Issue with ROSE Bikes
Jaso_111
Posts: 10
Long time reader of Cycling Plus but this is my first post on the forums.
Following a positive review of the Rose Xeon GF4400-Hydro in June issue of Cycling Plus i pulled the trigger and ordered one. The only customisation i made was to change to 25mm Conti 4000 II tyres on DT Swiss R23 wheels.
After 4 weeks the bike shows up from Germany and i unpack it. First thing i notice is that the rear tyre is touching the brake arm and rubbing against it when turning the wheel. Surely something is faulty?
After a few emails i finally get hold of a UK representative - they are in Wiltshire i believe - and they want to look at the bike in the UK so its gets sent to them. After a few more days and emails they agree there is a problem and they will ask the factory in Germany. After hearing nothing for another few days i email again and it turns out all these frames are made to the same tolerance and there is noting "wrong" with the one i received.
Their solution to the problem - change to 23mm tyres! Needless to say i have rejected the bike but the whole experience has been highly frustrating. I believe its now being shipped back to Germany but i've not seen anything official to prove that.
I'm now 1.5K out of pocket without a bike and no-one from the German factory appears to want to talk to me. Comments I've made on their web-site have mysteriously not appeared after submitting either.
The guy in Wiltshire has been helpful to a degree but on a very casual basis. I don't have any official returns info/documentation for example.
Has anyone else had any experience with Rose? Have i just been unlucky?
Anyway if you are considering this bike and want 25mm tyres then don't bother :-)
Following a positive review of the Rose Xeon GF4400-Hydro in June issue of Cycling Plus i pulled the trigger and ordered one. The only customisation i made was to change to 25mm Conti 4000 II tyres on DT Swiss R23 wheels.
After 4 weeks the bike shows up from Germany and i unpack it. First thing i notice is that the rear tyre is touching the brake arm and rubbing against it when turning the wheel. Surely something is faulty?
After a few emails i finally get hold of a UK representative - they are in Wiltshire i believe - and they want to look at the bike in the UK so its gets sent to them. After a few more days and emails they agree there is a problem and they will ask the factory in Germany. After hearing nothing for another few days i email again and it turns out all these frames are made to the same tolerance and there is noting "wrong" with the one i received.
Their solution to the problem - change to 23mm tyres! Needless to say i have rejected the bike but the whole experience has been highly frustrating. I believe its now being shipped back to Germany but i've not seen anything official to prove that.
I'm now 1.5K out of pocket without a bike and no-one from the German factory appears to want to talk to me. Comments I've made on their web-site have mysteriously not appeared after submitting either.
The guy in Wiltshire has been helpful to a degree but on a very casual basis. I don't have any official returns info/documentation for example.
Has anyone else had any experience with Rose? Have i just been unlucky?
Anyway if you are considering this bike and want 25mm tyres then don't bother :-)
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Comments
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First post to rant about a company, this is going to end well!
Anyway, Shimano 6800 brakes? Mine did this, took about a minute to adjust the brake with a quick re-position.0 -
Yeah i know it doesn't look good for a first post. Been a long time lurker though.
The bike comes standard with SRAM 22 Force groupset so SRAM brakes and they are under the rear chainstays on this model. The tyre to frame clearance was less than 2mm as well. The brake arm projects around 3mm further down hance the overlap.
My main gripe is that its a standard official build that does not work and it left the factory in that state. They must of had this issue with other customers or is everyone else on 23 tyres?0 -
Been a long time lurker though.
ZFGI'm sorry you don't believe in miracles0 -
I had an issue with a Rose bike which I had to send back. They were more than helpful, it cost me nothing to send it back and because there was a slight issue with the refund due to the expiry of my debit card, they transferred my money by bank transfer and gave me a €60 voucher for my troubles. I have since bought another bike from them. My favourite bike company. I am 100% sure you have nothing to worry about.
Make sure you update this thread when it's all sorted.0 -
Thanks that's reassuring to hear- i am sure it will work out ok in the end. Its a shame as the rest of the bike looked top notch - just was unable to ride it.0
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25 gp4000S are closer to 28 in size, so just go for the 23s instead, which are actually closer to 25 (if not more than)0
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First time post to moan never looks good, it can look like competition trying to damage a reputation. Please follow this up with an outcome, hopefully positive.Yeah i know it doesn't look good for a first post. Been a long time lurker though.
Remember the upside of buying direct from a company like Rose is you get more bike for your money. The downside is that dealing with any problems is bound to be more of an issue. Presumably you were happy to take the upside, now you have to take the down I'm afraid.
Anyway, I hope it is sorted to your satisfaction. Now go and post something positive in another bit of the forum.
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I had an issue with a Rose bike which I had to send back. They were more than helpful, it cost me nothing to send it back and because there was a slight issue with the refund due to the expiry of my debit card, they transferred my money by bank transfer and gave me a €60 voucher for my troubles. I have since bought another bike from them. My favourite bike company. I am 100% sure you have nothing to worry about.
Make sure you update this thread when it's all sorted.
I had an almost identical experience. i have nothing but good news to share about Rose.
I give you the advice that I share with anyone who is experincing dificulties with Rose: telephone them and explain what your concern is, they speak better English than most Brits. they also know that, because outside of Germany they are mail order only their customer service has to be great and in my experience it is.0 -
[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19642284#p19642284]SloppySchleckonds[/url] wrote:Been a long time lurker though.
ZFG
I felt the need to look that acronym up....glad I did, quite amusing!0 -
Been a long time lurker though.
Does that make it better or worse though???
So you lurk on forums and then only break cover to moan about and badmouth a brand.
A brand that you probably mainly bought to save money, and then you are moaning about a consequence of one of the very reasons its cheaper in the first place :shock:0 -
Nothing wrong with lurking. I find most internet forums pretty hostile places to be honest. I had a genuine issue and some helpful posters here have explained they have a good rep for sorting things out - so pretty much answered my main question.
As i went for this bike on the strength of the Cycling Plus review i posted here. If the magazine still had a letters page i would have written instead :-)
I'm certainly not bad mouthing a competitor - i'm a private buyer with 3 other road bikes and been road cycling 35 years. Just wanted to try a German brand for a change. That's all.
If it gets resolved ill report back here. Thanks to everyone who gave good advice.0 -
Some beauties on here. Hope it works out for you.0
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To be fair he has a legitimate reason to complain, not only should Rose not offer the swap to 25mm tires as an option if it doesn't fit but what sort of QC are they doing if the wheel doesn't even spin after it's assembled? They should also ideally have a warning on the web-site on models where tolerance is that close as the trend now is towards 25 & 28mm tires so it should be a reasonable expectation to be able to fit them.
Just because someone opts to save some money buying a bike direct doesn't mean they should have to put up with shoddy QC and a seemingly less than stellar returns process (good customer service doesn't usually involve not keeping the customer informed).0 -
I'd have thought 1mm clearance per side was pushing it anyway.Advocate of disc brakes.0
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Well to follow up - Rose finally got the bike back in Germany and after i filled out a couple of forms they refunded my money last week. I can't fault their refund process - its just a shame the whole inspect/return process took so long and the design/clearance of that frame was not that good.
I've now decided to buy a Cannondale instead from a UK supplier - there are some really good end of season deals around at the moment and the delay means my money had gone a bit further than it would have in May. I'm just not prepared to risk another bike from Rose.0 -
In fairness to Rose, this mightn't strictly be their issue, but one with SRAM brake callipers. I've heard of this specific issue with other bikes using bigger tyres and SRAM. A0
