I’ll keep this brief for now until I hear back from the shop/manufacturer.

I bought a bike back in April from a shop. New with no discount.
Brilliant service from the shop and they were very helpful.

I bought the bike because it felt great and everything just seemed spot on. The geometry was exactly what I was after BUT the BB height was a big concern as it was a little lower than I was used to. Geo on manufacturer website was 12.1”.

I’ve been riding it and it’s felt great however I was getting lots more pedal strikes in the rocky bits which was starting to become annoying, dangerous, etc, etc.

Measured the BB height. It’s actually 11.75” on the stock build. Add the sag whilst riding and you get a v. low BB height.

Little research online suggests that the manufacturer knows. They’ve now changed geo spec from 12.1” to 11.75” online. I’ve got print screen evidence for both plus online posts, although the shop I bought it from still has the old geo on the website.

I’ve sent an email to the shop/manufacturer. What can I expect? Any specific points I should raise with them? Should they swap the frame for the new model with a taller BB? Should I just MTFU? Am I just being annoying?

What can I expect?

What do you want?

I love the frame, just the BB issue. Ideally I’d ask for a frame swap for the new model but the problem is that the rear has now gone 12×142 so i’d need a new rear wheel.

you could probably change the tyres and add that much to the BB height?

88mm? Will that make the difference?

1/4″ isn’t much. Ride it 🙂

Tyres could be changed- but I love what I’m running now and I have no need to go larger/different.

The BB height is making a difference! Older bikes that sat at 12.4” had a lot less issues on exactly the same stuff.

I might just leave it. Lots of hassle for the poor shop.

mikewsmith – Member
88mm? Will that make the difference?

POSTED 8 MINUTES AGO # REPORT-POST

88mm? Aye, that’d make a huge difference. Closer to 8mm though in this case.

el guapo?

No, its a HT from a ‘big’ company.

Legally? – google Ruxley Electronics and Construction Ltd v Forsyth.

Difference to you? I bought, and then for just one reason re-sold a carbon Scott Genius : the low BB meant just too many pedal strikes for comfort. Fantastic bike did everything I wanted except this one thing.

I think it makes a big difference, but whether the world at large does and you can get a replacement is another matter.

el guapo?

read my mind 🙂

1/3″ ? How about changing your cranks from 175 to 170 or 165?
Or buying flatter pedals?

I should pay for a mistake that I didn’t make?

You bought something that was not as described, in my opinion you should be able to get your money back or an exchange. That sounds like a very low BB height!

I should pay for a mistake that I didn’t make?

My 2p – you would have to prove that it makes a significant difference and why it’s taken you so long to complain?

^^^ I was gonna suggest shorter cranks. I always used to get pedal strikes on my old Stumpjumper FSR.

Replaced the cranks as they were well past it and went for 170mm purely because they were £10 cheaper than 175. Didn’t even think about the pedal strikes….
After fitting, pedal strikes virtually eliminated….

EDIT – there’ll be some kind of clause with the specification that say something along the lines of ‘specification may change without notice’ etc. so I doubt you’ll get anywhere with respect to a new frame. Worth asking the question though, but it has taken you a while to get round to it, given you’ve had the bike since April.

You’d have to prove what conditions the BB height were measured with, and if you looked at a UK-specific informations source. Perhaps they measured with the fork at full height & locked out?
Any way, change your tyres once they’re worn, to something taller.

Suspect this falls under “specification ssubject to change”, etc.

And BB height is dependent on what tyres you have on, what fork, etc. With that, the margin of error in measuring by hand, and the small difference I doubt you have a case here.

The sales of goods act states you have “reasonable time” to inspect the goods for faults or differences from advertised specs.

Reasonable time is up to common sense, and is very open to interpretation.

Reasonable time I would say for a new bike is 2 weeks, maybe 3.
(Or rather, 5 rides at a push.)

The moral dilemma is will the LBS end up taking the hit? They’ve not done anything wrong, but the manufacturer might not allow them to send back the bike for a credit (despite being sold as a different spec.)

However, if something is sold under a different spec shops can send back for a credit – so it’s not totally out of the question.

My first move would be to phone the bike shop and have a *conversation* about it.

Be polite and not pushy, express interests in their situation as well as yours.

Good info here. Thanks!
The last thing I want is for the shop to take the hit.
I was partly curious and partly concerned.
Will just have a chat with them.
Cheers all.

i had this issue when I changed from my old heckler superlight to the new model frame. the new model sits significantly lower and for a couple of months I was conscious of annoying pedal strikes . Now I don’t notice them at all and really enjoy the bike. I belive my pedalling style must have changed to accommodate the difference.

What can I expect?

Probably nothing. There’ll be small print about specification subject to change without notice etc, a difference that small could be as trivial as they designed it with continetal 2.4″ tyres (which are massive) and specified Maxxis 2.35″ (which are barely 2.1″).

Assuming it’s a hardtail (if it’s FS then that’s reallllly low!) then 11.7″ is pretty average.

[edit] why did my post take 30min to appear?

You should expect to be berated for not being much of a rider if you keep getting pedal strikes.

Interesting one. I’d suggest fitting shorter cranks tbh if it’s causing you issues – not ideal and I’d expect the shop to offer you a deal on some cranks (trade+VAT probably) or just swap them themselves.

I had an old Spesh Enduro which was also a bit low on the BB – I played around with the shock and raised it by a fraction which sorted it out – it was quite suprising how a small BB change seemed to completely stop the rock strikes I was experiencing (including trashing a two ride old shoe 👿 ). I’d have probably told you to stop being a princess about it otherwise 🙂

No, its a HT from a ‘big’ company.

Why not just say who the company is?

will a 650b wheel fit?

Only if it’s a GIANT one…

Bigger tyres or shorter cranks will solve your issue. Since you like everyting else about the bike, I’d try teh tyres first. See what the shop can do for you.