elemental

Executive summary (when I wrote this whole story out, it was much longer than it needed to be):

The other day, I got a freshly coated fork back from my powdercoater, and dropped by a local shop to have them re-install the crown race. I do almost all of my work myself, but for things like this that I don't have the tools for, I have no problem letting someone else take care of it. When I got the fork back, it had scratches at the tops of both fork legs (it's a unicrown rigid 29er fork, BMX style), which I didn't initially notice since I was in a hurry. The shop didn't charge me (probably because they were embarrassed - they didn't mention it either and I didn't look until later that afternoon), but I'm pretty frustrated that my freshly powdercoated fork is scratched up - I'm probably going to have it powdercoated again, which is really inconvenient (and also means paying for it all over again, although my powder guy charges next to nothing and does excellent work). I'm not sure how a fork could get damaged like that, since installing a crown race with the proper tools is totally simple and straightforward.

How would you deal with this? I will probably end up not saying anything about it and just paying for the second powdercoat, but am I right to be frustrated?

Tom Pedale

If the scratches are on the steer tube, that's invisible once the fork is installed..so why would you powder coat the fork again?

elemental

Not on the steer tube, at the tops of the fork legs. It's a unicrown rigid 29er fork. Sorry, that wasn't very clear- I'll fix it. They're one the "shoulders" of the fork legs, where you might hit it if you were trying to get the crown race on with a screwdriver and missed. More than once.

Retro Grouch 

When you had the fork powder coated did they mask off the crown race seat? Powder coating is thicker than paint. I'm thinking that if the shop tried to seat the crown race over powder coating that might be a problem.

Even if that's true, the scratches are still the shop's fault.

PedallingATX

weird...sounds like they were just sledgehammering a flathead screw driver to get it on there and the screwdriver slipped off and scraped the shoulders. Or at least that would be my guess...

anyways, you're probably right to let it go. Sometimes it's best to just cut your losses. Especially if you like this shop and they usually do good work.

elemental

Yes, I was careful about that. The powder guy did a great job with it, it was almost perfectly clean. Like I said, he's good. I feel bad about making him do it again, although I'll pay full price so I probably shouldn't.


Yeah, it looked like they just didn't take the time to do it right. Actually, their reputation for work isn't so good, but they've cut me deals on parts before, so I feel a little loyal. On the other hand, I'm moving halfway across the country very soon, so if it blows up, it makes no difference to me. I'm almost more offended that they would find this acceptable than I am frustrated about having to deal with it.

wroomwroomoops

In a just world, the LBS should pay for the new powdercoat.

By the way, you can very easily and cheaply make your own crown setting tool: it's just a copper or iron pipe of the appropriate diameter, and a piece of wood. You know how to use this setup without me going into details, I imagine. Best thing is, it's 100% safe and the results are excellent.

wroomwroomoops

The problem with LBSes is, most wrenches that work there do it because they're not smart enough to do anything else. They are no "professionals" in that they don't do what they do any better than an average person would do it after 30 minutes of training. As sydney said it

Tom Pedale

Makes sense...but the proper tool for seating a crown race is a sleeve that fits over the steering tube. This tool "can't miss" because it's striking the entire circumference of the crown race while it's moved forcefully downward. If they used a screwdriver, that's a "gumba" mechanic and /or LBS. Other than the fact you can miss with a screwdriver, you can also nick and mar the race, rendering it useless. Lastly, if there is enough powdercoat to affect the fit where the crown race sits , generally you use a crown milling tool to clean the paint off. Of course, there has to be a way of holding the fork without marring it while using the crown race tool.

robertv

Yeah it's funny, the most professional, friendly, and helpful bikeshop I know is a little boutique fixed gear/bmx/skate operation. If you walked in there you'd assume it's just hipsters that would shop there and that it just jumped on the fixie bandwagon. Across the street is a "real" bike shop. The real bike shop only hires incompetent mouthbreathers, gives bad service, and is run by an older couple who don't seem to give a damn about cycling. Hell, their floor pump doesn't even work.
Then the fixie/skate/bmx shop. Everyone that works there loves bikes, rides all the time, likes pretty much everything about bikes wether its a mountain bike, fixie, bmx, hot-rodded motorized mongoose maurice or pretty much anything resembling a bike. Most of them got into fixed gear in the last year or so but have been riding bmx for years. They'll fix pretty much any minor repair for free assuming you're at least an occasional customer and they are always friendly and incredibly competent. They'll even let you use their workspace in the back if it's not in use already. This is a shop with maybe 10 bmx bikes in the shop and 4 or 5 fixies. Not a big shop at all. They probably run a fairly tight profit margin. But they're still nice. They don't charge extra for extras, even though they totally could and with the service they give most people would still love them.

Basically the way you handle it is to not shop at ****ty bike shops and to let people know about it.
Scratched paint should not be happening in a bike shop. Even if the powder coater had gotten some paint on the steerer and that made it hard for the crown race to be put on it's no excuse. In a good shop they would have just sanded that down till the crown race actually fit. I'm pretty sure they noticed that the fork was freshly painted. I mean, if you scratch up my fork that I;'ve been riding daily for 2 years I really can't complain, but a freshly painted fork?!? Are you outa your mind?!?

Scrodzilla

Yes, this is what I would have done.

Then again, I'm just "not smart enough" to do anything but wrench.

robertv

Heh, well, a lot of LBS mechanics really are just smart enough to turn a wrench. Not smart enough to fix bikes, but smart enough to turn a wrench. Which is my problem with a lot of LBS. I don't know how to do everything myself, that's why I expect the LBS to be able to do it well. So often that's not the case. If I'd just done the installs myself on many little things lbs have ****ed up for me and had to redo I probably would have learned how to do all those things at the same cost. I went to the LBS so that I could be sure it was done right.
Still theres plenty of good ones and I'm always happy if I live somewhere near a good one. Theres two very good ones within a short ride from my house and one very bad one that I mentioned. That's a pretty good spot to be in I think!

RoyIII

If you did not call them on it when you collected the fork, then I'd let it go. Correct the problem and move on. Why don't you just use some touch-up paint?

cloak/dagger

Entirely incorrect.

Davidxvx

Describes my LBS pretty well.

Here's my suggestion to the OP: Go in, explain the situation, be friendly and polite, and just say you're not happy. If they're good, they'll apologise and sort you out. No loss to you. If they're bad, then they'll shrug and do nothing. Then, you can take it and leave, with no more loss. Or you can argue, burn some bridges, and maybe get what you want, but not want to go back - but if they won't accept their mistake, do you want to go back?

Leukybear 

+1 cheapest and easiest solution.

wroomwroomoops

This is exactly what I was thinking, too. You have nothing to lose, but a crappy LBS.

Tom Pedale

+1 Like most generalizations..not true. There are many LBS that are quite capable and care about getting the job done right...

wroomwroomoops

I said "most", not "all". It's not a generalization.

Scrodzilla

You can quote my mistake from that other thread all you want. As soon as I read it back, I knew I was typing with my butt cheeks. It was early, I was hung over and pre-coffee. It happens.

Should I start going back through threads and quoting all the dumb **** you've said?

elemental

Yeah, i am a pretty ardent do-it-yourselfer (after being amazed time and time again at how poorly work that I or others have paid for is done), and I think I'll be pressing on my own crown race next time. I didn't have much faith in shops before, but I thought that, given the right tools, this was impossible to mess up. Apparently I was thinking about it the wrong way: It's easy to mess up if you have the right tools, but don't bother using them.

cloak/dagger

Here Scrod, I'll do it for you.

Nearly everyone who works at my shop is incredibly skilled when it comes to bicycle mechanics, even to the point of certification. If they aren't, then they don't do more complicated repairs or assemblies.

elemental

I have to be honest, I've only seen one shop that consistently does service well. And they aren't cheap. Where my parents live, there are tons of bike shops and not one I would allow to service my bikes (there are some that look reputable that I haven't tried or heard anything about, though).

Based on my own experience, I support the "these people often have absolutely no idea what they're doing, and charging money for the 'service' they offer constitutes borderline fraud" generalization. I treat that as the rule, and am pleased when I find positive exceptions. Like I said, it's happened once.

Tom Pedale

It's too bad that your LBS experience was not good...I spent 20 years in the cycling industry working on all sides (bike shop employee, 11 1/2 years in wholesale Univega & Specialized and 6 year store owner). I've seen hundreds of shops ranging from incompetents to ones that consistently offer stellar service.

While I do not know what area of the country you live in, I can only hope that the LBS's where are moving will have a higher level of competency.

Yo!

I use a nice length of PVC and wood to seat crown races. Usually don't do any sanding, but I did have to ream down a 27.0 fork race to a 26.4 on one of my bikes to get a King to work with it. I used a legit Park tool for this though.