I bought a new Sunn 4 weeks ago (from CRC), and unfortunately after 2 weeks of light trail centre use, bad things happened.
A linkage bolt worked itself loose, and the protruding edge scraped a 2-3mm deep groove right through the swingarm.
I emailed CRC, and after a week had no response, so I phoned them, and they said send it back to us.
I sent it back, and they have had it for over a week without acknowledgement. I phoned yesterday to check on progress, and they said they had no record of it arriving. Eventually they found it and phoned me back to say they would be putting it through their workshop to check if it can be repaired….

I haven’t heard back from them yet, and feel like I’m being fobbed off.
I also don’t want a ‘repair’, as seeing as it fell apart and destroyed itself after 2 weeks implies to me that it wasn’t fit for purpose and hasn’t lasted a reasonable length of time.
Should I keep pestering them on the phone, or just be patient?

I’m not usually so impatient in other areas of my life, but I have been bikeless for over 2 weeks now and I’m going a bit crazy….

Keep badgering and ask for your money back. “Not fit for purpose” means it had a fault from the start – I’d have thought you could reasonably claim, given the short period of time involved, that it hadn’t been assembled correctly and was therefore faulty when you got it. So stick to that and keep asking until you get your money back.

Remember if you bought it with a credit card you can go to them for the money.

I’d give them a few days in the hope that they’ll come back to you with the right sort of answer. If you don’t get the right answer by the end of the week then badger hard.

“Repair” might well mean them replacing the swingarm – think they’d have looked after you pretty well in that scenario.

I’ve had 2 frames from CRC break and both times I would describe their response as “weak”.

They came through in the end – but the first required some quite assertive negotiation/language to arrive at something approaching a satisfactory conclusion, and the second (replacement rear triangle) took almost 2 months, and even then came back with a bolt missing.

I still use CRC, but recognise their limitations a a “stack ’em high, sell ’em cheap” retailer. For example – I’m not spending over a grand with a company that NEVER answers the phone.

Obviously speaking out of turn and not what you want to hear but since when is a bolt coming loose a warranty issue? I reckon if you get anything out of crc or sunn you are doing well, checking bolts is basic maintenance especially on a new bike and especially mail order, and the damage is a result of that lack of maintenance. Not fit for purpose doesnt even come into it IMHO.

Good luck, I can understand your frustration and anger but offering a different perspective.

You should check your pivot bolts, especially if the bike is fairly new, every now and then. In my head, it sounds like it’s probably you who’s in the wrong for not doing routine maintenance.

IMO If they replace the arm and return it to you, win-win.

I’ve had a few full sussers over the years and never had issues with pivot bolts coming loose, especially in that length of time.
I don’t see how that should be considered routine maintenance, when it was only ridden a couple of times from new.
Do people honestly check all their pivot bolts before, and perhaps during every ride, on the off chance one has become loose?

Because it’s fairly common to check to bolts (all of them) on a new bike after the first few rides.

I don’t do it every ride, but if I was riding a new bike I’d check a couple of times in the first 10 rides then maybe once every few months after that. Otherwise one could come loose and ruin a frame, as yours has. Valuable lesson learnt.

What munro said. Been riding full suss for about 15 yrs and would check ALL the bolts on a new bike at the start, then after a few rides in case anything loosened off. Why lbs offers a free 1month service, a simple once-over with a couple of Allen keys which you forgo and accept responsibility for when you buy mail order.

give the guy a break!
If “checking” a new pivot bolt means nipping it up slightly, then you shouldn’t do that. If it was threadlocked in, then you won’t be able to check the torque without undoing it, cleaning it and re-assembling it with a torque wrench and fresh threadlock.
I’m not sure of the legalities in this case, so I’m not going to speculate, but I’d want at least a new swingarm out of it.

crashtestmonkey – Member
What munro said. Been riding full suss for about 15 yrs and would check ALL the bolts on a new bike at the start, then after a few rides in case anything loosened off. Why lbs offers a free 1month service, a simple once-over with a couple of Allen keys which you forgo and accept responsibility for when you buy mail order.

Would you check every nut and bolt on a new car purchase…..no. Why should the OP have to do this on a new bike?

A new car has a Pre Delivery Inspection which you pay for (typically a couple of hundred quid) If you buy a new bike from an lbs part of the cost is in having the bike built by a professional mechanic. Buying a bike mail order means you get a half built bike in a box. And I would and have given a new mail order bike a once over, checking everything was present and correct, un damaged and correctly installed. I’d expect anyone who buys mail order to do the same.

Not flaming the OP just playing devils advocate and managing his expectations. Sorry if I’ve touched a raw nerve, but your car comparison makes my point not yours, hairy. If my new car arrived at my door half built in a crate then the answer to your question would be yes.

I go into a quiet rage when people compare a car purchase to a bike purchase, it used to happen all the time when ive worked in bike shops, esp Halfords. It’s the worst comparison evah.

But I’m over it now…

To the OP, i think going down the not fit for purpose line is a bit strong, for all the basic maintenance reasons above, but also IME when bikes come in boxes, theyll often come with a bit of paper saying that the bike should be built/at least checked by a qualified cycle mechanic (ie an LBS), who would give all the bolts the once over, as they would when PDIing a bike that wasnt sold in a box.

Also, dont warranties generally only cover manufacturing defects? Not sure this would be classed as one?

Hope you get a decent resolution.

From CRC’s site:

When will my order be dispatched?

• You may have items on your order that are currently not in stock
• Bikes take a little bit longer as we want to ensure they arrive with you in perfect condition, and so will take the time to inspect them before delivery
• Custom wheel builds will not be same day dispatch as we’ll take a little bit of time to build and inspect them
• The availability of one of your order items may have changed from when you purchased – if this is the case we will be in touch by email to help you find an alternative

Looks like you pay for a check when you buy from CRC.

I do check things over myself, but don’t see why I should have to.

OP NO point in making a PITA of yourself yet – wait till they have said they’d respond substantively.

I’d be interested to know what those checks are, as im pretty sure you wouldnt be able to ride a CRC bike the second it arrived at your door. Also checking a bike is in perfect condition isnt a PDI. A new bikes components are (or should be) in perfect/new condition, but that doesnt mean the end user will install/set them up properly. How many pics of BSOs have you seen with the forks on backwards?

Hairy, interesting, crc seem to suggest they do some form of pdi. Given every mail order bike I’ve bought has come in the same packing it left the factory I wonder what they do (or claim to). Would strengthen op claim againdt crc (rather than sunn) but they could invoke lack of maintenance.

Hope it is resolved to op satisfaction and not out to give him a hard time, just offering balance.

I’ve owned 4 full suspension bikes and never checked the pivot bolts on delivery, and never checked them after a few rides, none of my riding buddies would bother either.

I reckon you should just keep badgering them, I reckon a new swinging arm would be the best you can expect though but it will take a few weeks.

if the bike has arrived in the same box it left the factory in, it has not had a suitable PDI, as it is then assumed the customer has the skillset and toolset to safely reassemble the bike from the factory box

I literally cannot fit a bike I have PDI’d into a factory box, I have to do too much disassembly to make it safe to ride without a mechanic at the other end to put it all back together

I have seen some companies (Evans, etc.) who get around this problem by removing the bike from the factory box, assemble and PDI the bike, then put it into an oversized custom bike box, and only turn the bars and remove the pedals – supplying detailed instructions, allen key and pedal spanner

I know of bike shops that have lost their dealership with big brands like Specialized and Trek by selling bikes in the factory box which has not even been opened, and the customer has received this bike, damaged it during assembly and directly complained to the distributor who has then tracked it back to the retailer

regarding suspension bikes, I have pulled up my mechanics in the past when they have made the fatal assumption that a suspension bike has come from the factory with correct torque settings on all the hardware (and even assumed loctite has been used!!)

I have then checked the torque settings and found them way off (usually under-tightened, sometimes over-tightened) and also taken hardware apart finding NO loctite has been used during factory assembly.

I have managed to contain myself and not be a ‘PITA’ yet.
When you buy a bike from CRC, they come with a pre-ticked check list, in a larger than usual CRC bike box, even with wheels attached.
Besides straightening the bars and fitting pedals, they are supposed to be ready to go.
I’ll just wait longer- I wasn’t intending to start a CRC rant…

@beefheart

that sounds more promising, but it does not mean that the mechanic at CRC has actually checked the pivot hardware of your suspension bike during his PDI

one of my ongoing jobs as a workshop manager is to scrutineer my mechanics’ work, and its amazing what I can find despite the PDI “checklist” being fully ticked (which manifests as a “box ticking” exercise rather than attention being paid to the ‘question’ being asked by each box)

If it did come down to it – and I don’t think it will – they could only realistically expect any owner to follow any service/check intervals listed in the handbook