General Cycling Discussion - tragedy-74 Motobecane trashed by Fed-Ex-pics

I'am just sick over this. Not so much the money I paid as the seller is a fantastic guy who has already agreed to issue me a refund but the fact this bike made it through its almost 30years of existance only to be destroyed by some clod driver with Fed-EX! Its sickening that they would exhibit this lack of care for a parcel. The box was ripped almost in half in transit and the fork destroyed. Looks like they dropped something on it-something heavy to do this kind of damage. Caution: this is ugly and IMO a true tragedy to loose a bike that cannot be replaced easily.

Heres what it looked like before Fed-Ex got their hands on it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3620889048&category=7298

Here's some pics of the damage.

http://www.mindspring.com/~ls1417/mb1.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~ls1417/mb2.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~ls1417/mb3.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~ls1417/mb4.jpg

http://www.mindspring.com/~ls1417/mb5.jpg

sorry to see that :(
was it fed ex ground? ive had terrible experience with fed ex ground, and only good experience with the regular fedex. actually ive never had a good experience with fedex ground, there has been one problem or another with anything that was ever shipped to me by them. i avoid them when ever possible now.

Gah. Damaged french threaded forks. A nightmare. Been down this road. Is the rest of the frame okay? Pictures just showed the fork damage... You can replace with English forks, have to put in a new headset/stem/bars as well... but it rots to see a classic like this disabled so.

such ashame.... I own a motobecane (probably of almost the same year) super mirage, so I know the pics don't do justice for the beauty of the frame.

anyhow, I thought fedex insures all their ground packages? shouldn't they pay for the frame they damaged!? :confused:

This seems to be an all-too common occurance here in the northeast. FedEx in this part of the country is the old Roadway Package Service (RPS), a company that had very poor handling of freight as it's major claim to fame. They were failing just as FedEx bought them (as well as American Freightways, and a few others..).

FWIW, the person who shipped it to you was remiss if he didn't put a spacer between the forks and the dropouts.

The packing was bad. Something had to be put between in the fork to hold it rigid.

The packing is to blame. The well packed cargo should be strong like the football. Give me some scotch, hard foam, and wrap film, and you can throw the packed bike on Mars for landing.

While I agree that the packing was probably lacking,
Fed-up, I mean Fed-ex is clearly to blame, I don't think that
normal fork spacers, or foam would have prevented the
damage that is evident here.
In addition to a claim against Fedups, I would seek the
advice of a good frame builder, and see if they can
repair it (if you don't want to replace the entire fork.
I'd suggest someone like Brian Baylis, Cycleart (although
they do more restorations, not sure about repairs) or the
like. (both are on left coast, there are right coast builders,
not sure who does repair tho).
If you want e-mail addy for Brian send me PM. I will
let him know I gave you his address. Cycleart can be
found on the web.
Just thought of this, check with Cycles De Oro in Greensboro
North Carolina, Dale does frame repair also.
they are at: CDO (http://www.cyclesdeoro.com/)

Good Luck,
Marty

The packing on this was not the reason for this damage. I bought 2 bikes from the seller/shipper and they were shipped the same day. I got the first one last week. This one was lost in the Fed-Ex system for about 7-10days. We had a trace filed on it prior to it showing up yesterday and it was located on a truck in Texas. If the first bike was indicative of the level of care in packing that this one also received then packing was adequate. The forks were supported with a spacer but the abuse this bike received in transit ws too much for anything but a steel box. They just picked it up for the insurance claim and return trip to the seller. May she rest in peace.

We used to ship computer mainframes all over the world.

The old guys had a term called "Russia Packing" if you wanted it to arrive in one peice then you packed it in foam, carboard and then wood. You could then drop the mainframes down a flight of staires with very little damage.

The also used to put 'shockwatch' stickers on the packaging. They had a small vial of red liquid which was easily broken. If the shockwatch was broken at the other end then the recipient would put done on the reciept, as 'arrived damaged' which would really piss off the delivey guys, to such an extend at least two shippers dropped our buisness as they were not prepared to take packages with shockwatch stickers on them.

I need some of those shockwatch stickers!

Damn, and I do mean damn, that sucks.

I watched that auction and was a tad envious of you when you scored it. At least it seemed to be going to a good home. Now b/c of some jackass(es) at FedEx it's probably headed for that big LBS in the sky though if it's only the fork a chrome replacement fork will get it back on the road. Won't be quite the same.

CyclArt can handle the repair, and I can vouch for their integrity and attention to detail. Forward your pictures to Jim and solicit his advice and estimate.

Disclosure: I belong to the CyclArt-sponsored Vintage Bicycle Association, and I had CyclArt paint my Capo early this summer. (See "show us your vintage ride" thread, p. 5 and 6.)

Originally posted by Brains
We used to ship computer mainframes all over the world.

The old guys had a term called "Russia Packing" if you wanted it to arrive in one peice then you packed it in foam, carboard and then wood. You could then drop the mainframes down a flight of staires with very little damage.


Exactly. The well packed box can be opened either by the elaborate unpacking procedure with the usage of the tools, or with the ax pounding.

Anything else is asking for trouble for yourself and the carrier.

Bummer

A little OT, but I think interesting

A cousin who works at Lockhead did a test where they shipped accelerometers that kept a record of the data. I forget which company was best, but they found that there was no difference in the treatment of regular packages and those marked fragile. However, those shipped by regular methods but with lots of insurance were very well treated.

Originally posted by iamlucky13
Bummer

A little OT, but I think interesting

A cousin who works at Lockhead did a test where they shipped accelerometers that kept a record of the data. I forget which company was best, but they found that there was no difference in the treatment of regular packages and those marked fragile. However, those shipped by regular methods but with lots of insurance were very well treated.

In reallity the packages are on-/offloaded by the shmos, who do not care one way or another.

Such fine details as the cargo's insurance are known to the salesman and the supervisor.

My point - the packing is the key.

I have had asimilar (but not as bad) experience with UPS. I got a bike from a reputable seller on ebay, and when the NEW bike arrived, the frame was warped. Bike shop thought it was a factory problem, but the box was thrashed when it got to me. Cost me an additional $70 to get up and running. Sorry to see what happened to that beauty...