Need help for rear hub (LBS not helping!)
 

I've been going through a bit of a nightmare for the past week with my not-quite 2 month old bike. I bought it new a the Scheels All Sports store. For a month, I would here a clicking sound in the front chainring area while I pedaled. I thought it would work itself out, but it didn't, so I took it in to the store since it's still under warranty. The looked at it and right away determined it was a faulty bottom bracket. I was happy that it was diagnosed so quickly! They put a new one in and I took the bike home, only to discover that it didn't help at all. The second trip to the store, they decided I also had a bad chain, and this time they tried blaming me for riding in "extremely high and low gears", which I told them I don't do. They replaced the chain, and I went to the BS the next day and picked up the bike. That's when I noticed that the rear wheel was very loose and could be moved side to side quite a bit. I brought it back to them for a third time and told them about it. The mechanic became defensive right away and said "Well, WE certainly didn't do this!", and told me he'd have to take the whole thing apart again and that I'd have to walk around the store for a half hour while he fixed it. When I came back, the bike was sitting in front of the counter and the guy didn't say a word to me when I came and picked it up. Now, after I got it home again, I noticed that when the rear wheel is spun around by hand and allowed to spin without the bike touching the ground, it doesn't spin for very long. It comes to a stop all by itself in a very short time. At first, I noticed the rim scaping the brake pad on one side, which I remedied, but it now seems that something is wrong with the hub, like something is too tight in there, and is causing friction which doesn't allow the wheel to spin without resistance. There is also a slight grinding noise there to indicate this.

At this point, I'm afraid to ride the bike as I feel it may not be safe. I also have no confidence in the bike shop people I've been dealing with. They have been becoming very openly impatient with me when I go there and tell them my bike is still not repaired, or that something they did is causing a different problem.I don't want to ride the bike and wear out a part in the hub if there is heat from friction building up. I think a rear hub would be an expensive repair.

Would it be easy enough for someone like me with no real bike technician experience to loosen whatever is in the hub that was made too tight, or should that be left to someone with the training to do it. I REALLY don't want to deal with these people again and am afraid they will do some more damage to the bike as they already have done everytime I try to get something fixed.

OR should I just walk back in there and demand a refund???

1) "Demanding" rarely works

2) Is there another bike shop -- preferably a "true" bike shop nearby?

3) I'd speak, calmly and professionally, to the manager of the Scheel's store, explaining the problem and asking for his advice. If it were me, I'd be looking for one of two remedies:

a) Refund (may or may not get it)
b) Ability to take the bike to a "real" bike shop, have it repaired, and have the money paid by the Scheel's store.

If I were you, I wouldn't try the fix myself. First, it's a new bike (warranty). Second, you'll definitely screw yourself out of a potential refund as soon as they can blame your work for any problems. Third, if you don't know hubs ... I wouldn't mess.

Identify other LBS with good reputation.
Talk to Scheel's store manager.

Good luck!

Thank you for your recommendation! I probably will talk to the manager. The idea of them paying for a different BS to fix it is one I hadn't thought of. That would get the bike fixed without me having to deal with the Scheels mechanics again. I actually fear open hostility from them if I were to go there for the 4th time (and that would be the 4th time in a 1 week period, no less).

The mechanic adjusted your rear bearing cones and apparently set them a bit too tight. you should take the bike back again, point this out and have the mechanic look at it again. If you get any grief from the store personnel, ask to speak to the store manager and tell him about the problem. No store manager wants customers to fear coming into the store. You have the right to warranty service and for that service to be performed properly and without reservation. There is no reason for you to consider paying another bike shop to service this bike. Personally I would seriously consider returning the bike for a full refund and shop elsewhere.

I agree. The mechanic should fear open hostility from you, not the other way around.

I certainly agree with you guys. But I've been there 3 times to correct a problem that they never corrected, and now they've created more problems for me each time, and they're even trying to blame me for the problems, even the ones that were created while the bike was in their possession. It doesn't seem like they're interested in helping me anymore, just in getting rid of me. If I could return the bike for a refund, that would do the trick and make me happy too, since this bike purchase has become my latest regret.

I don't know if Scheers is a chain or what. But if it's a single outlet shop and you can't get satisfaction from the manager/shop owner, then there's not much you can do except complain to the BBB and the distributor of the bike that you purchased. The mechanic may very well be a moody lowlife, but the manager/shop owner should try to keep a paying customer happy. Customer service is a big deal in retail and places that aren't good at it tend to go out of business. Bike manufacturers will want to know if one of their retailers isn't doing their product justice or honoring warranties, etc. If the mechanic is the shop owner, be prepared to go in and make for an uncomfortable scene. Let him know, even if you're lying that you ride with groups often and will be spreading the news of Scheer's poor service in a truthful, non-libelous manner.

^^^ or worse: that you'll post evil things about their store on BikeForums.net ;)

What was your demeanor like in dealing with the mechanics in the shop?

We just get one side of the story. Although, in general I've been nothing but disappointed when I talk to anyone in a store like that. Find a bike shop and start over. Unfortunately, you have to shop for shops as well as bikes.

http://www.scheelssports.com/webapp/...atalogId=10001

Not an LBS. Something to watch out for: When you go to buy your bike and you can also pick up a shotgun and a basketball, you may have some trouble.

A bike, shotgun, and basketball. Are these part of some new sport? Sounds like it would be fun to watch.

It's also another reason not to cop an attitude with the wrench ... who may have a 12ga. next to the chain whip.... :eek:

Just as long as it's an Italian shotgun...

Dept. stores like this are notorious for poor bike assembly, but they make up for it with pretty good return policies. I would do my best to get my money back and buy another bike at a real bike shop.

I once watched the "assemblers" at one of those places build bikes with air guns! :eek:

To anyone who has a bike and a shotgun: I have 10,000 basketballs and a gym. We'll call it CrankyBalls. What? Off topic?

Or you're in Texas. What would you do with the basketball though?

On a serious note, what kind of bike is this, and how much did you pay? And do they have a real mechanic there? Because if this is one of those $99 bikes, and the mechanic is whoever is closest to the adjustable wrench, you're fighting an uphill battle. I'm all for consumer rights, but if we're talking about one of those really poorly made loss-leader bikes, all bets are off. We have some really cheap bikes at our shop, but we try to avoid selling them. The mechanics hate to even work on them. I hope that's not the case with your bike.

If that's not one-stop shopping I don't know what is...

Expat, I think in the first thread he started about this he mentioned it was a Giant Boulder/Boulder SE...he certainly shouldn't be having these problems.

Expatriate:

The bike I bought is a Giant Boulder SE for $242. Not the most expensive thing I could choose, but it was of the design and features I like; larger chainrings on front for higher speeds being one of them since I just road ride. I like the tires too.

Will the rear hub be damaged riding with it too tight as it is now? I thought maybe the friction would cause it to wear out fast.

You may cause damage to your hub if it's too tight.

On a side note, Scheels is an all sports store, but they do a great job with bikes (at least the 5-6 I've been to). They sell decent brands (Trek, Speciallized, Gunnar, Lemond, Giant, etc.) and their work is as good or better than the local bicycle only shops.

Actually too tight is not as bad as too loose; it'll eventually wear into proper adjustment. Problem with too loose is it overloads one bearing at a time on just one spot on the cones and it'll wear out very, very fast.

Personally, I would return the bike and get my money back and go spend it at an LBS that's got competent mechanics. Those guys with the crescent-wrenchs are in over their head and no matter how many times you bring it back, it will never get resolved.

They're good bikes, so you shouldn't have that kind of problem with them. On a side note, over here they're exactly double that - AU$484.

This is the reason why you should get a good bike maintenance book and basic bike toolkit and learn to DIY.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/06...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Never been in a bike shop since, except to browse.

"extremely high and low gears"

I found this funny. What gears you use doesn't matter.

Cross gearing does.

Yeah, I think that's what they were referring to. But I don't do that. Truth is, I only use about 3 gears for everything. The front chainring is on 2, and the rear is either in 4, 5, or 6 depending upon if I'm going up a small hill or heading into wind.

As for my resolution, I did call the Scheels assistant manager and suggested either a refund or having them pay for another BS to fix it. He said that I won't be able to find better mechanics than they have! (I guess that means things could only get worse!) But suggested that I bring it in again, and if they can't fix it, they could swap it for a different bike. Problem is that they hardly have any bikes now that they're out of season. I brought the bike in last night and they loosened the hub for me, which appeared to be a simple task. It spins a little more freely now. The mechanic I had problems with previously wasn't there at that time. I told the asst. manager on the phone that I didn't want anyone to get in trouble or fired over this, I just wanted to get the issue resolved. I HOPE no one got fired.

So, hopefully, problem solved! I haven't had a chance to ride the bike to give it a good test yet, but I think it will be good enough to leave as is as long as nothing else comes up. As far as the original "clicking" in the chainring, I guess I'll just have to live with that. The mechanic thought it was just some extra metal on the teeth of the gears because the bike is so new, and that it will wear off in time and with use. I hope that's the case. It wasn't when my other bikes were new.