faulty frame - what to do?

boborange

Sorry for the rambling but I recently had a custom bike fitted and built from my LBS in early June. I noticed after a month or so that the rear wheel seemed to be misaligned between the chain stays near the bottom bracket but seemed fine between the seat stays and brakes. Basically the tyre is a few mm closer to the NDS chain stay than the DS.

Between holidays and a big sportive I had lined up, I did not take it back immediately due to lack of time and thought I would wait until it needed a service to mentioned it to the lbs.
On dropping it off for a service a month ago I mentioned the rear wheel looked misaligned which over a quick inspection they agreed and would investigate.
2 days later i popped in and yes the frame seemed to be out after checking the wheel it was not that and they needed to measure up the frame to double check.

They offered me a replacement bike, which I thought was very good of them while the problem was being sorted, its worth considerably more than my bike which i took home with me there and then and still have.

Fast forward 4 weeks the frame has been measured and put on a jig and the NDS chain stay is welded to the bottom bracket a couple of mm to far inwards but the wheel does track true.

The UK distributor has been informed and they are still waiting to hear from the manufacturer who in the grand scheme of bike manufacturers is a small player.

So my question is, although the frame is out, which the lbs has confirmed, should i have to wait to hear from the manufacturer or should the shop replace it and they squabble with the manufacturer?

As far as im concerned i should have a replacement frame, is this a fair assumption or as the bike still seems to perform normally will i end up with my old frame?

Its been a month now and im getting a bit restless. What can i do and what should i expect? Thanks for your help.

unixnerd

My understanding is that under the sale of goods act the shop are the party who need to sort this out, what they do with the supplier is their own internal business. But as the wheels tracks true the question is whether the bike is suitable for the purpose for which it was sold despite having a fault. That may be open to interpretation, although I'd say the shop owe you a new bike.

on-yer-bike

What make is the frame?

diamonddog

Contact the shop they are your link with the manufacturer. They need to go through the process of chasing it up with the manufacturer to ascertain the state of play.

Colinthecop

If your loan bike is better, i'd be in no rush to get mine back...

boborange

To be fair the bike shop are saying they are chasing the distributor who are in turn are chasing the manufacturer but 4 weeks down line seems a little long now. Up until now the service has been good but getting this resolved has taken longer than i thought.

I was hoping they would sort the frame out for me then work out who is paying for it between the shop/distributor/maker but seems they have to run it past the manufacturer before they come back to me with an answer.

I dont know how long they have been chasing the manufacturer, it could of been only 2 days and the hold up was with the distributor or the shop putting it on the jig so would rather not name the manufacturer just yet as they may of only been aware of it on friday.

the owner of the shop is back tomorrow and was promised a call from him so hope to have some positive news.

Although the bike they gave me is more expensive I prefer my own!

Monty Dog

The supplychain in the bike industry can be as long as 3-6 months - but most distributors hold warranty stock to deal with issues such as this. The issue is the bike shop sold you a duff bike and it's down to them to put you straight - the warranty obligations with the distributor and the manufacturer are the shop's problem.

spankwilder

Depending on the frame, they might say it's 'within tolerance' a technical word that can define something of shat manufacture.

By the sounds of it the shop has provided a pretty good remedy, if it was me I'd prefer to trash their bike through winter and pick up my new frame some time in March!

matt-h

What frame is it?

Matt

boborange

Fair do's as promised the shop just called me this morning and basically the manufacturer, Lynskey, have told the distributor that the misalignment is as 'spankwilder' predicted is 'within tolerance'. What a load of s**t!

obviously im really not happy with this at all as it is clearly out and was expecting more from a so called 'niche' or 'boutique' brand. At £1,299 I was expecting an aligned frame and if it wasn't right no hassles in getting it sorted.

Ok the wheel tracks true but the shop have sold a few of these and none have been like that before and they have said they can see my point.

the shop advised me to write an email to them with my which they will forward to Lynskey and they will be contacting Lynskey direct by phone later today.

Thanks for all your advise so far and good to know im not being overly unreasonable.

diamonddog

Just keep plugging at them the manufacturer may offer you some discount or a new frame you never know. I agree it is total crap to say it's 'within tolerance' it's not within your tolerance and that's what counts IMO. Good luck with it.

jordan_217

Any chance of the LBS doing the business and providing you with a new frame? Surely it's their responsibility as you're their customer and they should then fight it out with the distributor for reimbursement.

Good luck, it's sounds a crap situation. I hope you get sorted.

Colinthecop

I think you might be on a hiding to nothing with that response.

If the wheel is indeed running true, then I guess they're right - it might not look aesthetically pleasing, but it is not affecting how the bike rides.

The Sale and Supply of Goods act allows you to reject things which 'are not fit for purpose'. It would seem that the bike is.

I'd be looking at asking for some sort of 'goodwill gesture' from the manufacturer before going on a bad publicity warpath....

sophidog

Go as public as you like & hit as many forums as you can; both sides of the water. Lynskey say "within tolerance". Ask them to publish or provide a drawing that shows all the tolerances for the frame geometry so that the public will know what Lynskey accept; then Joe Public can make a reasoned decision as to whether they want to buy Lynskey. If it is sooo obvious to the naked eye i would hazard that the frame is 'a bad un'. Could you put a piccie up showing how off-centre the wheel is? For a frame at that price to look so bad says a lot about their engineering standards/quality control. Old engineering adage, "if it looks right it is right".

MichaelW

sophidog wrote:

Could you put a piccie up showing how off-centre the wheel is?

According to the discussion so far, the wheel is aligned and tracking well relative to the bottom bracket, brakes and dropouts, it is the NDS chainstay which is mis-aligned on the BB shell.
If there is an issue of tyre clearance then you may have a claim under fitness for purpose.
I would try a claim under Lynskey's own Lynskey Complete Satisfaction Policy, which, considering that you are completely dissatisfied, is reasonable.

scottishgeek

Sale of goods act case. The LBS is who you have the contract of sale and it is up to them to solve the issue with the minimum of inconvenience to you. They have mitigated that in some way by loaning you a bike but still have the onus of providing you a solution in a timely manner. Disregard the distributor and manufacturer as they are not relevant to you contract of sale.

boborange

well, bit of an update.

Email from LBS this morning saying hold the stinky letter to Lynskey as progress is being acheieved. A few missed calls from the LBS and a call back from me this afternoon and i think they went to bat for me and Lynskey have agreed to replace the frame!!!!

What a reflief as i really did not want the old frame back let alone ride it and was already thinking of what frame would i buy to replace it with which i cant afford.

Im chuffed with the LBS as so far I have had a good relationship with them from a fitting/build/service and wanted that to continue as its handy to have a good LBS. This whole affair could have tainted that but it has given me more confidence in them. Thanks roger at mosquito bikes!


Thanks for all your advice

Big Geordie

I'm pleased to hear the LBS came through in the end. Even if it does cost a little more if things go wrong it is a lot less stressful to be able to talk to somebody face to face.

Just waiting for somebody to blame Wiggle now....