What to do if a bike shop has cut your fork steerer too short?!

Hey CaptJon.

That got me thinking – but, no – tis a 30mm deep crown.

I cut down my steerer only with a hacksaw and an old stem, no other tools. It came out better than from manufacturers (rockshox).

If the shop didn’t write down exactly what you requested they don’t really have a leg to stand on. Did you get the Saturday staff? Keep calm and be assertive and it should be sorted to your satisfaction. Hope it’s not ruined tomorrows ride.

Ask them to get the steerers replaced by DT.

If that doesn’t work, put everything in a writing and ask for a formal response. Once you’ve got this you can open a small claims court. It’ll be your word against theres, but if you can prove that its very unlikely you’d say 200mm (e.g. take the details of your frame, showing 200mm would mean the forks wouldn’t fit) then you should win.

Tell them this is what you’ll do if you can’t get anywhere by being nice, and they should sort it before it gets this far hopefully!

Oh dear … very tricky this … as per CaptJon “

Did you say 220mm from the very bottom of the steerer (i.e. the bottom of the crown) or 220mm of exposed steerer?

Or even from the top of new steerer?

I just used this cheapo £4 pipe cutter for the job and it cut perfectly.

😥

I don’t think putting a new steerer on is cost efficient. Surely they could just swap them on to some shop bikes or something.

Worst case they could ebay them 200mm isn’t that bad and they’d probably get back cost?

Just go back, be polite, explain what’s happened, and stick to your guns. do not back down. threaten them with legal action, if necessary. But remain calm, at all times.

And if they won’t sort it, threaten them with me…

If you’re not too far off route, the IWH cash refund/shoe weeing posse could call in and sort it for you on their return. 😆

Yeah, wot RudeBoy said
This is pretty terrible actually, please let us knowhow you get along with sorting thisout. I must admit I’d like to be a fly on the wall when you go in there……. I can see the colour draining out of the manager’s face from here…..
🙁

are stiff open today…?

I use a pipe cutter as well. £5 and no other tools needed.

Surely they must complete a job sheet, so they have a record of what is to be done. If one person deals with the customer and another actually does the work how do they pass this info on correctly, ask to see the job sheet.

TELL him you want both steerers replaced within a month and give them deadlines, blag you have a holiday coming up.

The oldest irate/impatient bike shop customer excuse going! Usually not believed either…

That is absolutely staggering. I feel for you. Personally I don’t much like cutting steerers myself, I always get paranoid I’m going to screw it up or end up with a ragged cut and an hours filing to do. So I’ll happily get a shop to do it if I’ve planned my build properly.

Hope you get it sorted.

it’s awful that your forks might e wasted, even worse that you’ve nothing to prove what you asked for, are you sure you haven’t got what you asked for?

if you know what you requested and this isn’t it then ask for them to replace the steerers/stanchion crown assembly. The DT’s are press fit.

Surely no one would consider measuring the steerer from the bottom of the crown?

Did they have them in stock? Surely at worst they’ll have to sell them at trade price, like Merlin did a few weeks back with some 185 mm steerer forks they ordered

I cut a steerer down too short myself once, only 10mm but it meant I had to go round Leisure Lakes in Preston measuring all the different stems on the bikes till I found one that had a short enough clamp. That got me 5mm a new headset got me another 5 mm and it all just fitted.

The last set of forks I fitted I deliberately cut steerer 10mm too long I dont mind having a 10mm spacer on top of the stem also makes the forks easier to sell on.

Exactly what “myheadsashed” said. Any shop worth it’s salt will write out a jobcard or book the job in on the computer system. Did you see the member of staff do this? Of course, there’s always the possibility that it was written down or entered incorrectly, which would explain BOTH being cut to 200mm. Hard to make a mistake twice.
You should also consider the possibility that you said “200” by mistake. Everyone makes mistakes!
For what it’s worth, the one time i made a similar error, i replaced the steerer tube at my own expense. My cock up – my ass!

Daffy, STIF??????????????

My cock up – my ass!

Unfortunate word choices there! 😛

Poor daffy, what a nightmare. Mental note – in future write down your request and zip-tie it to the items in question.

Or, as has been said a few times, buy a hacksaw and a small file and save yourself the cash and effort. You dont even need a vice unless you have a weakling left arm and no ability to follow a line 😀

Sorry to hijack, but what pipe cutters are folk recommending for steel steerers then? Plumber mate reckons his copper pipe cutter won’t look at steel steerers…

I’ve used the cheapest cutters Wickes sell without a problem. I’ve cut about half a dozen pairs of forks with them, you just need a wee bit of patience.

Pipe cutters do flare the steerer ever so slightly – never been an issue for me but something to be aware of.

“what pipe cutters are folk recommending for steel steerers then?“

a hacksaw and a cutting-guide

Depending on my relationship with that LBS, I’d either be speaking reasonably to them or making it clear I was going to start a Small Claims Actions. Supply of Goods and Services, Sale of Goods, Duty of Care etc etc.

The fact that several rocket scientists contributing to this thread have pointed out that it is actually easy to do it yourself (in true, friendly STW fashion) is no defence for the shop, who should know better than to either fek it up or not double check with you if they had doubts. Long live the culture of litigation I say, if a reasonable conversation / comprimise doesnt get you anywhere.

Good luck

Stu (Lawyers4U)

ps – I would have used a permanent marker too!

Ton – not going to say until I’ve spoken to the bike shop in question tomorrow.

I definitely said 220mm as I also reitterated stating to take 40mm off the top. I also phoned in advance and asked them if they could do it on the day and the chap asked me if I knew how much I wanted off, I replied 40-50mm off both pairs.

There was no job sheet or anything….the chap took them off me and told me to have a look around while I waited….

chewkw-copied you with a Wickes pipe cleaner.

Took a few mins and then filed down straight and smooth-bingo.

Feel gutted for Daffy. Hopefully the shop will help.

If not how much on classifieds?

The fact that several rocket scientists contributing to this thread have pointed out that it is actually easy to do it yourself (in true, friendly STW fashion) is no defence for the shop,

I’m fairly sure none of the rocket scientists were suggesting it was a defence for the shop. Some even offered methods of how to do it next time, in a friendly manner. However none can help with the problem of what to do next as the only thing you CAN realistically do is complain to the shop, which is common sense?

Thanks for all the advice guys. I went in with a calm demeanor and ….. well, they’d already heard about it via this thread.

Anyway, long story short (no pun intended) the bike shop has graciously agreed to replace the forks and absorb mine into stock.

If they’re reading this, You have my thanks and loyal custom forever….though I will explain myself in more explicit terms next time I’m getting work done. 🙂

Glad it all turned out for the best – and another lesson (were it needed) on the virtues of remaining calm, on and offline. Hereendeththelesson.

Glad to hear you got it sorted in the end.

You know what to do next time though. 😉

RESULT! Pleased you got it sorted with the minimum of fuss.

Now which shop so i can bag myself a bargain pair of forks? 😀

Good to hear that and Daffy, FWIW, I’d post the shops name (unless they asked you not to) – for me, this would make me more willing to shop there, not less – everyone makes mistakes, it’s how they’re dealt with that’s important.

Ah the advantages of posting a thread on STW. Glad you got it sorted.
However somebody didn’t get as lucky when they posted a thread about specialized warranty, rung up the next day to blag they were the original owners and the guy said he’d already read the post on the forum and wasn’t going to replace it!
Does ever bike shop/manufacture have people scanning these sites?

If they’ve got any sense, they do 🙂

what does ‘absorb into stock’ mean?

take the hit (eg absorb) in extra stock for now until they can sell them (200mm steerer will be long enough for plenty of people)

They’re going to use them in a stew. 🙂

They’re going to use them in a stew.

😆

Hate to be unsympathetic – I really do sympathise, and not that you deserve to be taught a lesson, but hopefully the one lesson it will teach you is to do jobs yourself wherever possible.
I know cutting a steerer down isn’t the MOST simple of jobs, but it is doable. My LBS has got a 4 week waiting list for repairs, and what angers me is that most of that will be people who simply can’t be bothered to learn how to set up their gears correctly.

The only time i’ve let a bike shop cut the steerer of some forks down was when one of the sales guys offered to do them there and then when I was buying them, and it was before I’d paid for them…