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[Closed] Who's to blame? Bike user or bike Mechanic?

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Pffft, QRs are for gert big poofers anyway.


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 10:41 pm
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Leave Al alone or your all banned. 😡


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 10:49 pm
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Bollocks, wrong forum...


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 10:50 pm
 igm
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Someone who knows how to check their kit probably wouldn't have had to take it to a bike shop in the first place.

If I'd been on the back of that mechanical I'd blame myself, but then I build my own bikes up.
If I didn't know how to fix a puncture/swap a QR out (not sure what it was in for) then I would be relying on the LBS.

Ultimately they have to get it right because they can't assume I know what I'm doing.

Think I'm roughly agreeing with Tandem Jeremy.


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 10:51 pm
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ziggy - Member

"However I trust no other mechanic so always would check it myself."

Why not?

Too many bad experiences with bike shop mechanics. From wheels built with too loose spokes to hubs rebuilt with missing spacers and 1/2 inch of play to wheels with the lacing of the spokes wrong to being told a special tool is needed to fit a SFN etc etc.

Having said that I cannot build wheels ( apart from a basic rims swap) but if and when I have a wheel built I stress releive it and check tension myself before using it.


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 10:57 pm
 Nick
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Obviously it's the bike mechanic's fault, any fool can see that.

Not sure what difference it makes though, might make the rider feel a bit better but I'm guessing the shop/mechanic is unlikely to fess up to something they don't have to even if they secretly conceed they might be at fault.

The only answer is to never trust the mechanic again, find another shop.


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 11:02 pm
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Pffft, QRs are for gert big poofers anyway.

hmmm, I take it from the user name you were a bauhaus fan? which means that you are by default a side buckled pixie boot wearing old goth who minces across a sea of dry ice whilst reading the collective works of HP Lovecraft.

You sir are in no position to accuse anyone of being slightly light in their loafers! 😀


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 11:03 pm
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tazzymtb - Member

Pffft, QRs are for gert big poofers anyway.

hmmm, I take it from the user name you were a bauhaus fan? which means that you are by default a side buckled pixie boot wearing old goth who minces across a sea of dry ice whilst reading the collective works of HP Lovecraft.

You sir are in no position to accuse anyone of being slightly light in their loafers!

You're obviously right about being into Bauhaus, but the default position is slightly awry. I'm actually 6'2" and built like a brick shit-house, was often seen bare-torso'd, wearing a pair of Walkley's clogs and was usually at the base of a human pyramid in the pit of New Model Army gigs. I also prefer Tolkien.

And, being rather heavy in my 5:10s, I advocate the durability and fat-bastard-proofness of bolt-through. 😆


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 11:28 pm
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often seen bare-torso'd, wearing a pair of Walkley's clogs and was usually at the base of a human pyramid in the pit of New Model Army gigs

I've probably stepped on your head at some point in the early 90's then with a big pair of cloggies as well 😀


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 11:31 pm
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Should always check your bike before you ride it, QR are the most obvious things to check to make sure your wheels stay on !!!!


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 11:39 pm
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tazzymtb - Member

I've probably stepped on your head at some point in the early 90's then with a big pair of cloggies as well 😀

Hmmm *thinks back* unlikely. I was in my pomp in the mid to late 80's. I stopped bothering after the Impurity tour, when my eldest was born. Mind you, if it wasn't you, some other clumsy ****er usually managed it!! 😀


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 11:41 pm
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OP states

A riders rear wheel was replaced by the bike mechanic but not properly in the drop outs even though it tight.

That suggests that it was the wheel not just the QR that was replaced, ie, cassette, tyre, tube etc, so the mechanic should have checked gears and brakes work correctly after replacing parts. Surely end of discussion! Mechanics fault for not installing correctly and checking everything is working correctly, but also user should have checked before doing '50 mile epic'


 
Posted : 29/03/2010 11:46 pm
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i wouldnt even no where to start to check my bike, i get on it and if its all feels ok i carry on...

so if i walk into a bike shop and ask them to bleed my brakes and i then drive down the big hill out side it and brake then smash into a car. thats my fault for not checking if they had air in them?? because i need to check them in the shop after?? 😉

as i posted before... BIKE SHOP MAN YOU SUCK!!!


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 6:45 am
 hora
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Definitely rider.

Unless.

You rode it straight out of the shop and up the hill. Then its the mechanic.

Factors such as transporting the bike/in a car etc etc etc mean you should always visual/readjust after a journey somewhere IMO.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 7:46 am
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Lol

shop clearly at fault.

Hark at thee "I can fit my own qr, what a hero" idiots.

FFS

It has to be said I'm with Al on this one. Not everyone is mechanically minded. Some just like riding bikes and have no skill or intertest in fixing them, which is fine, and how mechanics make money for shops. To scorn someone for little or no mechanical knowedge is, at least, very narrow minded
As to the fault itself, I know that if I've put a wheel back in up on the stand, the very next thing to do is drop it to the floor and reset the QR. That really is schoolboy error on the mechanics part, no doubt about it.

Me? Well, it's fixed now, so I'd go back to the original shop and complain about it in a sensible manner. If they're any good, they'll apologise at least, and maybe you'll use them again. If they come out with a line of excuses, well, that's their loss, there's plenty more LBSs around....


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 7:47 am
 juan
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not read most of the comment but a couple of things.
Do we assume here that the bike has not been "bump" put in the back of the car, got in and out a shade between the moment it left the LBS and the ride. I only says that because that's an easy way to move the wheel from the QR. Second what troubles me is that a badly placed wheel in a QR would have lead to brake rubbing, ghost shifting. Third are we sure of the way event have occured (bad fitted wheel that invovled the chain to pop over the cassete)? Could it be that the screw that fixes the upper limit of the dérailleur (see that is the correct spelling of it btw) may have got loose during the ride due to the vibrations (happened to me) thus leading to the chain going over tha cassette twisting the wheel at the same time.
There is a lot of things that bothers me here. So even if the LBS mecanics did not fit the wheel correctly, the user should have noticed something in the first couple of wheel spin. So I would say 50/50 as if it was the lbs error just a look at the rear wheel would have told you that something was wrong (wheel not align with the seat tube).
OR tis is a very good troll


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 7:59 am
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A little old lady rides out of the shop on her hybrid, having had a puncture fixed. Mechanics refitted the rear wheel, but it's not done up correctly. Whose fault is it?

Just because the op has posted this on a specialist forum, where we assume he should/would have the knowledge to check over the bike before riding it doesn't absolve the mechanic of responsibility.
I'm with tj here- it's the mechanics responsibility, but it is sensible to check the bike before riding.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 8:00 am
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Some QR's can never be made tight enough to work, they are just cheap crap. Also some drop outs are at such an angle that is makes the problem worse. I worked in a shop once that had this problem with a whole model of bike. If you put any power down at all the wheel would twist out the drop out resulting in the same problem. I also have this problem with an old Cinelli road bike i own, i've gone over the bars twice going up hill on it, and it's done it about 6 times, even changing the QR didn't help and getting it proper tight.

Just throwing this into the mix, but from experience it is something that can and does happen, no matter what common procedure is run on assembly.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 9:49 am
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As Juan says: is everyone 100% absolutely certain that the q/r or wheel weren't moved while the bike was being taken to the start of the ride (eg was it in the back of a car under three other bikes)?

only the OP knows.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 9:55 am
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Mechanics fault. Especially as you say the replacement was a warranty repair.

I agree that people should "check" their bike before riding, but you can't check every nut, bolt and fastener - you'll just do a few high level safety checks. A wheel clamped into the dropouts would appear firmly attached if you just perform a cursory check.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 10:03 am
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I'll bet the rider tried out the new QR before going for the ride.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 10:15 am
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Rider. Always check youre bike before you ride.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 10:17 am
 wl
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Shop's fault, without a doubt. A paying customer has a right to expect his bike to be returned in a safe and rideable condition, surely. Different if he'd has his bars tweaked and the wheel had failed, but the shop fitted the part that failed inadequately.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 10:22 am
 juan
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Paodwan I agree, but just a LOOK would show the wheel is badly aligned.
So as much as it MIGHT have been mecanics error on the first place, the user is as much to blame.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 10:30 am
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The mechanic is responsible for the the bike leaving the shop in good working order.

The rider is responsible for checking over their bike to ensure that it is in good working order before setting off on a 50 mile ride.

If the bike rider is not 'mechanically minded' as someone posted earlier, what would they do if they had a puncture half way round the ride?


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 11:03 am
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:::sifts through thread,chortles and moves on:::


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 11:48 am
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Anyone I know that's not a 'biker' and buys a bike with Q/R I always ask if they know how to use it, Q/R that is. Most treat it like a big single sided wing nut.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 12:08 pm
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No consensus here, but I bet the rider will check on the next ride


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 12:17 pm
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How about having a chat with the LBS, trying to get the broken spokes fixed for free and walking away with lesson learnt from both sides?


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 12:56 pm
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I don't think he will go back... 😛

Thing is, it never showed any probs till he was going uphill and the wheel was not completely in- 3-5mm off?

He did drive home using his cycle carrier and then cycled to my house and off we went to meet the rest but swears he never touched it.

I've checked it over for him before we set off and all seems ok and LBS sorted the spokes pretty quick.

I'm popping round to check it for him but doubt he will moan to bikeshop and moan about me if something goes wrong.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 3:58 pm
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It's a bit of both, but mainly the user. Firstly the shop has provided a service that does not meet basic expectations, however the user should also check their equipment prior to use.

Simple way of looking at it is:

'A person has new tyres fitted to their car, the tyre fitters explain that the correct pressures are in said tyres and the nuts have been done up, but that also the user should check the nuts after say 50 miles and also check tyre pressures weekly'.

Driver is involved in RTC where they skid into the back of another vehicle, the police will check the tyre pressures as part of their investigation, if found to be outside of acceptable limits - the drive can be found negligent and charged with "driving without due car and attention"

The tyre fitter has nothing to do with it.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 4:35 pm
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In your example you don't say what time has elapsed between the repair and the accident.

If the driver pulled out of the garage and collided with someone at the next junction because the work had not been completed properly and was the cause. Then the insurance claim for repair would be against the garage. Although the driver may well also face a charge of driving an unroadworthy vehicle.

If the collision happened three weeks / 500-miles later then the garage wouldn't have any liability.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 6:15 pm
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I should've included "At a later date the driver is.........."


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 6:25 pm
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Sanity / Tazzy: I saw Ed Allen Johnson (sp?) busking in York last weekend. Gave him a quid for Vagabonds 🙂


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 6:41 pm
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I think in this case even a well-meaning mechanic is going to be reluctant to fess up to a mistake because of the length of time/opportunities for it to have come loose since it left his hands. But if this happened while pedalling away from the shop then it'd be a no brainer.


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 7:12 pm
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Did the chain go down the back of the cassette I.e between it and the spokes?


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 7:19 pm
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Sanity / Tazzy: I saw Ed Allen Johnson (sp?) busking in York last weekend. Gave him a quid for Vagabonds

**** me is he still busking? last time I saw him was some awful promotion for stuff he was doing with his wife/partner which was really rather poor, nice violin screechy nasal voice 😕


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 8:03 pm
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I wouldn't mind betting that if you asked on here how a QR should be correctly used then you'd get several differing opinions on how exactly they should be done up. So, if the collective experts of STW cannot agree on correct usage of QRs then it is reasonable for a 'newbie' or mechanically inept person to not know.
Mechanic at error IMO (but, a professional (ie paid) guide would make checking the bikes over part of the procedure before a group ride which would have picked up the problem before the ride started).


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 8:07 pm
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i had a hope front disc installed by a lbs, i could not order a left hand pull one from hope myself. it had to be through a lbs in wgc.

rode the bike home, brake rub; caliper was not tightened at all, finger tight. said bike had a £125 front wheel, £200 pace rigids, lu cky it did not foul up.

said wgc lbs also installed pace forks with a hope headset. i had ordered the forks from pace as factory seconds(cosmetic marks to crown). all delivered in box mint. forks came back with peg for stopping wheel drop out broken off and a rushed payment........

same lbs has lost its dealership for special...... bikes so i hear.

and you wonder why the internet bike shops are doing so well...............


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 9:19 pm
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come again?


 
Posted : 30/03/2010 9:47 pm
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Ironically for the first time ever I had a rear q/r come loose last night, thought it was bearing. Never since I started riding in Black and White has that ever happened.


 
Posted : 31/03/2010 11:03 am
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my point is that supposedley good bike shops are failing in service to quite an alarming degree


 
Posted : 31/03/2010 11:34 am
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@Hamish - thats why I was organising as I can fix most things that go bang and get the beginners home at least.

As psling said +1

It is a [b][i]must[/i][/b] before every ride to check all q/r's, bars/headset and brakes. Common sense really.


 
Posted : 31/03/2010 12:01 pm
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