So the other day I bought what I (thought) were Magura Marta SL brakes off eBay, in the colour I have wanted for oh-so-long. Turns out they are the standard Marta.
I'm not quite sure what to do. The brakes are light (300/259g per end excl. rotors, so with some light rotors can expect them at around 380/340g), but obviously not as light as an SL would be. I don't know whether manufacturers specify brake weight with or without rotor, but Magura's website says that current year weights for the Marta and the Marta SL are from 325 and 295g respectively.
So there isn't THAT much difference, it's more just the principle that they are technically the wrong brake. I don't know what to do as I'm tempted to keep them, they look really nice and perhaps the alloy leaver would be more durable than the carbon one on the SL's.
Should I keep them? If so, what should I do regarding the product being misadvertised, just email the seller and let him know?
were they advertised as the SL or did you just assume they were the SL?
if the former then contact seller and ask for explaination and potentially a refund and if they get arsy, set ebay to look into it.
if the latter then its just a matter of swallow your pride and better luck next time
Yes they were explicitly advertised as the SL both in the item title and description.
My main qualm is with regards to whether I want to keep them or not, and if so, what can I do? Just give the seller a telling off and leave it at that?
I would let him know his mistake in advertising. it could be he assumed they were SL's. I wouldnt be giving him both barrels just yet and if you want to keep them, keep them. am i right assuming there is a price diffrence between the two? if so just ask for a partial refund you both agree on.
no point starting a war for something so trivial, annoying, but trivial
Keep them, send them back or negotiate a discount if they are not as advertised. If they are as hard to find in that colour as you say and the weight is important to you and there or thereabouts, then option 3 may be worth a go...
The difference between the SL and regular brakes is the carbon leaver. having said that you can get oem spec Sl's with alloy leavers.( making them regular martas but with SL on the leaver and caliper)
pre 2009 the alloy leaver added 5 grams difference in weight between the regular and SL version.
does'nt help with the issue but you may well have oem spec sl's
I'm after some martas, if you want to pass them on, what colour are they and how much did you pay??
you've been mis-sold. Ask for a return and refund or a cash settlement for the difference. Its a matter of principle but if he doesn't know what he's selling then chances are they aren't looked after. Hope you paid via paypal?
Are they the red ones with the Goodridge hoses?, they look really nice. Anyway, if they work and you're happy keeping them, then I'd be asking for some money back, on principle that they have sent you a lower spec product than they advertised. for your info, my Marta SL's say "Marta SL" on the levers and calipers, so there is no mistaking SL and non SL (incase they try to claim they replaced the lever blades or something). I can send you pics of them if you want.
EDIT: I can see in the sellers pics that it doesn't say Marta SL on the levers or calipers.
Thanks for all the replies.
The difference between the SL and regular brakes is the carbon leaver. having said that you can get oem spec Sl's with alloy leavers.( making them regular martas but with SL on the leaver and caliper)[b]pre 2009 the alloy leaver added 5 grams difference in weight between the regular and SL version[/b].
does'nt help with the issue but you may well have oem spec sl's
This is very helpful, thanks. The brakes are indeed OEM spec, but they are definitely the standard Marta, as you say they would have SL written on them. I have also looked up the version of the bike they came off (correct year) and it was specced with standard Martas.
However, the brakes are indeed pre-2009, so if you're correct in saying that the difference is 5g per brake ([url= http://www.google.co.uk/search?client=opera&rls=en&q=difference+in+weight+between+marta+and+marta+sl&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest ]and a Google search seems to support this[/url]) then of course that's insignificant. One of those links also says that pre-2009 Marta SL's had carbon blades prone to chipping. Guess this is all favorable.
I will keep them but still email him and ask for some sort of small discount owing to the fact that they were misadvertised.
you've been mis-sold. Ask for a return and refund or a cash settlement for the difference. Its a matter of principle but if he doesn't know what he's selling then chances are they aren't looked after. Hope you paid via paypal?
They appear to be very well looked-after, not a scratch on them as far as I can tell, no play in the levers etc. He has 100% positive feedback for bike-related bits so seems to know his stuff, I assume this was just an honest mistake. I did pay via PayPal, but as above I think I will just keep them and negotiate a discount.
You won't be disappointed with them, Martas work very well, look good and are light (SL or not). If they're the ones that I looked at, they are very nice in red with Goodridge hoses and you definitely didn't pay over the odds. Like you, I think it's fair to assume the seller made a genuine mistake.
send the boys round 👿
failing that im sure that a chap on here can anodise kit for a very good price so maybe get them to the colour of you choice, sorry dont have details at hand but will find if you cannot.