I purchased some forks from CRC, a set of 2011 Fox Talas 36s which were initially described as being Kashima coated. The photo didn’t show this so I contacted them before ordering to make sure they were, response was yes definitely Kashima. So click the order button and they arrive, guess what standard stanchions, not to worry contact CRC and they offer some money back, all is well.

Then recently the forks have been playing up so I contact Mojo to ask for a bit of advise, their response was this, “Unfortunately as the forks were bought through Chain Reaction and are OE equipment sold off the bike so they don’t have any Fox warranty with us”

This was not advertised by CRC and I’m wondering where I stand, is there any difference between OE and factory forks? Previously with any Fox forks or shock, when there has been an issue it’s gone to Mojo and they sort things out with no hassle, but here it doesn’t look like that is going to be the case.

As always, your first port of call is with the retailer – in this case CRC.

This is the problem with OEM stuff, basically – you need to go back to CRC and get them to sort it.

Some oe forks will have a different spec. Things like still being open bath when the proper ones might be fit damper ones

Your warranty is with the retailer rather than fox anyway

Have a think, why do you think CRC are so much cheaper than your LBS?

Sometimes it doesn’t really matter, generally mechs are mechs, but for forks there is no such thing as standard. Some OE stuff is much poorer quality than Aftermarket, but it looks the same which is the point.

To be fair, OE or not, your warranty is with CRC (or whichever retailer) regardless. Not the importer.

Well, no – you don’t have a warranty. The warranty is a contract between the end user and the manufacturer, administered through the retailer and importer, and subject to certain conditions (like the product shouldn’t be OEM).

What you have are statutory rights.

/\ What /\ he /\ said /\

However, CRC should probably sort it out.

So going by this, your suggesting that all OE equipped bikes have no warranty?

No, OE equipped bikes have a warranty on the whole bike, with the manufacturer of the bike. What they don’t have is individual warranties on each component, with the manufacturer of that component.

So going by this, your suggesting that all OE equipped bikes have no warranty?

No as I understand it the warranty on a bike would be with whoever made the bike, assuming you bought it whole. The OE components were never made to be sold separately, only as a complete bike.

Mark

Contact CRC.

Or the money you saved can go towards paying Mojo to sort them.

mmmmm’ok, other than it sound no different to what CRC will do..no doubt sending it to mojo (or the irish fox service centre)

Yep as above, CRC sold you something as an individual part that they shouldn’t have. It’s up to them, can’t blame Mojo for not wanting to deal with someone not playing the game.

CRC will have taken the decision that its worth selling as they can refund x% of failure and throw away probably. Thats how most warranty calcs go.

I assume they cant advertise as OEM but they should, the other clue is it’s cheaper than a bike shop can buy it for.

Yup, they should also point out all differences between what they’re selling and what you’d get if you bought proper aftermarket products. With some things it doesn’t matter much – an XT mech is an XT mech, and if you’re fine getting it in a plastic bag with no instructions then fine. But some components are very different, and can even be made by a different company.

They may well have to pay for the privilege.

which shirely is the same as any bike manufacturer and not the buyers issue?

Same happened to me at Merlin with some Revs. If the price is too good to be true etc.

Yep, same thing happened with some Rebas I bought from On One. Luckily I’m sponsored by Loco Tuning so Simon was able to sort them out for me.

Would not worry too much about it as if they were under warranty fox would tell you that they had not been serviced every 2 hours and as such any claim is void.

Why didn’t you send them back when they weren’t Kashima… 🙄

Just curious, but can anybody point out the actual difference between an OEM Fox fork and an after market one?

Marko

Can be any number of things. Open bath damper rather than FIT cartridge, OE only models (Fox 32 Alps etc), No Kashima, blah, blah.

Different specs of materials (RS for example had steel steerers on OE Pikes & alloy on aftermarket etc).

Last week I ordered some 2011 fox float kashima tapered 150 RLC 15qr forks from crc , what arrived was non kashima , non tapered 2010 forks , ruined a weekends riding, a week to refund and had to moan like **** to get a £30 ” sorry ” gift voucher !!!

Different specs of materials (RS for example had steel steerers on OE Pikes & alloy on aftermarket etc).

I can see that, but if I buy an OEM fork that claims to have the ‘FIT’ damper then that’s what I would expect. I can’t actually see the production line in Taiwan having a pile of slightly different quality dampers and seals ready to go in the OEM fork – can you?

I have a pair of OEM Fox 36R on my bike. These came with the Bike and they are absolutely identical to an after market pair – right down to the coating on the stanchions being made of cheese. 😆

Hth
Marko

I can’t actually see the production line in Taiwan having a pile of slightly different quality dampers and seals ready to go in the OEM fork – can you?

Why not just another production batch.

If it’s OEM it could be identical and the bike manufacturer has met their price point by bulk discount or by getting lower spec models – heavier steerer etc.

There were certainly the Marzocchi All Mountain 4’s that were OEM and had none of the features of the Aftermarket fork.

The point is you don’t know.

Thinking about this logically, why would a fork manufacturer deliberately jeopardise a large order with an OEM by building inferior quality forks? There’s nothing against selling a lower spec fork (e.g. the Pike that came on the Pitch), but not a lower quality one…

Thinking about this logically, why would a fork manufacturer deliberately jeopardise a large order with an OEM by building inferior quality forks? There’s nothing against selling a lower spec fork (e.g. the Pike that came on the Pitch), but not a lower quality one…

The fork manufacturer and the OEM work together on specs to get the price:performance balance they need. I have an OEM Float 140RL 15QR on my bike – in that model year 140RL was 9mm QR only, but obviously the OEM wanted a bolt-thru fork but without the expense of the FIT RLC damper. Still a good fork, though I might be tempted to upgrade the damper in the future now I’m riding it harder.

People often confuse “higher spec” and associated higher price with higher build quality. build is probably on par, finish and features will be compromised to save costs. nothing fundamentally wrong or dangerous in that.

As for the OPs issue, call CRC they chose to resell OEM kit and with that comes some responsibilities under SOGA I believe…

an example of OEM v UK retail is the old Rockshox revelations that Merlin used to sell. The retail version dual air U-turn was the 426 and the OEM version the 409. Difference was the floodgate adjust on the 426 was an external knob compared to internal (need an allen key) on the 409. Also no box or shock pump etc.

For this CRC will have to either fix or refund. Simple. Sure they will sort you out, never failed to sort me out along with some compensation. You should have gone to CRC in the first place as this is who your warranty lies with.