2016 Boardman Seat tube issue

The Spiderman

I bought a 2016 Boardman Pro 29er a couple of weeks back.

The inside of the seat tube was very poorly finished, with burrs, and bit of fine swarf visible.

The seat post was badly scored as a result and the bike has been back to Halfords twice. It's been tidied up inside the post, and is now on it's second replacement seatpost.

I noticed that the display bike also had a similar issue.

Has anyone else experienced this and what did Halfords do to resolve it?

JGTR

Haven't Halfords fixed the problem? If so what's the issue??

rockmonkeysc

If it's been cleaned up and you've got a new post then it's fine. It would only ever cause cosmetic damage, I wouldn't have worried about it.

cooldad

Unless it's a sign of shoddy workmanship in general.

The Spiderman

It's the first new bike I've bought in 10 years so it's a bit disappointing to get something that's not quite perfect . The staff at my local Halfords were helpful enough, but the fix involved spraying some paint down the tube and swapping the post with that from a display bike which is a different to the original.
It seems OK for now and I'm otherwise liking the bike but it seemed a bit of a bodge and I've wasted a lot of time going back and forth.
Also posting this to see if it's common on this bike, as I know from posting elsewhere about this others have experienced the same. Never had the issue with previous bikes,Trek,Specialized,Giant,etc so wonder if it points to a problem that Boardman are having?
It's not a biggie but annoying on a new £1000 bike.

rockmonkeysc

The Boardman frame is made In the same factory as Specialized frames so there shouldn't be any difference in quality of finish.
There are only about three or four frame manufacturers which all the main bike brands use.

FishFish

I've been in manufacturing before and this seems to have missed the final QC process on the frame or indeed the finishing and final QC process - a Friday afternoon 'special'. Sadly though it is probably just a shortcut to speed up throughput to ensure stock on the shelves for the launch. The real acid test is if seat tubes start to break in which case the issue is more serious but I'm afraid that it just does seem to be as Rockmonkey says - just too bad. I am curious as to how the swarf got in there. I assume it is an aluminium frame and they are not drilling or reaming the seat tube so it is possibly cuts for the quick release or holes for the bottle cage. If the swarf is made from crack cocaine then Spiderman should await (with some trepidation) a visit from the Taiwanese triad.

rockmonkeysc

The swarf is most likely from where the seat tube is drilled for the top tube connection. Nothing to worry about, nothings going to break.
Final QA probably wouldn't check for something like that although I've seen some pretty terrible rejects get past two levels of visual inspection. Inspectors just switch off after the first couple hours of the day.

The Spiderman

Would the seat tube normally be reamed before it left the factory?
The inside of the tube has two holes where the seat sty and top tube intersect,where there could have been a sharp edge. There was also some circular score marks,and a light blob of excess material . The paint around the top of the seat tube seat has chipped off already too. It's covered by the seatclamp but the paint seemed a bit brittle in this area. The other bike they had on display was the same,and another guy on the single track world forum has had the same problem so I wonder if there is a bad batch.
I sent an email to Boardman customer service but yet to hear anything.

rockmonkeysc

There's no need to ream the seat tube. Reaming is only used for precision sizing of bores and since a seat tube has quite a lot of clearance it's not a precision fit.

The Spiderman

What would they to finish the tube at the factory?

FishFish

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Inspectors just switch off after the first couple hours of the day.

Not the one who caught me on thr last strain from Liverpool St to Chelmo with the wrong ticket....

FishFish

The Spiderman wrote:

What would they to finish the tube at the factory?

In my view nothing - it may be that the frame parts are cast or hydroformed and as said before the next stage would be drilling or flashing, painting assembly and maybe not to bother with cleaning out the swarf. In all honesty cleaning out a tube would be a difficult process and shoving the stuff down the tube would keep everyone happy on the out of sight out of mind basis.

rockmonkeysc

They're probably churning out 100+ of these frames per hour. They won't take a lot of care over them.

The Rookie

I would expect a reamer (not precision) to go down the tube after welding to remove any distortion from where the stays and top tube join, if it's bit blunt it will leave some swarf rather than cutting it off cleanly. If the damage is rectified OK, it shouldn't be an issue going forward.

The Spiderman

Appears to be OK now. Shame that Halfords Halfords have given me a seatpost from a lower spec bike which is a different finish,shorter and heavier than the original but the bike itself is great.

StinkinHippy

Haven't had any such issues on my 2015 comp ht.

Think you've just been a bit unlucky tbh. I'd have insisted on the correct seat post mind. You paid the extra for all the weight weenie stuff as well as the spec.