Hasving a bit of grief from my local bike shop – can you enlighten me as to the position…I dropped the bike off on Saturday while doing some Christmas shopping, just to ask them to fit me a new chain (I do this on a routine basis, pre-emptively, to avoid wearing down the other parts of my drivetrain). I also asked him to identify the source of the weir dsqueaking noise that occasionally came from the crank/pedal area. He changed the chain successfully, but two things went wrong with the crank examination:

– he apparently wasn’t able to remove the crank because it was done too tight. Then the crank (non-drive side, Dura Ace from 2008)fell off as I was en route home; and

– although he wasn’t able to remove the crank to clean out the BB shell, etc., he did use an air hose to get ride of all the external mulch etc. However this also blew off a lot of the paint around my bottom bracket shell particularly around the circumference of where the BB shell goes in. I’ll post photos when I can. It’s a carbon Specialized but the bits where the paint has chipped off are now silver. He said this just happens on bikes of a certain age (it’s a 2006 model, not ridden very much, commuting 12 miles each day mainly). Is this true in your experience?

There was no mechanic in the shop – this was just a clerk doing me a “favour”. He was very friendly about it all and even gave my bike a clean, which I hadn’t asked for. Nonetheless I’m still not happy about the failure to put my crank on properly and the paint damage. What would you do in this situation? Can I claim a new frame, either from the shop (which is a chain, for those with qualms) or from Specialized?

Paint damage is probably not a real issue IMO – if an airline blew it off then only the mud and itself was holding it in place and a decent clean would have likely done exactly the same.

Not really sure what ‘done too tight’ means as a 2008 Dura Ace is HT2 and if the LH crank fell off when you rode it then clearly that crank had been loosened. Either way, it would seem that he didn’t tighten the LH crank back up properly. Is it damaged? probably not IME so no real damage other than the risk of you crashing. I’d talk to the manager and say you’re not happy.

Can I claim a new frame

Are you serious, because a bit of paint came off a 4 year old frame !!??!!??

he apparently wasn’t able to remove the crank because it was done too tight. Then the crank (non-drive side, Dura Ace from 2008)fell off as I was en route home

Well its off now…best get the bottom bracket out while you can !

I imagine they got the LH crank off and then couldn’t get the axle out the BB and then didn’t refit it properly.

check the splines inside the crank arm – I lost an XT crank arm when it loosened as the splines were knackered.

You let a guy who wasn’t a mechanic fix your bike? Or did you only find this out afterwards?

I imagine they got the LH crank off and then couldn’t get the axle out the BB and then didn’t refit it properly.

That sounds like what happened…

How old is the BB & who fitted that?

Sounds to me like someone being a bit of a slapped posterior.

Bottom bracket paint is there to chip off and the reason that the exposed area is silver is probably because getting carbon fibre to form screw threads is a bit tricky so frame builders tend to fit metal sleeves with the screw thread on them in to carbon frames.

As for claiming for a new frame, why not, why not also try and take the shop as compensation for all of the “emotional turbulence” as well, you might be in therapy for years about this ordeal. Stop being a tart.

he did use an air hose to get ride of all the external mulch etc.

You have a carbon Spesh fitted with Dura Ace and it has mulch?

KINGTUT – Member
You have a carbon Spesh fitted with Dura Ace and it has mulch?

😆
KT, how many times have you washed your hands since you read that comment ?

it’s a 2006 model, not ridden very much, commuting 12 miles each day mainly.

I think more to the point he has a Spesh carbon with Dura Ace that isn’t ridden very much, just commuting. – It’s not right, poor bike!!

ATGNI springs to mind!!

It’s a Spesh, what did you expect?

12 x 2 x 5 x 47 = ~5250 miles a year, x 4 years is 21,000 miles thats quite a way!

Mu bike was looking worse for wear after its first 6000, and after that I largely lost any misguided notion of keeping it looking new.

The mulch was due to snow of late (or have you not been riding in it…); I use it for road at weekends in the winter, and for commuting – sorry for not using it for a quick 1,000 miles at 33mph avg every morning like some on here!

Regarding being a slapped arse/paint on BB being “there to be chipped” – I would say that if there is a large amount of paint missing from your frame after you get it back from a bike shop, and the crank falls off in the middle of the road, after being charged £40 – an explanation is at least owing!

I appreciate the comments but I’m a bit incredulous that I’m supposed to be cool with getting a bike back from the shop with huge chunks of paint having been taken off it. This bike was dirty but much, much cleaner than my mountain bikes, none of which have ever had paint just chip off them for no reason. So I query whether this is OK. I suppose the questions in my original post were rhetorical.

Yes it’s ok if the paint was already chipped/peeling which seems likely. Cleaning with an airline and/or brush, etc would not remove paint unless it was already damaged. I’ve certainly seen carbon frames with paint cracked/peeling around the BB though not specifically your frame.

No, it’s not ok to leave your bike with a loose crank. Take that up with the manager

The mulch was due to snow of late (or have you not been riding in it…)

How would snow produce mulch? Anyhow as clubber said it’s unacceptable that the crank was loose but the paint must have been damaged already, I’d wager it had bubbled through exposure to several years of road salt and this mulch of yours.

Possibly paint has been/was damaged, road salt has finally got under the paint, loosened it and it fell off. Was going to happen anyway.

Mysterious creak may have been your loose crank, removing, cleaning worn splines and refitting may be cause of crank falling off ❓ Check your crank and bb for wear.

This bike was dirty

LESSON #1 – clean your bike before you take it in – then he wouldn’t have had to use an air hose to clean it enough to work on and then he wouldn’t have removed the flaky paint

I can’t believe someone pays the bike shop to change a chain for them, when it’s such an easy & quick thing to do yourself!

dave_rudabar – Member
I can’t believe someone pays the bike shop to change a chain for them, when it’s such an easy & quick thing to do yourself!

I can’t believe it took 18 posts for someone to mention this! STW is getting slack.

I keep the bike in a flat in central London where there simply is no space for doing any kind of work on your bike, especially something inherently dirty like changing a chain. Plus, I wanted his opinion on the crank issue. And to clean the rest of the drivetrain too (which I definitely cannot do in my flat). Then there is getting the length right, using the wrong splineshaft on my crankspooge etc., etc., and before long the sun is low in the sky, my gf’s annoyed about the grease on the carpet/wall, and I’ve not got any riding in. That is my attitude toward bike servicing beyond basic trailside stuff.

“can I claim a new frame” says a lot about your attitude to me, as well as paying £40 to get your bike cleaned and a chain fitted.

4 years of commuting could quite easily waste a lot of bike if roads are salted and you don’t clean it frequently.

Fair point re the crank but if it’s not damaged then I’d just complain to the shop and otherwise MTFU.