Conned – Repairing badly gouged steerer that is too loose for a crown race?

Gotta say, I'm stunned at that this, never seen anything like it!

Read the post this morning and as I scrolled down I thought, mmmm, wrong crown race, broken crown race, someone damaged the steerer removing the race – no, how … then when I got to the picture I nearly fell off my chair.

Hope you get this sorted out and thank god nothing happened to you riding that thing.

In 20 years of repairing bikes I have never seen something so badly done as this steerer tube & I have seen some pretty bad things done to bikes & parts

Accident waiting to happen, lucky you noticed a problem & delved deeper to find the issue

Seller needs to refund, no question.

Jeez – i am wanting to know how/what/why that was done to the steerer?? Beggars belief!

cheers_drive, any chance we can have more photos…. with a suitable measuring device adjacent to give us a sense of scale?

Maybe it'll stop me making dumbass statements (1.5 – 1.125 when i meant otherwise)and people far cleverer than i picking up on it.

Can you post results after you've rang the perp? We need to know….

I've just phoned the seller and he said that he had never taken the forks off and had never noticed any knocking sound in the 14 months he had owned it and he had bought it secondhand off ebay.
He didn't sound overly concerned and I basically said that if bought them like that he was very lucky not to have ended up in hospital and he sold them on knowingly he was an idiot.
Anyway the upshot of it is surprise surprise he not admitting anything 👿

Oh and I did what I should of done before buying and checked Allport's history – 7 post ever, all to sell something. Lesson learnt.

cheers_drive I wouldnt leave it there. Do you have his address/full name etc?

Hes admitted knowing theres a problem by saying 'owned for 14months'. NO one could ride such a shagged steerer without noticing play in 14months.

Ps. Where is he based?

Might be difficult to accept but you don't stand much chance of getting anywhere with the seller. He'll say they were perfect when he sold them, that you've bodged the steerer yourself, that those are a different pair of forks etc, etc. You will find it difficult to prove anything, and it's really just your word against his. Not very encouraging I know, but if he says it's nowt to do with him then I think you're just going to have to accept that you've been ripped off.

Edit:- Hora – how does owning the bike for 14 months amount to an admission that the seller knew there was a problem? Don't follow the reasoning there.

Jenga – I'm a realist

Hora – He's in Rugely near Cannock I have his first name and I think his address is in my sat nav but i'm in Bristol so it would cost me a lot in fuel to talk about this face to face. Before you ask I was passing that way anyway when I bought them.

small claim

I've got some 29er tora raceSL solo air upper assembly crown etc.. if you want them. You can just add them to hopefully not F**ked lowers and at least you'll have a usable fork, albeit a wee bit heavier, than a reba.

drop me an email if that's any use to you.

cheers
taz

I would say that he should refund you if you are not happy with the item like you would on ebay etc. You pay the postage and he get his forks back. I would say that the forks were not as advertised but I guess there's not much you can do about it unless like above you take him to small claims court. Depends on how much you spent on them I guess. 🙁

People seem to be missing the fact that he bought a whole bike, not a pair of forks.

The seller is saying 'I didn't know they were like that' and a month after the sale it's very difficult to prove otherwise isn't it?

Oh, he bloody knew alright. 150 miles or not, if it was me, I'd be knocking on his door.

People seem to be missing the fact that he bought a whole bike, not a pair of forks.

So… I would not have sold those and I know "buyer beware" but it does not excuse the fact that the buyer has told him now they are not in a condition to sell in his/our experience and now he says he won't have them back. Sounds fishy at best. If he was a decent chap he would say sorry I didn't realise and take em back and swallow a the bad purchase himself?

But some people thisnk who cares, sold them , now his/her problems. Thats life I guess…. If you go around there maybe worth taking a mate 🙂

"Sounds fishy at best."

I agree, the problem is there appears to be little recourse other than to appeal to the sellers (apparently missing) sense of honour/morals.

Oh, he bloody knew alright. 150 miles or not, if it was me, I'd be knocking on his door.

Totally agree. Forget being ripped off. The fecker sold something knowing it would cause serious injury when it failed.

The seller is saying 'I didn't know they were like that

Saying he didnt notice is a crock. It would be impossible NOT to notice play. You'd have to seriously torque the top cap bolt soo much that your bars would hardly pivot.

http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-gary-fisher-single-speed-large

there are no faults with the forks

iirc – in a reverse scenario of what's happened here – there was a case on here where sombody sold a frame and was then taken to court when the buyer claimed the BB threads were stripped. By all accounts the buyer had done a cack handed installation but still won the claim.

I think in this case the seller has stated on the advertisement – the specific condition of the forks. The diameter and condition of the the steerer tube is not something you can check easily (caveat emptor).

"If your goods don't match the description given, you may be entitled to compensation."

contact your local citizens advice bureau with records of all correspondences you have had – who may advise you to take the small claims route.

Has AP responded on the forum?

I would go to small claims court anyway.