Trying to support the LBS but...

[Mr.Gib]

Doing my very best to support my LBS. Great bunch of guys doing a really good job, but when it comes to bike builds, my confidence has been dented. I have built all my bikes myself except for my Ostro. I wanted to throw the LBS some business because they handled the warranty and did not benefit. I also figured that leaving the task to a mechanic who had built a few Ostros for sponsored riders was not a bad idea. He's a very conscientious, thoughtful guy - quite a contrast from the typical. The build was decent but required some return trips to quiet some internal cables. Some of the noise was addressed but there remained what sounded like a noisy cable in the stem or head tube area, so I decided to pull the bar off and have a look.

And this is what I found: a Di2 wire that had been wrapped around a hydro hose in the recession in the D shaped steerer, the worst possible location. The result was a fair bit of damage to the rubber coating on the Di2 wire.



Not too difficult to sort out, but the damage is done. That wire is really mangled.


I can’t deny being disappointed. Wire is still functioning, bike shifts fine, but I do wonder about long term reliability. Good thing I opened the bike up – I could have ended up without shifting a long way from home.

[MrCurrieinahurry]

Oh damn.... That's not good at all and very disappointing. I'm assuming they will replace the wire? Personally I'm a fan of independent mechanics who are under pressure etc at shops but obviously this usually comes at a premium.
Mostly tho it's just best to invest the time etc in stuff yourself I've just had to many experiences with just simple things like bolts not torqued properly or leaving shops with shifting still not sorted.
Will you give the shop feedback etc?

Basso Diamante rim Campagnolo EPS 12 Bora WTO 60's

[jekyll man]

Who knows, when you come to replace it yourself, you might just find out how hard it actually is to do, due to stupid design features.

[TobinHatesYou]

Who knows, when you come to replace it yourself, you might just find out how hard it actually is to do, due to stupid design features.

It's not hard, it's just time-consuming. The mechanic should have been able to perform this rather simple task.

[Lina]

Who knows, when you come to replace it yourself, you might just find out how hard it actually is to do, due to stupid design features.

This is not an excuse when you're paying for them to build your bike. If it's a fiddly and time consuming job, which it often is with integrated cabling, then they need to take that into account in pricing. I don't trust any mechanic to touch my bike.

[req110]

That's why I build my bikes myself, and you will build them yourself again.

To gently dismantle my SL7 it took 40 minutes. To build an SL8, it took me 3-4 hours without a rush. It's not fast, but it's pretty acceptable.

[Mr.Gib]

... I'm assuming they will replace the wire?

Will you give the shop feedback etc?

Good questions. Not sure what the best move is. If the wire get's replaced, I'll be the one doing it. But that means pretty much a full rebuild - front brake disconnect, crank/bottom bracket removal, handlebar work, and then then all back together, brake bleed, etc. Ah, the joys of full integration.

Maybe my best play is to show the shop the photos and leave it at that. Although asking for a free cable would be reasonable, I want to avoid any negative vibes - my priority is to maintain a positive relationship - I may need the shops good will at some point in the future. That's more important to me than being up or down $50.

Who knows, when you come to replace it yourself, you might just find out how hard it actually is to do, due to stupid design features.

I already know how hard it is, and yes indeed the design is a bit of a test for mechanics. But my expectation of the work is binary - either it's done correctly, or not done.

The mechanic did make a comment that he had difficulty with fitting the hoses and shift wire in such a tight space. It was probably tight because the wire was wrapped around one of the hoses.

It is definitely an argument for wireless, though there are thousands of frames just like this that are built with Shimano 9100 without issue - wireless Shimano didn't even exist for the first couple of years this frame was on the market.

[1swiftvelo]

I manage a LBS. If this happened under under my watch I would like to know. That way I could speak with my team, hopefully have it never have it happen again. We are human.
For the client there would be no charge! For anything even the brake barbs, it's not your responsibility. This is what give LBS a bad reputation.

[robertbb]

This is why I learned to wrench starting about 7-8 years ago - LBS' just not giving a sh*t and damaging my bikes and parts.

You want something done properly, you gotta do it yourself.

I've never looked back tbh. Working on bikes and experimenting has become a nice added joy of cycling as is actually riding. It scratches an itch (for me at least) to do something with the mind and hands.

Next challenge - wheel building.

[Mr.Gib]

I manage a LBS. If this happened under under my watch I would like to know. That way I could speak with my team, hopefully have it never have it happen again. We are human.
For the client there would be no charge! For anything even the brake barbs, it's not your responsibility. This is what give LBS a bad reputation.

No doubt you have the correct approach. Given how good I know these guys to be, I'm sure everything was nice and sorted before assembly, and somehow the wire got wrapped around the hose during final placement of the barstem. It happens. I'll probably take the bike in to get it sorted out.

[1swiftvelo]

I manage a LBS. If this happened under under my watch I would like to know. That way I could speak with my team, hopefully have it never have it happen again. We are human.
For the client there would be no charge! For anything even the brake barbs, it's not your responsibility. This is what give LBS a bad reputation.

No doubt you have the correct approach. Given how good I know these guys to be, I'm sure everything was nice and sorted before assembly, and somehow the wire got wrapped around the hose during final placement of the barstem. It happens. I'll probably take the bike in to get it sorted out.

I had that happen to me. Doing the recall on the specialized tarmac. I double checked and checked again, torqued everything down and no power main cable pinched. . Of course the client was waiting since they drove two hours. Had one my guys get/ buy the client lunch while I replaced the di2 cable. He didn't purchase the bike from us. I still believe in providing the best experience I can to all my clients, sometimes we fail, unfortunately we're still human. Strive for perfection every day. No Clients ever pay a mistake we make!

[Flasher]

I had that happen to me. Doing the recall on the specialized tarmac. I double checked and checked again, torqued everything down and no power main cable pinched. . Of course the client was waiting since they drove two hours. Had one my guys get/ buy the client lunch while I replaced the di2 cable. He didn't purchase the bike from us. I still believe in providing the best experience I can to all my clients, sometimes we fail, unfortunately we're still human. Strive for perfection every day. No Clients ever pay a mistake we make!

And that is absolutely the correct and professional approach, sadly I think that you're in the minority and why most people I know do their own maintenance, at least then you only have yourself to blame.

[Juanmoretime]

I understand the feelings. At times I want to suopport the LBS. Went there a couple of months ago to buy a back uo tube. Paid $18 plus sales tax for a tube I could have bought off Amazon for $3. I would have been okay with $10. WTF!

[1swiftvelo]

I understand the feelings. At times I want to suopport the LBS. Went there a couple of months ago to buy a back uo tube. Paid $18 plus sales tax for a tube I could have bought off Amazon for $3. I would have been okay with $10. WTF!

Sorry your experience was terrible. Unfortunately the thread isn't about what the LBS is charging for parts. Our tube prices have decreased over the years, cost of a tube has doubled in last few years.

Did you ask to speak with owner or manager? Might have been priced wrong? It happens.

[Karvalo]

I understand the feelings. At times I want to suopport the LBS. Went there a couple of months ago to buy a back uo tube.

You want to support the LBS but the only time you went there in recent memory was to buy one inner tube?

I'd hate to see what you do to places you don't want to support!