Stanchion wear from cable

I’d have routed the cable around the other side of the headtube (and cut shorter).

Most bikes I build get zip tie cable guides – zip tie round bottom of headtube with a small zipetie through it at 90 degrees round the cable loose enough to slide through. Cheap and effective but not as reliable with internal headset cups.

Like others said crap by shop but. You should have noticed.

Most bikes I build get zip tie cable guides – zip tie round bottom of headtube with a small zipetie through it at 90 degrees round the cable loose enough to slide through. Cheap and effective but not as reliable with internal headset cups.

I always do this too. It keeps the cables away from both the fork crown (and stanchion I suppose!) and stops them from rubbing on the side of the headtube.

In fact, frames really ought to have proper welded-on cable guides there, it’d eliminate a lot of issues.

No need for zip ties when cable length and routing is correct. Can’t see anywhere from the op stating a lbs built it? If so they should be ashamed of themselves for that cable routing but not as ashamed as the op for riding it like that for so long.

I’d raise that with the shop, whilst it is easy for us to sit here and say you should have noticed that, if you were a novice biker you wouldn’t know that could happen. Really sloppy work from the shop, if they don’t at least acknowledge that they messed up then you should name them on here I reckon!

I agree with bigjim. Someone new to cycling wouldn’t know that stantions can wear like that. Speak to the shop and see what can be done. If not you should be able yo fill it with something. Even building it up with layers of nail varnish could help.

I’d raise that with the shop, whilst it is easy for us to sit here and say you should have noticed that, if you were a novice biker you wouldn’t know that could happen

really? Are you assuming novices never clean their bikes? That should have been spotted WAY before it got to that stage- the first time the bike was given a wash some level of scuffing/marking would have been apparent.

Not a chance on warranty claim- the fork isn’t at fault and a condition of the warranty is regular inspection and servicing-and whilst the shop should be embarrassed they could argue something similar.

A bit specious of the OP to suggest he doesn’t check cables/hoses on a car – the cable and stanchion are clearly visible from a distance let alone inspection by a trained eye and is more akin to saying you hadn’t noticed a dented or cracked car body panel for a year.

on the other hand… A novice biker might assume that a newly purchased bike might have been assembled correctly

Have the forks ever been removed to check/replace headset bearings or the like? Looks very much to me as though this is what has happened – bars removed with brakes and shifters in situ and replaced with the cables/hoses twisted or running the wrong side of the head tube. I know, Ive done it myself to save time 😳 – false economy though – it’s like some sort of puzzle getting it all back in the correct orientation.

My first full suspension bike that I bought, about 8 years ago now – the front mech cable outer rubbed about 4mm through the rear shock body.

At the time, I couldn’t for the life of me understand how a cable outer could do that much damage.

The fact of it sitting against the shock wouldn’t have occured to me to have the chance to cause any kind of issue.

Novices are numpties when it comes to anything bike related, and that’s how they should be treated – as if they know nothing.

Cable looks way too long even if routed round the other side of the headtube. Is that the same one bulging out further down as well?

Sadly, I agree with everyone else in terms of getting it sorted by the shop.

**** me, you left it looking like that for 13 months?! Are you a complete idiot or just one of those that needs told absolutly everything?

Cable bulging under the BB will be like that to allow unrestrained movement under compression of the suspension.

Looks like the shifter cable has been cut that length to be routed the other side of the head tube.

Novices are numpties when it comes to anything bike related, and that’s how they should be treated – as if they know nothing.

hmmm… there’s lack of knowledge and then there’s basical mechanical sympathy and more generally valuing something you’ve just spent hard-earned money on and spotting clearly visible damage.

On the other hand it is obvious that I am applying my standards to others. I’ve seen a frame with an even longer, deeper groove in it, and I’ve just serviced a bike a mate had from new which they had done nothing (and I mean nothing) to since they got it; so it had 15psi in the tyres, loose wheel Q/Rs, a loose headset, and braking was provided by heavily worn backing-plates (the actual pad having been used up long ago) 🙄

As others have said, cable is either way too long or routed incorrectly. If it was set up by a shop, it’s not great. I’d be mortified if a bike went out from here like that.

If the shop offered, and you took them up on, a “first free service” then that’s a second chance for it to be spotted and put right before too much damage done.

However – while the shop has some responsibility for this – you are also responsible and again echoing comments above, you really should have spotted this while cleaning/safety checking your bike, and it would certainly have been spotted if the forks had been serviced according to the recommended schedule.

The manufacturer will certainly not be interested. The shop should accept some responsibility, but sadly unless they are willing to go above and beyond in the name of putting right their error, I don’t think you can expect better than them going halves with you on the (substantial) cost of repair.

The forks should absolutely be using that bit of the travel if set up correctly.

It’s also a high-stress area and depending on how deep the groove is then possibly safety-critical. 2mm sounds like quite a significant part of the way through the stanchion. I’d certainly be wanting it checked out (preferably by Mojo or a suspension specialist) before I rode that bike on anything remotely challenging.

Novices are numpties when it comes to anything bike related, and that’s how they should be treated – as if they know nothing.

True – the shop should have set it up correctly and it’s in no way the customer’s fault that they didn’t. You can’t assume that a customer would spot this prior to using the bike and know that it would in the future cause damage.

However, I think it’s reasonable to expect the OP to be checking over the bike before/after each ride (safety-checking if nothing else). At that point, you’d expect damage like this to be noted in time for the shop to put it right before it gets this bad. If someone lacks the ability/knowledge/experience to do this, they should be getting someone to help, or taking their bike in to a shop for regular (every few rides) servicing. Yes, it would cost a fortune, but it’s essential that gear is checked regularly and if you don’t have the skills, or can’t learn, to do this, you must get someone to do it for you.

Now, if OP was taking this in to a shop regularly for servicing, and this still wasn’t picked up on…

too many heroes on this forum

A novice biker might assume that a newly purchased bike might have been assembled correctly

this is true too