Bike shop dented my frame while working on the bike, what do I do to make it right?
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 242
Bikes: Litespeed Tuscany, 1991 Merlin Extralight, 08' Santana Tandem Sovereign, Co-Motion Espresso
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Bike shop dented my frame while working on the bike, what do I do to make it right?
I dropped off my Santana sovereign at a local bike shop here in Gainesville to have the shifting looked at and to have some new cranks installed. They chased the shifting problem around for a few weeks (weeks…) and finally replace the derailer, derailer hanger and replaced the chains at my request. Long story short, they called me last Friday that the bike is ready and I picked it up that night.
I haven’t taken the bike out of the suv yet from Friday (was visiting my fiancé in Miami for the weekend) and driving down the road this morning I see the bike in the rear view mirror and I see all this distortion in the top tube reflection. Its no longer round but has been squared off by the bike shops bike holder. I assume they held the bike off the ground while fixing the shifting and were really putting a lot of torque on the thing. Now my beautiful bike frame has a square section right behind my seat tube.
My question to you is what do I do now? Am I justified in being very upset? I take care of my things and would never have grabbed a bike in that place while working on it..... I feel like its common knowledge to leave the front wheel of a tandem on the ground and have the back wheel off the ground by clamping the seat tube.... am I wrong?
I haven’t taken the bike out of the suv yet from Friday (was visiting my fiancé in Miami for the weekend) and driving down the road this morning I see the bike in the rear view mirror and I see all this distortion in the top tube reflection. Its no longer round but has been squared off by the bike shops bike holder. I assume they held the bike off the ground while fixing the shifting and were really putting a lot of torque on the thing. Now my beautiful bike frame has a square section right behind my seat tube.
My question to you is what do I do now? Am I justified in being very upset? I take care of my things and would never have grabbed a bike in that place while working on it..... I feel like its common knowledge to leave the front wheel of a tandem on the ground and have the back wheel off the ground by clamping the seat tube.... am I wrong?
#2
Junior Member
When I worked in a shop (back in pre-historic times), the rule was to never clamp onto a frame tube, always clamp onto the seatpost. If you didn't have enough seatpost exposed, then you marked the seat height with a piece of tape and extended the seatpost until you had enough. Sometimes if the customer's seatpost was too short, we ended up swapping in a cheap seatpost we had lying around the shop, just to hold the bike while on the stand. The manager said seatposts are cheaper than frames, or even than having the frame painted if we goofed up the paint.
I'm sure lots of folks will have different opinions on this, but just my $.02, I think they owe you a frame.
I'm sure lots of folks will have different opinions on this, but just my $.02, I think they owe you a frame.
Last edited by WheelsNT; 09-17-12 at 12:29 PM.
#3
Junior Member
And, if you have to put more than a moderate amount of force on it, like for a really stuck BB cup, get the bike on the ground, on it's wheels, where it's designed to take the pressure. Is this pleasant for the mechanic? No, it's annoying because you're on your knees next to the bike. Did I "cheat" and lever up on a bike while it was in the stand? Sometimes... but if I had messed up the bike doing that, it would definitely have been my fault because I knew better.
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 119
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Oh man sorry to hear that.
Just curious - is your frame aluminum?
I just purchased a steel Sovereign from the original owner, who took very good care of it, and I believe I saw the bike clamped to one of the frame tubes (seat tube I believe) in his workshop.
I am purchasing a repair stand and am wondering where best to clamp this beautiful steel frame.
Just curious - is your frame aluminum?
I just purchased a steel Sovereign from the original owner, who took very good care of it, and I believe I saw the bike clamped to one of the frame tubes (seat tube I believe) in his workshop.
I am purchasing a repair stand and am wondering where best to clamp this beautiful steel frame.
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Ft Worth, TX
Posts: 1,971
Bikes: Custom 650B tandem by Bob Brown, 650B tandem converted from Santana Arriva, Santana Noventa, Boulder Bicycle 700C, Gunnar Sport
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 23 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times
in
4 Posts
Oh man sorry to hear that.
Just curious - is your frame aluminum?
I just purchased a steel Sovereign from the original owner, who took very good care of it, and I believe I saw the bike clamped to one of the frame tubes (seat tube I believe) in his workshop.
I am purchasing a repair stand and am wondering where best to clamp this beautiful steel frame.
Just curious - is your frame aluminum?
I just purchased a steel Sovereign from the original owner, who took very good care of it, and I believe I saw the bike clamped to one of the frame tubes (seat tube I believe) in his workshop.
I am purchasing a repair stand and am wondering where best to clamp this beautiful steel frame.
#7
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 449
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 14 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
My LBS always clamps on the seat post as far as I know.
Sounds like a frame repair is in order but I don't think that these are the guys that you want to have do it.
Sounds like a frame repair is in order but I don't think that these are the guys that you want to have do it.
#8
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Hollister, CA
Posts: 3,957
Bikes: Volagi, daVinci Joint Venture
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times
in
2 Posts
My LBS has several seat posts of all sizes next to their repair stand. They mark the captain's seat post, remove, replace with one of their dummy posts and wrench away. At home using my light weight Park stand I clamp in the stokers Al Thudbuster post and leave the front wheel on the ground. Never found a need to fully suspend the bike, but if I wrenched for a living I would want the bike at chest level - the LBS' stands are very, very heavy duty.
#9
certified vegetarian
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 364
Bikes: 1973 Schwinn Paramount P10-9, 1988 Cannondale SR2000, 1994 Bridgestone XO-4, 1998 Bianchi Sam Remo, 1998 Ibis Spanky, 2009 Soma Rush, 2012 Surly Crosscheck
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 5 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time
in
1 Post
You should definitely confront the shop about this. Unfortunately they might not give you money, but store credit. This recently happened to a friends Klein and the shop only gave him store credit.
Hopefully you can get this all taken care of, hopefully you can get a repair or money out of them.
Hopefully you can get this all taken care of, hopefully you can get a repair or money out of them.
#10
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 242
Bikes: Litespeed Tuscany, 1991 Merlin Extralight, 08' Santana Tandem Sovereign, Co-Motion Espresso
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I went to the bike shop and talked it out this evening (I was a pleasant as I could possibly be) and had given Santana a call before I went (who were very helpful) and the resolution is that the bike shop will be working with Santana to replace the top tube. In the future, before I drop my bike off at a shop I haven't used before, I might place some masking tape with a "don't clamp here" note on it.
#11
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Hollister, CA
Posts: 3,957
Bikes: Volagi, daVinci Joint Venture
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times
in
2 Posts
I went to the bike shop and talked it out this evening (I was a pleasant as I could possibly be) and had given Santana a call before I went (who were very helpful) and the resolution is that the bike shop will be working with Santana to replace the top tube. In the future, before I drop my bike off at a shop I haven't used before, I might place some masking tape with a "don't clamp here" note on it.
#12
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Western Florida
Posts: 1,581
Bikes: 2017 Kona TI, 2016 Bike Friday Haul-A-Day, 2015 Bike Friday New World Tourist (for sale), 2011 Mezzo D9, 2004 Marin Mount Vision Pro - for now :)
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 103 Post(s)
Liked 5 Times
in
5 Posts
I went to the bike shop and talked it out this evening (I was a pleasant as I could possibly be) and had given Santana a call before I went (who were very helpful) and the resolution is that the bike shop will be working with Santana to replace the top tube. In the future, before I drop my bike off at a shop I haven't used before, I might place some masking tape with a "don't clamp here" note on it.
#14
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: London, UK
Posts: 563
Bikes: Trek T200 plus enough others to fill a large shed
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
+1. On the rare occasions I've had bike shops do work, they have consistently taken the opportunity to screw something up. It's not that I do everything perfectly, but when it goes wrong I generally see it immediately and put it right. In the long run it's better to spend on tools rather than labour.
#16
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
Posts: 85
Bikes: a lot... mostly vintage, one vintage made of plastic, er carbon
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Terrible news, glad to hear the shop is making it right.
I admit, I still clamp steel frames by the tubes (top or seat tubes), but carbon and aluminum frames on the seat posts. Never damaged a steel frame yet with a work stand (in over 40 years of doing my own wrenching on bicycles). I assume this must have been an aluminum Sovereign? I would imagine in a shop the mandate for seat post clamping only is because the vast majority of new bikes are carbon or aluminum.
I admit, I still clamp steel frames by the tubes (top or seat tubes), but carbon and aluminum frames on the seat posts. Never damaged a steel frame yet with a work stand (in over 40 years of doing my own wrenching on bicycles). I assume this must have been an aluminum Sovereign? I would imagine in a shop the mandate for seat post clamping only is because the vast majority of new bikes are carbon or aluminum.
#17
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 242
Bikes: Litespeed Tuscany, 1991 Merlin Extralight, 08' Santana Tandem Sovereign, Co-Motion Espresso
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
The bike is aluminum. It would be tough to say if the same thing could happen to a steel bike but based on where they clamped it on the frame I feel many materials would have had some damage as well. It is just to easy to put too much torq on the frame when it's held where they clamped it. Even a few pounds of force when it's acting on 4 feet of bike as a fulcrum can turn in to some high forces when it's focused all in to one tiny area.
#18
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Long Island, NY
Posts: 198
Bikes: Serotta Legend Ti, Santa Cruz Heckler, Santana Visa TAndem
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Back in the early nineties, I purchased a Serotta Colorado II Columbus steel frame. The shop owner told me to get rid of the Thule upright car carrier that clamps to the downtube. He said that the middle section of the tubes, where there was no butting was expremely thin and would easily crush. I've always kept this in mind when using a workstand. I think that this is even more of a hazzard with carbon, because it can suffer internal damage that one would never see. Aluminum is bad, in this regard, because fatigue sets in when it is bent...it does not have the same resiliancy as steel.
#19
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 11,016
Bikes: Custom Zona c/f tandem + Scott Plasma single
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 77 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 19 Times
in
11 Posts
Newbie/inexperienced tandem mechanic . . .
Good you called 'tana and hope shop has framebuilding experience!
Good you called 'tana and hope shop has framebuilding experience!
#20
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Miami, FL
Posts: 242
Bikes: Litespeed Tuscany, 1991 Merlin Extralight, 08' Santana Tandem Sovereign, Co-Motion Espresso
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Oh, by "working with Santana" I meant they will be shipping it there and Santana will be fixing it.
#21
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Tucson, AZ
Posts: 11,016
Bikes: Custom Zona c/f tandem + Scott Plasma single
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 77 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 19 Times
in
11 Posts
Great . . . 'tana will fix it and shop will pay.
Is that mechanic still working there or looking for another jpb?
Is that mechanic still working there or looking for another jpb?
#22
Bill G
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: California
Posts: 338
Bikes: Co-Motion Nor'Wester Tour, Co-Motion Primera Tandem, WizWeelz Terra Trike 3.6 Tour model
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
Another example of many I have heard about & seen, that is why I do my own wrenching & building of my Tandems my self. I never let any shop touch my Co-Motion or any of my bikes because of stuff like this..
Glad Santana can fix it & the shop will pay for it, but it's still a pain to deal with.
Ride Safe,
Bill G
Glad Santana can fix it & the shop will pay for it, but it's still a pain to deal with.
Ride Safe,
Bill G
#23
enthusiast
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Southern Mississippi for the time being.
Posts: 509
Bikes: 2010 BMC SL 01 Roadracer, 2012 Davidson Tandem
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times
in
0 Posts
I am amazed that in this day and age any shop would clamp any bike by the top tube - let alone a tandem!
Even in my home shop, I have a stand that allows me to lock the forks (or dropouts) onto the stand and strap the boob tube (or bottom bracket on a single) to the stand. No muss, no fuss, and you cannot break anything.
Even in my home shop, I have a stand that allows me to lock the forks (or dropouts) onto the stand and strap the boob tube (or bottom bracket on a single) to the stand. No muss, no fuss, and you cannot break anything.
#24
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Vancouver BC
Posts: 376
Bikes: Comotion Supremo, Trek T1000, Comotion Supremo Triple
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 4 Times
in
3 Posts
My LBS only hangs the bikes it works on from the ceiling. A strap under the seat and a strap under the stem. No Clamp damage. And the hanging height is adjustable. I have worked on many of my bikes in the shop and it works quite well. I have a work stand a home to compare this system to and actually prefer it.
#25
Señor Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Boston Burbs
Posts: 1,637
Bikes: Bedford, IF, Hampsten, DeSalvo, Intense Carbine 27.5, Raleigh Sports, Bianchi C.u.S.S, Soma DC Disc, Bill Boston Tandem
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 3 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 3 Times
in
3 Posts
My LBS only hangs the bikes it works on from the ceiling. A strap under the seat and a strap under the stem. No Clamp damage. And the hanging height is adjustable. I have worked on many of my bikes in the shop and it works quite well. I have a work stand a home to compare this system to and actually prefer it.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
lineinthewater
Bicycle Mechanics
18
12-09-12 06:18 PM
davida
Road Cycling
10
01-22-11 01:03 PM