Advice needed! Cracked carbon steerer on 4 week old bike

shaunie_p

Right, heres the story! not a long one thankfully!

The steerer on the fork of my 3-4 week old Eddy Merckx EMX-5 has sheered like a spiral fracture. Pretty dangerous considering I was hurtling down hills at 40-45mph a day or two ago, the issue is a couple of weeks old, it started as a creak on the bike which I could trace to start with, at first I could notice but then the steering got really bad, hence me investigating around the headset.

The LBS has said the distribution company (i-ride) will try and get a new fork, this could be around 4 weeks (estimate)

My complaint is the fact that i-ride cocked up the colour of my order twice and to this day its not the colour I really wanted, no apology, nothing for this. I ride then cocked up the delivery of the bottom bracket and I had to wait 3 weeks for a supposedly next day delivery! So I have no faith the fork with be here any time soon let alone 4 weeks.

I have no confidence in the frame's carbon and want the whole thing replace, they have none in this country but do have the next model up being the EMX-525, do I have any bargaining power here given the catalogue of disaters I have experienced.

Any help or advice legally etc would be great

Shaun

GiantMike

Personally, I'd return the bike, as it is, to the LBS and tell them that the bike is not up to the job and get your money back. Under the Sale of Goods Act all items must be up to the job and it's the store, not the distributor, that carries the can when things go wrong. Warranty is a different issue. This may get you the upgrade you want.

OR

Wait for 4 weeks and see what arrives.

ct8282

I'd be returning the bike for a full refund myself and considering either a different bike altogether, or probably a different bike store as it goes.

As stated above, and considering your story I think you have plenty of right to go back and say that clearly the bike is not suitable or even acceptable and you are not prepapred to wait. Buying a new bike should be a fun and exciting experience but so far you have had nothing but disappointed and almost worse, a possible dangerous accident.

Return the bike, move on.

shaunie_p

The bike shop is a difficult situation as I know the owner relatively well and he is a customer of mine also through my business, I just don't feel i-ride as a company are doing enough to get it sorted quickly, they could deliver the EMX-525 next day, they still have me as an Eddy Merckx rider, they haven't lost a sale by me returning the bike etc

nicklouse

makes no difference would you expect him to walk away from any warrenty issue with your company?

iRide has nothing to do with it. Your warrenty agreement is with the shop.

have a read
viewtopic.php?f=40074&t=12877456

speedo

If you can prove the damage has been caused by faulty manufacture you can go back to the retailer that sold you the bike -and ask for a replacement - under the term " NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE "
If however the damage was caused by yourself,they will generally say the item needs replacing at your cost.
You could claim on your insurance for the work to be carried out.
Regarding waiting 4 weeks for the replacement part,ask the retailer to loan you a bike for the duration,at no cost
,The above comments have been based on my own recent experience .
I had a freak accident with a black bag coilng itself around the front and rear gears 4 months after purchasing a brand new TREK 4.5 MADONE ,and this caused the carbon frame to break off at the back,and the rear mech and wheel just fell off.
The bike was taken back to my local TREK dealer ,who kindly informed me it was definately not a manufacturing fault,but it was personal damage due to the accident, and a new frame was required
( Whilst the bike frame is owned by the original owner TREK guarantee it for life )
TREKs policy is, that if you require a replacement frame they give you 20% off the price.
I decided to claim on my bike insurance - They settled in 1 week for the full £1800.
From the date of my claim to my new frame arriving was 6 weeks - the TREK shop lent me a top of the range bike at no cost for the full 6 weeks - WHAT ABOUT THAT FOR SERVICE.
Take my advice and go and buy a TREK

Yossie

I think Speedo likes TREK, but he's wrong - return the piece of junk and buy a Ritte Bomberg.

on-yer-bike

Was the fracture to the fork steerer caused by the LBS doing up the stem clamp too tight? If so its not Eddie's fault, or irides fault.

pilot_pete

It doesn't matter whose fault it is in the supply chain. As others have said, under the Sale of Goods Act the contract at point of sale is with the retailer; the customer's claim is their responsibility. If the bike is not fit for purpose you can claim a full refund. If they refuse, file papers for a small claim in a count court (there is a limit, so it may depend how much he claim is for).

If they are to repair the bike it has to be in a reasonable time scale. 4 weeks for a pair of forks would seem unreasonable to me.

A method which got me a result was to put in writing the problem, dated of course and sent to the shop with a proof of posting. Tell them in the letter what you expect them to do to put the problem right and state the timescale that is reasonable to you (make sure it is resonable), I wold suggest 2 weeks for them to get a new fork from the manufacturer (bearing in mind it could be couriered overnight from anywhere in Europe), so hat gives them 13 days to take one off the production line and get it painted and boxed for shipping.

Also state in the letter what your next course of action will be when this timescale is reached if the problem is not resolved in your favour. Get a copy of the Sale of Goods Act online and cut and paste relevant sections into your letter, such as the rights of the consumer and the obligations of the retailer. Remind them of their obligations and be firm but polite.

If the timescale passes without satisfactory resolution send another letter stating your position now. This may well be demanding a full refund. Again, get proof of posting. In my case I said I would buy alternative wheels (prematurely worn freehub that took over a month to get sorted) as the wheel set fitted at purchase was no longer available, so I would buy a similar pair, at full retail price from elsewhere and forward the bill onto them for settlement. I warned them that if they refused to settle this bill I would take action in the small claims court. I also advised them to look up the name (which I quoted) in the letter if they didn't recognise it, as he would also be getting a letter explaining the failures in the product and supply chain. The name was the CEO of the manufacturer....

I received a flly repaired wheel within 48hrs....and £100 of vouchers as compensation (they offered £25 which I said was insulting) as I earn £600 a day and had spent well over 8hrs sorting this problem...

Sometimes you have to be firm, but always remain reasonable...courts will then always find in your favour.

PP

shaunie_p

Thanks for all the replies guys, I will keep you posted, just frustrating with all this glorious weather at the moment

shaunie_p

well, finally sorted, and there were a few more twists, they only replaced the fork and delivered back the original frame and fork. Upon delivery at the LBS it was missing the seat post, great! and the headset bearing didn't appear to fit, someone had dropped the frame on the end of the head tube and dented it so the headset will no longer fit!

Cut a long story short I had my money back and ordered an Argon 18 Gallium Pro, it turned up yesterday and was build up yesterday too. What a bike!!!!! far better build quality than the Eddy Merckx, finish is better, handling is better too, really really please with it. Thanks for all the advice guys.