Buckled Wheel

GPierotti

Hey guys.

I was out riding my full sus, took it round a corner and the wheel twisted pretty bad.
i took it back to Evans Cycles where i bought it from to get checked out for warranty, the bike was bought in January. The warranty report suggests that spoke tension was tampered with and they say the warranty won't cover it. The bike/wheel has only ever been with them and me and i know i havent touched my wheels as i know little about them. My consumer rights suggest that they should still replace or repair my wheel but i'm not 100% sure where i stand.

Also i spoke to the company who carried out the assesment, he reckons it was adjusted with proper tools (i dont own wheel tools) and that there would have been no way i could have been able to tell the difference in the wheel but it would have been weaker!

Cheers!

supersonic

If you had not touched the wheel, and have evidence to prove it, you may have a claim.

But... have you checked the spoke tension since you bought the bike (you can do by hand) or trueness (by eye?).

GPierotti

if checked it's truenes by eye, not 100% on the spoke tension but they've always seemed fine when lifting them in and out of the car. see i'm not sure how to prove i haven't touched the wheel. Consumer rights say that if you return anything within the first 6 months it's up to them to prove it was perfect when it came to me and if it's after the 6 months it's up to me to prove i haven't tampered with it.

supersonic

Yep, that is true with the consumer rights. But on a item that is designed to be checked, serviced and adjusted you have a duty of care to it.

In this case though, you seem to have done everything that you reasonably should, and if have not abused the product or maladjusted it then I expect Evans should true the wheel and tension it if possible as part of your warranty.

GPierotti

oh it's beyond the state of being trued lol the rim is pretty twisted, if it was just needing adjusted i'd have been more than happy to pay for adjustments. The only thing for it is a rebuild onto the existing hub (20mm bolt through type) or a full new wheel.

I should hear back from a manager to discuss it more tomorrow.

supersonic

Ah. Well, wheels don't get to that state unless they were very loosely tensioned already, poorly built or you hit something very hard. You could argue it was a poor build, but they would probably argue you should have noticed the loose spokes. This is where it gets tricky.

Them saying you have 'tampered with the tension' though is nonesense, they can't use that as get out of warranty excuse, they cannot possibly prove it.

I think you need to try and tell them that you believe the wheel was poorly built and should not have gone that way with normal useage, and it showed no obvious signs of being at a stage where you could have reasonably forseen this ie broken spokes, very loose spokes or out of true.

GPierotti

That's what i'm attempting to do but this far just been called "ridiculous" and accused of lying, haha their customer service btw is awesome haha.

oh and the guys in the shop kept telling me either i've crashed it or (and this is my favorite) i've left it sitting and then someone who perhaps doesnt like me might have ran up and kicked it or hit it! hahah