Originally Posted by
Square Wheels
That's part of the problem, it's an integrated seatpost. There is a tremendous amount of flex. The LBS said this is a know problem and they are very careful to mount the seats at the top until the customer buys it. They know the seat clamp will damage the paint, not a big deal when one person rides it since there won't be large adjustments in height.
I've let them know I am unhappy and they are responsible and should be making us happy, but my wife is a kinder person than me and is happy enough with the crappy fix they did.
Ok, I had the time to clean up the bike, take off the tape and check everything out.
As it turns out, the above bold statement is true, but your interpretation of what is damaging the paint is incorrect. As I said earlier, there is no flex in the area you're talking about, however, the part of the seatmast that clamps to the seatpost is what will eat up the clear coat.
When I took off the electrical tape, no clear coat came off with it. It was perfectly clean. But what I did find underneath the seatmast was that the clear coat had indeed been rubbed off right at the clamping point from repeated removal and installation of the seatpost. However, it's purely cosmetic (as you mentioned) and has no bearing on the safe use of the bicycle. This isn't much different from a derailleur leaving a mark in the paint, or a cable scuffing the frame over time. There is a reason the top of the seatpost is only a clear finish and not the same color as the rest of the bicycle.
So let me try and piece together what actually happened, since you enjoy telling half of the story, and blaming a part of the bike that has nothing to do with it.
Either the Domane in question had seen a few test rides, and had the seatmast moved frequently, or your wife got a more thorough fit at a date sometime after the initial purchase. Whatever the case, the clamping portion of the seatmast had already eaten up the clearcoat when the dealer put a piece of tape to "mark" the position, or perhaps they saw the scuffing and though it would help to cover it up.
Then months later, it's decided that she doesn't like the tape, and pulls it off. The weakened part of the clear coat decides to come with it.
So yeah, now your story makes sense, but you're 1) blaming the wrong part of the bicycle and 2) having too high of an expectation for a part of the bicycle that has carbon on carbon contact at a good bit of torque.
But hey, if you want to throw an entire manufacturer and dealer under the bus because you expect every single centimeter of a bicycle to never be marred, that's cool, too.
EDIT: Just to clarify for all of us, let's say the dealer and/or Trek took responsibility for this issue. What is your proposed fix? What would they have to do to make you happy? I'm not clear on what you really expected them to do here.