ed 

Back in early July, I had my LBS send my RS Pilot fork in to SRAM to get fixed. It was leaking air. They rebuilt it, sent it back and it still leaks air and the travel has gone from 4" to less than 2". (kinda like the oil is leaking down into the lowers in the right leg) I called SRAM on July 21st and they said they'd just send me a Tora as a replacement.

Meanwhile...I taco'd my Mavic Crossride front wheel. I have a warranty, so they sent it in. Mavic said it would take less than a week. It's been over 2 weeks now and no wheel.

It's been over 5 weeks and no fork. I had my LBS call SRAM and they said "we don't have any idea what you're talking about". They never sent an "R.A." or whatever. Now my bike is just hanging in the closet not getting ridden.

I guess after calling SRAM, my LBS was supposed to call them to get the ball rolling. We didn't know that. Now they don't even remember what the heck is going on. I have to stew over it all weekend until Monday morning when I can get ahold of an actual person.

I just wanna ride my bike.

LowCel 

That sucks. Reminds me of why I keep an extra (back up) fork setting in the corner. If you are in the neighborhood you're welcome to borrow it (White Brox xc.8).

ed 

I appreciate it, but I'm in KS.

I may have to borrow my Bro-in-law's Mag 21. Oh boy remember those?

Jason222

I think you probably need a more freeride oriented bike than your current one. You've busted up a lot of parts, havent you?

Maelstrom 

Thats your shops fault...not sram. Without an RMA they have no way to track what parts come in from where, when or even why. Same in almost every industry...

The Great Stonk

you taco'd your wheel... hows that coverd under warrenty ?

as for the forks, i believe you need to give your lbs a bit of a kick

vw addict

Sounds like your LBS let you down, not SRAM. I've never had a problem with SRAM at all.

ed 

I agree that my LBS let me down. SRAM did too though. Heck, some of it is probably my own fault. I just assumed that since I had sent in my fork one time already that the second time ( I talked to them on the phone personally ) they'd just send my shop a fork. They didn't let me know that I had to have my shop call them again to get the ball rolling again. When I finally talked to SRAM and told my LBS to call them, they did drop the ball again. Equal blame = 1.5 months of waiting for me.

I talked to my LBS today and they said that my new fork is getting shipped out on Monday. Finally! I'm okay again.


Mr. Stonk: If you pay for the MP3 program on Mavic wheels, they cover crash replacement for 2 full years. No questions asked as long as it's not intentional abuse like an obvious 10 footer on an XC wheel. I did a teeny 2 foot double on an XC course with a smooth tranny. Wheel taco'd. Mavic's rebuilding it as we speak. They sent me an email telling me it'd take about a week or so, but they told my LBS that they're super busy so it's most likely going to be two or more.

Jason222: I daydream about freeride bikes, dude. I am strapped for fundage. (old story) I have a Dakar XLT 5" bike with XT group, XT Rhyno Lites, Fox Vanilla fork, Saint Cranks, and Easton cockpit. It's my "do-it-all" bike that I get a little nutty with. I'm still afraid to do stair gaps with it b/c I can't afford to fix broken stuff. I had XT/317 on it and did some stairs with tires under-inflated and booger'd those all to heck. If I had the cash, I'd build me a VP Free with a Totem or 888 and Deemax's. Or a Session 10.

I know where I can get a nice Gemini for $1500, but I can't spend all dat with a 3 y.o. and one in the oven. More of my riding is done on a rough XC trail so I have a hardtail and my Dakar. I'd sure like to add that FR to my stable for the day's I go downtown and bust out some drops.

Jason222

That's a tricky situation!

ed 

You're up late, hehe.

Yeah. I could sell my hardtail and buy a crappy FR bike. I'd break it though. I'm to a point in my riding that if I get a FR bike it has to be decent and take some abuse. I got a freakin' cool triple set of stairs about 1/2 mile from my house. It's like 5' wide with rails on both sides. It's about 15 steps with a 4' flat then another 15 steps and another 4' then 15 steps to the ground. The whole thing is wooden (easier on rims than concrete) and begging for me to fly off it.

I just don't have the hardware. I'm afraid that I'll blow out my poor little air shock on the Dakar or jack up my wheels.

Jason222

Yeah, I wouldn't try that. Stairsets are how I broke my frame. Have you considered a freeride hardtail?

I'm up late all the time. It's disgusting. I stay up till 4 or 5 am every night.

Jason222

I'm not a gigantic fan of Norco, they're just the only company that I know of that has a shore hardtail line.

https://www.norco.com/ts/pass/norco06...manik&col=blue

These kind of bikes are really fun to mess around on. It's a lot like how my bruiser was setup, and I had a blast before that baby died. But whatever, you get a new frame for free when you break it.

ed 

I started a FR hardtail thread. I would like to hear from people that have repeatedly beat the crap outta their hardtail and see what lasts and what doesn't.

Jason222

I know the Norco Bigfoot frames never last more than 2 years. I've heard nothing bad about the Manik, Rampage, or Torrent (these bikes have a massive amount of guessets on them).

Some stronger ones, in my opinion, are P. series, Kona jumpers, .243, and Banshee. Not all can deal with longer travel forks though.

Maelstrom 

Its your lbs's fault...please don't slander a manufacturer for a poor lbs...its in poor taste. Your SHOP should have known the rules. I am not even in this specific industry and I can make an educated guess as to RMA procedures. Your lbs sounds to be run by morons.

Kona essentially copied the "shore" line with their early out of bounds series. Early stuff's roasts and chutes were identical in geometry. I personally know of lots of norcos, especially the bigfoot that have lasted quite a while. Its a very popular lineup out here

Jason222

Yeah, it's a really popular bike here too. A month ago, I had seen lots of broken bigfoot frames in the past, and I had the mindset that, "okay, some bigfoot frames are stronger than others, some break and some live".

Last week I went out riding with a buddy who had a bigfoot. His frame cracked right infront of us. It was gross. Now I strongly believe that the bigfoot frames suck.

Maelstrom 

It happens...there are many factors...they get heavily abused here and last but like most alum ht's under heavy abuse have a short life span....

Jason222

Weeeeee....it's 4:25 am. Time to go biking...I mean sleep.