Hi,

I bought a Kona Taro from Chain Reaction in October. I’ve ridden it between 10 and 20 times since then, kept it stored in a garage and washed it regularly by hand. Last week I bought an upgrade wheel from CRC. I went to fit this on Saturday along with some upgrade brakes from them before riding and found that the maxle wont release; it opens to a certain point before just clicking.

Apart from closing it on my first ride when it released itself I have never opened it. The LBS says that it is a failure of the qr mechanism. I have made a warranty claim to CRC who have refused this on the basis that the rotor is rusty and therefore I obviously have not maintained the bike properly. I am astounded.

Anyone had similar failures, or resolved equally appalling initial customer service experiences with CRC?

And, yes the lesson is learned. Next bike comes from the LBS. First and last time I buy a bike online.

I bought a bike with a fox 15mm maxle fitted. It was supposed to be a newish bike before the frame was broken. The seller neglected to tell me that it had then sat outside in the sea air for 2 more years. Upon receipt of the bike he had snapped the quick release trying to get the seized maxle from out of the wheel. I managed to get it out using heat and several large hammers. I did repair it but it was not easy as it is not meant to come apart once it has been assembled. This does not help you much I know but you are not alone with this kind of thing.

CRC customer service have been great with me on the odd os=ccasion I have needed to contact them. Might be worth trying a call rather than the email chain and explain it in detail with someone.

Did call it in originally, but was punted onto email. I will try calling again. I suspect part of the push back is due to these old Konas being bought off the bankrupt importer and CRC having to carry all warranty liability.

This has been stored sensibly, so I cant believe it is the issue. I also wonder if the fork legs were squint, putting pressure on the QR and causing failure.

TBH if the maxle comes out and its written off I dont care, as long as wheel and forks are saved.

So, after speaking to CRC they are collecting the forks/wheel and taking it in for an assessment. Let’s see how this goes.

It hasn’t been stored that sensibly if the rotors are rusty.

How tight did you have the lever on the Maxle? The qr holds a wedge in place rather than clamping legs together so being squint wouldn’t do anything.

CRC wouldn’t even notice the cost so it’s unlikely that’s why they’re saying no

EDIT: things are already looking better anyway

When you say just clicking- is the maxle rotating properly but not winding out? If so that usually means it’s jamming on something after it’s unthreaded- edge of a spacer, a bit of corrosion, something like that.

last time i changed out the bearings on my hub the maxle stuck. the qr opened ok but the maxle bound in one of the bearings. you could unwind it from the threaded side but then could not pull it free. use of a bit of wood and a lump hammer persuaded it to comply. no bother since ( though i made sure i greased it all up ).

Hmmm. The last post sounds a lot like that’s how it feels. It’s a difficult call. If I get the lbs at it with a hammer crc won’t honour any claim that follows. But yes the maxle is well along the thread before it sticks.

Always always always, always always always, PLENTY of grease on the axle and the threads going into the fork.

I’m not trying to sound like a smart arse here, but as you’ll find out, you only make this mistake once!

Try & use some beefy cable ties or a small cargo strap to hold the Legs of the forks together, wind the maxle out as far as possible, then some good whacks with a lump hammer on the end of the maxle. If you have never greased the axle then chances are the bearings have developed some surface rust onto it which is binding it in place. Same thing happened to me the first time I got a fork with a thruaxle..

I am sensing this is a one off mistake. But I’m also sensing since I’ve never had it open that it’s the vendors mistake. All boxed up now for its trip to Belfast. Let’s see how it goes.

Common problem. They need to be greased. Easier to notice if you take your wheel off regularly. I regrease mine every time one of these threads pops up, so about every 4 months. Its a handy reminder.

Struggling to see how it is the vendors mistake if you have allowed water to get in there and subsequently not cleaned or greased it. They might fix it as a good will gesture though. Its only a 5 min job so I’d probably just do it myself. Save a lot if hassle and keep riding.

hmm. six of one/half a dozen of the other IMO. you do require a certain degree of knowledge, or at least some google fu, to buy a bike online and look after it yourself, or accept the consequences. It’s not ideal but unfortunately we do not live in an ideal world.
personally i would have tried to sort you out, but may have just charged for the time, but i don’t know how the conversation at your LBS went. i guess they may have offered to fix it and you may have said ‘oh no – its under warranty’?

IMO it’s not been properly greased when assembled, presumably by the shop. If OP’d refitted it without greasing then it’d be reasonable to suggest it’s on him but not when it’s still as supplied.

Costs to fix it should be trivial, literally minutes of a mechanic’s time which is still going to be less than the inconvenience to the OP so it’ll be daft of them to argue the call- they’ll waste more time arguing than they will fixing.

except the shop didn’t supply the bike, so they have no interest, other than trying to foster the goodwill of someone who has demonstrated their willingness to buy online.
added to which the bike is 8 months old, and has been cleaned such that the discs have gone rusty, and the maxle not removed since first installed.

CRC are a shop you know.

What does “has been cleaned such that the discs have gone rusty” mean? Rust on the discs tells you nothing about cleaning and isn’t relevant to the maxle issue.

I once had a warranty refused on a cracked frame because it had flat pedals fitted and therefore had been used for ‘stunt riding’.

Hang on, its all getting confused. I bought the bike on line (crc). It came fully built. I have never had the wheel off. Go to take wheel off for first time and its stuck. So this suggests there wasnt much lube in the thread on build.

The LBS is my LBS (Bike Smith@Haymarket), nothing to do with Chain Reaction. I’ve bought bikes there and had work done on other bikes over the last couple of years. He was just trying to help me out; he can’t get it open and suggested cutting the maxle. Given the damage this could entail I’m returning the fork and wheel to CRC to fix, who once their bluff was called are being helpful (although I reserve that comment until the whole matter is resolved).

So now I know you need to open and close your maxle regularly and grease it. Not a problem with your standard QR, but lesson learnt!

Not a problem with your standard QR

it is you know, ungreased steel QR’s quite happily corrode and stick to hubs. It’s just a bit easier to free them up as you can hammer on them once you’ve undone the nut at the non-QR end a bit.

Actually it can be an issue with a standard QR as well, especially the rear for some reason. I normally run the QR shaft through a blob of grease before install.

CRC are a shop you know.

yes, I’m aware of that, but they’re not the shop that diagnosed a faulty maxle.

What does “has been cleaned such that the discs have gone rusty” mean? Rust on the discs tells you nothing about cleaning and isn’t relevant to the maxle issue.

I interpret this to mean the OP has used water on it. I am inclined to think that there could be an argument constructed such that water may have penetrated along the maxle and got between it and the bearings, and been allowed to sit there, as the maxle has not been removed in 8 months.

It’s a mountain bike, “it’s been wet” isn’t grounds to refuse a waranty claim.

It’s a mountain bike, “it’s been wet” isn’t grounds to refuse a waranty claim.

No, but then “I washed the grease off, didn’t regrease it and now it’s seized” isn’t a warranty issue. Not saying which it is in this instance but easy to interpret it either way.

User error.Not warranty.If was from the lbs they would likely charge you for rectifying it (though the fact the have woefully misdiagnosed it is not a great sign really tbh).

How often do seatposts get stuck in frames due to lack of maintenance again?

A lot.