......... I guess you have to decide if you ever plan to do business with them again ... but there is No Way you should have to pay for a fork which you never used, and if you had used, could have caused you grave injury when the frame broke.

This is 100 percent their error. Whether or how much you want to work with them is up to you ... but you don't Owe them a thing.[/QUOTE]

Yes, this is a big issue. They are a small but top quality LBS, everyone in the shop is a dedicated cyclist. The owner and mechanics are truly excellent, save this problem. I was ready to say well, if you insist then realize your loosing a customer who has appreciated you as well as supported you public ally and understand my future comments will not be so kind. Not sure I'm ready to burn this bridge yet. I was going to have him build me up a new bike using the components on the bike and a used frame I have. Just not sure right now.

apparently it us indeed unrepairable. He has checked. I have always been suspect of these mixed materials for this reason.

Is this the same shop that tried to repair the water bottle bosses on your frame?

OK, that makes it muddier. In your shoes I'd start by shopping a frame and seeing if the fork fits it, in which case you buy the fork as planned.

OTOH - if you're buying a new bike, and won't need the fork, or if it doesn't fit the new frame, then I'd offer to make them whole for the wholesale price of the fork, so the shop isn't out of pocket, then ebay the fork to recover the outlay as much as possible. With luck nobody has to eat anything on the deal.

It's not that clear cut.

They correctly diagnosed and replaced a broken fork. They acted in good faith, and it's not their necessarily fault that they didn't spot the frame until later. It's not rare at all for other problems to be found farther in the process, and happens to the best of mechanics, and also to doctors.

IMO it revolves around how obvious the frame damage is, and whether they should have spotted it in the original assessment. From what the OP posted as followup, it seems that the shop did nothing wrong and is entitled to be paid, though under the circumstances something should be worked out to share the loss.

That's a tough issue. I get how they would have said, "oh yeah, the fork is cracked, that's causing the problem" and not looked further. Not the right choice, but I see how they could have done that. Not sure how I'd respond.

I'm not getting this.

Did the bike have a cracked fork and frame? If so shouldn't you pay for both?

Nope. Already checked.

Right. If the fork was broken and they replaced it fine. Now they found out in the crash the frame was cracked they need to fix that. Granted as someone said, perhaps you should ask if the frame can be fixed rather than replaced.

The cracked frame makes the replacement of the fork (potentially) unnecessary. Since the frame is toast.

I dunno. I work in the car business, and no service department would be able to get away with sending a car out with the same issue it came in with, unfixed, plus a big bill for a part that can't be used.

I think I'd be ok with burning the bridge with this shop if the owner can't figure out some kind of compromise.


I get his point- he cut the fork and now its no longer new. But IMO when he discovered the second unrepairable issue with the frame, he should have immediately realized that the fork he cut was of no use to you (or maybe not? can you use it on the replacement bike?) and his wheels should have started turning mentally as to what would be a reasonable solution.


The most generous solution is they eat the cost of the fork. The position they should take if you're good long-term customer who regularly buys from their shop.


The next most generous solution is asking you to pick up part of the cost of the fork. Reasonable IMO for them to ask it you're only an occasional customer who mostly buys stuff from the internet or rarely uses their mechanic services.


The least generous solution is asking you to pick up the full cost of the fork. I get why they would do that but if you're a good long term customer its kind of a short sighted dick move IMO.


If this were "my shop" and I had to majorly argue over the fork, I'd pay what they asked and find another shop if they required I pay full price.

It was their fault that they misdiagnosed it, and then cut the fork before making sure.

I would definitely demand my bike back and go elsewhere. You shouldnt have to pay for their mistake.

Good memory. Yes, initial repair. When that failed sent to cf specialist. They, the specialists were consulted re this current problem.

Let's say someone brings their car in because it won't start. The starter is bad so that gets replaced. Upon starting the engine, the engine is found to have no compression in one cylinder. Does the customer not have to pay for the starter just because the same customer decides not to repair the engine?

I think he thinks I'm a bad customer in that I was talking of getting ZIPP wheels with them but I got an unbeatable deal elsewhere. I get his frustrations but I do try and support them. I never ask for or take a discount. I have always been appreciative of their work. I just received a carbon fiber frame from eBay made by crumpton, beautiful frame and I was going to ask him to build it up with components from the Merlin. New frame ( actually used) comes with fork.

Misdiagnosed what? The fork was broken. What do you suggest they should have done to find the crack in the frame of an unrideable bike? Sure, in hindsight, perhaps installing a used fork to make the bike serviceable before committing to a new fork may have been preferable, but I can't blame them for how they handled the situation.

Life isn't always black and white. There's often a wide gray zone that calls for a gray approach.

Talk to the shop manager and try to work out something that's fair to both sides. The fork gets sold at a discount, some happy person gets a bargain, the shop gives up some profit, you eat some loss and everyone moves on.

One way for the OP to approach this to to imagine that he were the mechanic. Would he feel it was fair that he had to eat the loss when he did nothing wrong? That's the opposite side of the coin.

Now, of course, if the OP has never made a mistake in his life, he'd be within his rights in saying you missed the frame crack, so you eat the cut fork.

Correct. You take the starter out, apologize for the inconvenience, restock the starter, and send them on their way with no bill.

Assuming you want to keep a decent reputation instead of fleecing everyone for an additional $450 if you can get away with it, I mean.

I'm in the minority. I think OP should pay something.

However, OP should ask to share the cost of the fork or some discount because he can't really use it.

Well, if the fork is broken, fine. But I read here they took the frame to a "carbon fiber specialist", presumably to get it scanned.

If a customer came into a shop with a CF bike that had some kind of horrific crash, I would have the carbon fiber specialist scan the frame FIRST, BEFORE attempting to make any repairs. If the fork is horribly broken, chances are that some other damage, potentially not visible with the naked eye, was sustained to the frame as well.

They could have foreseen that if the frame was cracked too, you would have to consider the bike a total loss, and hence not need the fork replaced.

Poor judgement on their part I think, for rushing to fix part of the problem without getting all the facts in first. They should eat the cost of the fork for their mistake.

Let me put it this way: I do computer repairs. If I know that a catastrophic power surge has fried some of the computer components, I would FIRST test each component individually for damage. I would not replace the hard drive, just to find out that the motherboard has been fried as well, and then charge my client for the hard drive anyway, because I can't sell it as 'new' anymore.

That's not comparable. Imagine that a car comes in with a cracked engine mount. Your people weld the bracket and replace the mount. Then when the car is road tested you found that one of the wheel A-frames is also cracked. The owner says the cost of repairing both is more than the car is worth, and decides to scrap it.

Are you entitled to get paid for what you did, which was in fact a legitimate repair?

This is different as well: because it was possible for them to get the frame scanned and get a full picture of the damage BEFORE attempting ANY repairs. The OP says they took it to a Carbon fiber specialist eventually to get it checked out.

They should have known better than to assume the fork was the only damaged part. In fact, they should have warned the client that, even though the fork could be replaced, there might be other damage to the frame sustained in the crash, and they should not attempt any repairs before getting all the facts in.

To ride a bike, yeah, it sort of does.

You're not going to figure out a creak in the bike riding around without a loaded headset. Probably just going to create more creaks and cracks. Not really a safe thing to do.

Should have used a used fork.

My real issue is why cut the steerer tube to size without having completed the work up for what you know is a damaged bike from a wreck. That seems shortsighted. Granted hindsight etc but still.