Hey guys,

For those of you who have seen my posts with photos of my bikes, you know that I'm a little anal about keeping them clean and looking perfect. I wash my bike after almost every ride, I take pride in the way my bikes look, and I make sure that everything is adjusted and lubed on a regular basis

I recently decided to add some barends to my custom Giant Anyroad. After riding with them, I decide I liked them enough to keep them on the bike but I wanted to upgrade to some UD carbon one's to match the Ritchey bars and stem. I settled on some Ergon's and considering the carbon model was discontinued.... off to ebay!!!

I found a set of the Ergon GR2-L Leichtbau grips with the carbon barends for a pretty good deal but the grip itself wasn't in very good shape. There were no photos of the sides of the carbon ends so I emailed the seller to ask the condition of the carbon ends. It took a few days for the seller to respond and when he did this is what he wrote...


"Sorry for the delay, I was out of town and wanted to look at the grips again to make sure. The carbon is in near mint condition. No scratches or scuffs."

So I ask you to take a look at the photos of them that I just took and tell me.... am I just being anal? Or, are they not as the seller described?











I have to be honest, I've been back riding bicycles now for about 5 years. Almost every bike I've owned in that period has been either completely customized, or custom build from the frame up. So, obviously I have had to buy many, many parts. In that time I have found that the customer service in this industry is absolutely the worst I have ever seen in ANY industry. What I mean by this is sellers outright lying to get people to buy their product, or completely lying about the condition, very slow shipping, Lack of support when you contact them with questions, and just overall lack of caring if the customer is happy.

Is it me? Or have you guys had the same kinds of experiences I have had?

Near mint would be nearly like this:

If they're "near mint condition"..........i'll EAT my bike!

Those barends are not anywhere near mint and it is scratched and scuffed. Hopefully its only the clearcoat.

You're buying used items off who knows where and making judgements about customer service in the bike industry, which only markets and sells new items.

Perfect example of why I don't like buying used stuff online. I have to see it first before buying it. Those look like a total mess and I cannot believe someone whom prides himself on making his bike look really well and clean, will find those acceptable.

I think you misunderstand. My judgement of the industry doesn't come from purchases like this. I have spent well over $10K in the past few years upgrading/building bikes and most of the parts were new with very few exceptions.

I just mentioned it here because I emailed and specifically asked if they were in good shape and were told they were.

Also, your statement regarding the bike industry selling only "new" items is incorrect. A lot of shops sell pre-owned bikes/parts.

I'd say "serviceable".
Maybe "good"
Not mint in any way.
Mick

mint...? not exactly.

how about 'functional but beat-up, slagged, scuffed, scratched, hammered'...

For sure there are niche retailers that sell used and vintage items, and retailers are for sure part of the industry. I meant "the industry" though, as in the big players are vertically integrated structures from suppliers to manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. In the end, my point is that IMO this more of a merchant dispute with whatever website hooked you two up.

I'd take it up with the seller and seek some sort of resolution. Good luck

FWIW I never buy used bars and bar ends as a rule, and never buy used carbon in general. Even used bikes get new bars and the carbon tossed.

And now after several hours or wet sanding and buffing.....

I have the GR3, and leave it as Is ...

Good job on the sanding and buffing. I like the new tire choice for this kind of bike. Much more versatile than the kojaks IMO. How do you find the nanoraptors so far?

Thank you.

I actually removed the Nano's earlier tonight. The bike is in such great condition I can't talk myself into taking it offroad.

I've searching my local CL for a cross bike with disc brakes I can throw a set of flatbars on and beat the crap out of.