Hi guys,

An almost thread-necro update/rant:

So after a lot of deliberation I decided to go with the Torker graduate at the LBS. I went to the shop yesterday to give it a final test drive and after some trouble with 3rd gear and a quick adjustment I decided to take it home...

Well, most of the way home. After about a mile and a half the rear brake cable suddenly goes taught, yanks the handlebar to the side and applies the rear drum brake all at once. I wasn't going too fast at the time so I avoided biffing it. No damage done to me, but the bike was another story. The rear brake assembly had twisted in place (turning with the wheel/hub) and stretched the brake line around the hub. Part of the assembly had bent, and the brake line had pulled most of the way out of and striped the lever housing. The rear wheel would barely turn if I sat on the bike so I had to walk it the mile and a half back to the shop.

I'm not sure at this point if a bolt might have sheered off or if the assembly was never properly attached to the frame. I looked around but didn't see any bolt remnants around where I stopped. The owner did the right thing and gave me a refund after I asked (he wanted to fix it at first). Now I'm trying to decide if I want to stick with the graduate and if I want to go back to that shop. I'm still not sure if it was an install problem or a part defect. Either way I really don't want to drop another 5 bills on something that might fail within 20 minutes.

The bikesdirect wt5 (fully disassembled and reassembled by yours truly) is starting to look more appealing. I gave up going to the auto mechanic for most car work because it always seemed like it came back more broken than it went in. Now I'm paranoid about bike shops too!

Mark