Fifty Plus (50+) - Lifetime guarantee

When you buy a new bike all the LBS give you lifetime guarantees. They say come in for a tune up. I think it's pretty easy to take slack out of the cables and make a few adjustments that they make. The reason I'm asking this is because the first bike I bought had a lot off chain slip. I played around with it myself and got it fixed. Besides that dropping the bike off and being without it for a day or more. I bought a book ( Bicycle Maintenance & Repair by Todd Downs) and I have most of the tools so I was thinking about doing it myself. I thought it would be good to know if something happened on the road or on vacation.Anyhow do you take your bike back for the 30 day or 100 mile checkup or do your own. Thanks George:rolleyes:

i do my own, i look to the lbs only if i have don't have necessary tool (like when my lock ring fell off the cog set)

BTW...lifetime guarantees?...you still buy green bananas?

I have owned only two new bikes. My father bought me a low-end Bianchi in 1962, and I bought myself a Nishiki Competition in 1971. Everything else has been used and as-is. As long as I own the necessary tools or am willing to buy them, I do all of my own work, and this would apply to any new bike I might buy in the future.

It's a similar situation with cars. Although my 2001 VW Passat wagon came with four coupons for free maintenace, I ended up doing the third service, an oil change and quick visual inspection, myself because it was less hassle than leaving it at the dealership for a half day. I do most maintenance, electrical work, and light mechanical repairs myself, but know when I am in over my head and need to outsource the work.

... BTW...lifetime guarantees?...you still buy green bananas?

My 1971 Nishiki came with a lifetime guarantee on the frame. Twenty years and some 40k mi / 65k km later later, when I showed the cracked bottom bracket shell to a Nishiki dealership, they were willing to credit me $150, my original purchase price, against the purchase of any new bicycle. I doubt one can find a deal like that on an aluminum or carbon fiber frame.

In 94 I bought a Kona Explosif with a lifetime guaranty on the frame. Rest of the bike was covered by the usual 1 year warranty. Never had to take the bike back for any adjustments of breakages in the warranty period and I have not broken the frame. 5 years ago A friend wanted a bike and after looking at what he could afford- He got a Giant Boulder. He is a big bloke- 6'6 and 230lbs. The frame had a 5 year guaranty and that has now expired. First part to fail was the bottom bracket- then the wheels started breaking spokes, then the freehub broke up- in fact 3 of them did, then the crankset wore out and the derailleurs needed replacing- All in 6 months. Through the LBS we had an argument with Giant and they admitted that the bike was not made for Offroad use to the extent it was being used. I pointed out that the reason for buying it was a Rave review in a magazine in that the Frame was rated very highly but the components were a bit dubious, but of the price range tested that month- this was the star buy. Then Giant said that a bike like this was not built for Clydesdales. I pointed out that a 23" frame was not going to be used by a Lightweight. Big bikes are built for big blokes. Giant and the LBS came up trumps and a Decent set of wheels were handed over with a Freebody instead of freehub. The crankset was replaced with something that was substantial enough for powerful legs and the Deraillers were replaced.

Now the only problem is that we have a 5 year old frame on a superb set of components. In fact of the original bike- frame, seat stem and Bar stem are the only original parts left. Everything else has been replaced and that Giant boulder is a superb bike for the rider. Only thing is that the Owner can't wait for thr frame to break so he can get a new bike and start all the arguments with the manufacturer again.

Then again- my daughters boyfriend bought a steel Univega with a lifetime guaranty. Ever had a letter published in a magazine telling people how Univega would not honour their Warranty when it broke after only 6 months? Got not only a new frame- Also got a new bike when the 3rd frame turned up as the wrong model/ size. That new bike got sold for more money than he paid for it and he bought a Kona.

Lifetime Guaranties are bogus in my mind.... They are "lifetime" as long as the company that sold you the item wants it to be lifetime.
Case in point..... in 1999 I purchased a Airborne Carpe Diem with a "lifetime" warranty. The company changed it's name to "Flyte" (By night)..... same people, just changed their name.... and my "Lifetime" Warranty went out the window.
Lifetime warrany? Yeah, yeah, the check is in the mail......

Big bikes are built for big blokes.

I just love this turn of phrase. You can actually hear the English accent.


Giant and the LBS came up trumps

OK, please translate for us North Americans! Thanx.

- L.

When you buy a new bike all the LBS give you lifetime guarantees. They say come in for a tune up. I think it's pretty easy to take slack out of the cables and make a few adjustments that they make. The reason I'm asking this is because the first bike I bought had a lot off chain slip. I played around with it myself and got it fixed. Besides that dropping the bike off and being without it for a day or more. I bought a book ( Bicycle Maintenance & Repair by Todd Downs) and I have most of the tools so I was thinking about doing it myself. I thought it would be good to know if something happened on the road or on vacation.Anyhow do you take your bike back for the 30 day or 100 mile checkup or do your own. Thanks George:rolleyes:

You know you're getting old when merchants start giving you lifetime guarantees on everything...

Giant and the LBS came up trumps
"Trumps" is a cockney term that refers to the ex-wives of Donald Trump. They are so rich, that "Coming Up Trumps" means things are going swimmingly.
:p

Anyhow do you take your bike back for the 30 day or 100 mile checkup or do your own. Thanks George:rolleyes:
I purchased two new bikes in the last year (making up for lost time). I took my Rockhopper back to the LBS where I purchased it because it had a chain suck problem. The LBS tuned it up. When I went to the trail, not only did it still have the chain suck problem, now it would not shift to the third chainwheel. I took out my Topeak multi tool and fixed the darn bike. The same LBS told me the front deraileur (on a less than 1 year old bike) needs to be replaced, but for some reason, the warrenty never entered the conversation.
My second bike, an 05 Specialized FSR XC Comp, purchased at another LBS, has not gone back. I doubt that I will have any trouble with this LBS as I have used them for other mechanical work with great satisfaction. As soon as I have more miles on it, back it goes.

So to answer your question about should you take your bike back for a free tune up, how much do you trust your LBS to do a good job? If they are outstanding like my LBS #2, take the bike back for all the free work you can. If they can't perform a simple tune-up like LBS #1, do it yourself and conserve on swear words (yeah I used a few beauties when that &*%# chain came off on the trail).

I

OK, please translate for us North Americans! Thanx.

- L.

My LBS went back to Giant and between the pair of them they sorted the problems. But they both put the extra effort in to make certain the customer got suitable replacements that were better than the originals.

Trumps derives from Card Playing where trumps cannot be bettered- It can but it has to be good luck and exceptional.

I take my new bikes back to the shop for tune ups. It gives me a chance to assess the quality of the shop's mechanics. If the shop does good work, I'll use them again. If not, I know I need to find another shop or do the work myself.

Normally, I only take work to the shop that requires special tools that I don't have (headset race setter, wheel dish tool, truing stand, head-tube facer, etc.). "Normal" maintenance, I do myself since I have a bike stand and a set of tools.

Sometimes, I get lazy and let the shop do work that I could do. I always get a low price and premium service from the shop because I do as much business there as possible (even at slightly higher cost), and because I bribe the shop personnel periodically with edible tips. I'm taking them a watermelon some time this week for setting up my recumbent for me. By the way, the shop assembled the bike, changed forks, changed cables twice (their housings & cables), changed stems, cleaned and adjusted all parts, did a "fitting," gave me a pair of their tubes, and changed a solid-axle rear hub to a QR for me all for a princely sum of $60.

As long as I own the necessary tools or am willing to buy them, I do all of my own work, and this would apply to any new bike I might buy in the future.

Would you ever consider a new purchase? Come on man! Be strong! Keep the faith!