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we must be related !!!
its not just the Norcos, it is EVERYTHING i buy, doesn't seem to matter what it is.. and it doesn't seem to matter how i ride, 99% of my riding is surrey hills.
beano68, did i here a little "me too" there??
Maybe try buying a bike from companies that don't change stuff so frequently - Like Giant or Trek.
I have a riding mate who had a whole series of issues with a Radon and some with a Whyte but no one else who bought them had any problems at all.
I had a Giant Reign 2009 which came from a mate and I owned for the last 4 years; apart from the BB shell being eaten by the cups (which might have been my own fault) it would still be on the go today and it had worked hard all its life.
alot of people dont ride very hard either are you a 'sender' or a 'mincer'?
and surrey hills eats components. especially if you ride regularly there when its wet. i can almost feel my bike disintegrating as i ride there.
luckily i buy very few 'new' components so most of my stuff is already beta tested.
Sand doesn't weld things on wrong though, and i rarely get to the point that things are worn out, brake pads are about it in that regard!
i didn't say i don't ride hard, i just feel that we are now at a point that the issues i have had really shouldn't be happening anymore, the manufacturers of all components have had more than enough time to iron out "known problems"
might I ask are you a BIG guy?
6'2", 13 stone. so reasonably big, but, a lot of this stuff has broken or been damaged [u]before[/u] riding, thats my point. i am not breaking it through riding, it is purely rubbish QC, like the ISCG mounts not welded on properly, twice, forks having no oil in, knackered wheels, twice from the factory etc..
If it was me actually snapping and breaking and wearing out things through crashing etc then i could put up with it, but its not.
I've sent roughly 30% of my stuff back including a frame, a fork, Fox knee pads, Funn seatpost, Azonic jockey wheels, Tenn waterproof shorts and a Mavic wheel with play in the hub from new.
Mainly manufacturing faults/cost reduced design choices and retailers (CRC) taking the piss sending out damaged customer returns.
External Shimano bottom brackets last about a year and fail with a dry seized bearing on the non-drive side. Correctly torqued in 3 different frames.
Most tyres across several brands (except Bontrager thus far) seem to buckle with ease within the first few rides IME. Might be my riding style that's to blame, I'm no Kelly Mcgarry! nor do I run XC tyres or pressures below 22 psi.
On the other hand some of my gear has performed better than expected and has proved to be good quality for the money.
My guess is a lot of stuff now is contract manufactured in the Far East - which probably makes QC much harder to manage than having your own factory, being able to recruit your own employees and run your own processes and procedures etc
I've not had the experience you've had though, and I've bought a lot of different bikes over the years. Exposure did fix or replace by Flash and Flare about 4 times though! On the other hand I have a 10 year old Joystick still going strong
It's the cheap parts that are hidden when you buy a complete bike that get me. I had a bottom bracket that lasted 12 months, replaced with a Hope one, which is still going strong 4 years later.
I bought a Scott Scale last year, a really nice carbon hardtail, but already the rear hub and headset have gone. I have ridden it a lot though!
I'm easily pleased but I love to see real full groupsets and proper headsets- my Voodoo came with 105 everything including cassette and chain, and a real cartridge fsa headset and the like. It makes no economic sense, this, it'll cost the company way more than any benefit they can gain but it's cool.