TennBent

Update of sorts, along with a major venting. I was hoping to post a pic today as I received the bike yesterday. However, the bike is now in the hands of my local shop to actually get it up and running. The shop/online retailer that I purchased it from had assured me that they would do a complete setup before shipping the bike to me so that all I would need to do is attach the handlebar, front wheel, and seat post. Well, it turns out that they didn't do anything! I could tell things were wrong as I tried to assemble it. They actually shipped it with the chain on in the big/big combination. I really wanted to get it shifted up to a more normal gear but I've never had Di2 so I wasn't sure how to go about that. I got someone on their live chat to try to help me. He was no help at all and started making stuff up as he went along and got a bit rough when I caught him in his contradictions. He ended up telling me to take it to my local shop to which I replied that I shouldn't have to since they had promised me a completely setup and working bike. He then told me that they NEVER suggest that anyone try to put the bike together themselves and to only take it to competent mechanic. I replied that that's not what I was told, that it's not what they company advertises and that they have assembly videos for folks who get a bike shipped to them. After voicing my displeasure, he then told me, "That's just the reality of online purchasing".

So I took it to my local shop. One of the mechanics looked at it and said that the seller had done absolutely nothing with it other than some basic assembly. Here is the initial list of obvious items:

1. Rear brake hose incorrectly routed at handlebar.
2. Front derailleur at a skewed angle which means that there is no way that the Di2 and shifting were ever setup.
3. Front brake had a bent piece of thin cardboard instead of the plastic protector. This cardboard allowed the lever to be squeezed during packing causing the pistons to overextend.
4. No Di2 charging cable in the box. Also, no manuals or anything else for that matter. Only the bike.

The good news is that the local shop can easily fix it by just doing a proper new bike setup. The bad news is that it's going to be a week as they are booked out that far right now. Of course, I feel that the original shop should pay for that since they didn't deliver what they promised but I know they will just try to weasel out of it anyway. It's not worth pursuing from a legal standpoint so there goes another $100 or so to get the bike moving. I have sent them an email explaining what went wrong with the transaction and told them that I am very disappointed and that while having the manuals and what not would be nice, I absolutely have to have the charging cable as that is an included part of the Di2 system. I said that they obviously have it laying around their shop somewhere and that I expect them to send it to me ASAP. We will see what they have to say.

So, no pic until next week but at least I have the bike along with some major disappointment. As their own employee said, "That's the reality of online purchasing"! Lesson learned. I will certainly never do business with them again and I'm going to leave a nasty review once this is all over.