Lefty service centre choice? « Singletrack Forum

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Lefty service centre choice?

18 posts & 13 voices | Started 3 months ago by UrbanHiker | Latest reply from UrbanHiker

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UrbanHiker - Member

I've an old Lefty, DLR 2 I think. Looking to have it serviced/fixed. The way I see it is there are 2 places in the UK, one in Germany and plenty in the US.

UK, Noahs arc, been there tried them. For fear of slander no further comment.
UK, Thumbprint, used in the past and all good except for taking forever. Though it was a few years back.
Germany, EightyAid, no experience.
US, loads of places, no experience.

So where should I choose?

Has anyone had any experience of EightAid, these are top of the list so far as I don't really want to have to ship to the US.

Has anyone used Thumbprint recently, do they still take ages??

Cheers all

Posted 3 months ago #
z1ppy - Member

Personally I always use Thumbprint, Tony's a top guy & does a great job. Last used him in the summer and had to wait for parts from C'dale, so can't blame him for the wait & don't remember any significant wait previously.

Posted 3 months ago #
LoCo - Member

Thumbprint

Posted 3 months ago #
z1ppy - Member

Alf Jones in Wrexham are also recommended regularly on here, might help if there closer to you than Tony.
To head off anyone saying TF Tuned... they only work on the later ones (post Manitou dampers)

EDIT: Also Tony was 88-aid's UK rep for a while, so they must have judged him pretty capable, though he/they has/have seemingly broken the connection now

Posted 3 months ago #
theflatboy - Member

it would be libel, by the way, not slander.

Posted 3 months ago #
dale - Member

Evans suspension also stendec

Posted 3 months ago #
The-milkybar-kid - Member

I am sure TF Turned can do a DLR 2

Posted 3 months ago #
Teetosugars - Member

Took mine to Alf Jones in Wrexham..

Did a spot on job IMHO..

Feels awesome.

Posted 3 months ago #
UrbanHiker - Member

Nice one, had not heard of Alf Jones. Googling now.

Thumbprint did a spot on job, just took forever. Even my LBS wont send it there because of delays in the past.

TF tuned don't touch anything over 5 years old, checked with them already. Shame.

Teetosugars, oh I have a yearning now I've seen that pic. Been nearly a year without it, I miss it.

TheFlagBoy, cheers for the correction.

Posted 3 months ago #
Teetosugars - Member

Do it...

You won't be dissapointed

Posted 3 months ago #
Farmer_John - Member

I definitely would not recommend TF Tuned - I received an absolutely papp service that makes Cannondale UK's requirement for dealers to send most / all servicing work to them quite surprising.

They had my cannondale DLR shock in a while back for a service and to have the negative spring changed from medium to hard.

They phoned the bike shop I dropped the bike in at to confirm that that not only was there not a negative spring in my model of shock, it wasn't an air shock either (despite the schrader valve). "We've got it here in bits and are quite certain of this" was the message relayed back to me. Despite some gentle questioning from me via the bike shop they were apparently quite adamant of this fact.. along with pretty much stating they intended to send the shock back unserviced as both I and the bike shop had the temerity to question what they were saying.

After much to'ing and fro'ing I landed up having to send them Cannondale's own manual for the shock and the part number for the negative spring kit before they would accept they were in the wrong - and even then I still had to cough up full whack for what I felt had been a pretty poor customer experience.

I know retailers hate the "customer is always right" mentality, but in my experience TF Tuned didn't have a clue what they were on about and what made it worse that they told me they had "the shock in bits" when this clearly was a load of guff - a quick search on google could have confirmed the facts for them and saved agro all round.

Posted 3 months ago #
motox2k - Member

DIY?

http://forums.mtbr.com/shocks-suspension/cannondale-lefty-dlr2-service-88-pictures-516026.html

Posted 3 months ago #
tftunedshox - Member

Unbelievable. No, actually unbelievable.

I can't help but wonder if you spoke directly to TF tuned,or if these conversations were all conveyed by your local bike shop.

Should you ever have an unsatisfactory experience from any service provider in the future, may I suggest that you consider contacting them directly in order to get any issues resolved before making lengthy complaints on internet forums.

Hope the fork's working well now.

Posted 3 months ago #
IHN - Member

Unbelievable. No, actually unbelievable.

So are you saying he's lying?

Should you ever have an unsatisfactory experience from any service provider in the future, may I suggest that you consider contacting them directly in order to get any issues resolved before making lengthy complaints on internet forums.

Sounds like he was in lengthy contact with the service provider, via a Cannondale dealer.

May I suggest that if, as a service provider, you have concerns about issues raised regarding the service you provide, you contact the person raising those issues directly rather than implying their dishonesty on an internet forum.

Posted 3 months ago #
jimification - Member

I've heard good things about Thumbprint but that time delay would put me off...how long are we talking?

Notwithstanding the above posts, TF tuned have a good rep but I was put off by a phone conversation I had about forks in general with a guy there. He was quite negative about Leftys. That doesn't mean he wouldn't do a good job of servicing one, of course but I think if someone at least starts with some enthusiasm for the product, you have a better chance of them doing a thorough job on it.

If you are willing to send it to the US (and I still might do this when it comes time to service mine) there's a guy on the MTBR / Cannondale forum called "Mendoncyclesmith" who services them. Seems very helpful and knowledgable. You'll find him in any Lefty thread on there.

http://forums.mtbr.com/cannondale/

Posted 3 months ago #
UrbanHiker - Member

Motox2k, would be well up for that, but you need special tools that are not readily available. Also I think it will new a new part or two, its really been through the wars, and pretty sure cannondale wont sell to the general public.

Jimification, yep Mendoncyclesmith is the boy. Really helpful with info, and was tempted to send to him till I looked at postage cost!

Good or bad, TF don't service this lefty.

Cheers for all the input guys. Going to speak to Alf Jones later.

Posted 3 months ago #
evans suspension - Member

Hi UrbanHiker,
Robin here from the Evans Suspension Centre
I service all lefty and headshok models right back to the early models and have done for more years than i'd like to admit to
We carry all common parts in stock such as damper seal kits, boots, races and needle bearings and most work is carried out within one day of receiving it.
Please feel free to conatct me should you require any further info. Our workshop is open Mon-Fri 015397 32262 or suspensionservicing@evanscycles.com

Posted 3 months ago #
UrbanHiker - Member

Thanks for the info EvansSuspension. Too late I'm afraid, in the end I took the advice from the STW massive and sent it to ThumbPrint. Just hoping it doesn't take too long.

Posted 3 months ago #