc etc. Id just send it back and get a full refund and start again from scratch.

rake

if its second hand id be worried if its had a front end collision.

Bar Shaker

Gotta love eBay.

I would rather eat my own eyes than use it.

Get your money back, if you can.

nochekmate

Bar Shaker wrote:

Gotta love eBay.

I would rather eat my own eyes than use it.

Get your money back, if you can.

^^^ All a matter of personal opinion of course- I have bought some bargain bikes from there in my time eg. Specialized Roubaix Elite for £430 in 2008 & a Colnago C40 full DA7700 and DA wheelset for £720 in 2009. Sometimes I find that somebody sells for what I believe to be a 'below market' price.

Best to pay cash on collection of course but if you pay by Paypal and you don't feel the item is as described then IME the money is claimed back reasonably easy (once returned a Spesh Tarmac Pro frameset because I did not feel it was as good as the seller had described)

Bar Shaker

What sort of person sends out 3/4 of a bike? Was he thinking the OP would say "Oh most of it's there so I am still pleased with what I bought!"

eBay is full of crooks selling crashed, stolen or bodged bikes.

I would strongly agree with collecting with cash and couldn't imagine any genuine cyclist posting a carbon bike.

brabus

hi thanks

it was sold as a brand new bike still in original packing in the box.

the rest of the bike seems complete.....never been used can tell by the packing/chain etc as it is still all firmly packaged in the original foam/tie wraps etc.

i couldnt collect it as it was oppo end of the country and agree what did he think i was going to say when i received it! not sure if he needed the bits for another bike then sold this on...but should of been advertised as an incomplete bike! he said it was all there except the pedals (understandably!)

i am bewildered as to what has happened to the front end!

it was a good price so need to decide whether to get the money from him to put it right or send it back....as the rest of the bike looks complete its tempting as it would be a good bit cheaper than halfords ...but a lot of hassle too!

i am also worried whether i will in fact be able to actually get the forks from halfords ...and the headset looks to be different size top/bottom so not sure what is required there...

are there any other forks out there with diff dimensions like the boardman ones if i get stuck?

pastey_boy

have you questioned the courier ? if it was sent as a complete bike and arrived minus the front end then the courier must be liable, if the seller is honest. as for getting the replacement parts from halfords i would forget it. i had a carbon pro and enquired to boardman about a new cassette freehub body for the no name hub, the reply came from halfords telling me to seek the help of a specialist cycle retailer as they could not help. basically the largest cycle retailer in the land do not consider themselves "specialist" and have no basic details of products they sell. send the bike straight back and save yourself a lot of grief.

jonmack

You'll be able to get the forks from Halfords, but I can't tell you how much they'd be. I know when I was working there that the Pro Carbon frame was about £1400 when the complete bike was only £1500, I think it was to encourage people to buy the complete bike rather than parts.

If the bike was advertised as a full bike minus pedals, I'd to straight to ebay and start a claim.