CEarly said:"Tim McNamara" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:CEarly said:Thanks for the observation that this is common. I've never
encountered it on other frames I've had though. I neglected to
mention that the internal ledge at 10cm in the seat tube is just
on one side, indicating that the reamer was misaligned in the
tube. I'm guessing that whoever was doing the work realized that
and stopped before irreparably damaging the frame, which is why
I'm only able to insert a seatpost to 10cm. So, if I want a low
seat position for DH, it looks like I'll get to haul a shorter
seatpost around with me. Guess I'll chalk this up to experience
and reject a frame with this problem immediately in the future,
not to mention avoiding Gunnar. Too bad their QC missed this.
With the misaligned reaming job so far, trying to ream it deeper
would seem to risk perforating or seriously weakening the seat
tube.
Ummm, maybe this is a weird question, but have you called Gunnar
and talked to them about this? I have found them ("them" being
Waterford precision Bicycles, the owner and manufacturer of Gunnar-
Gunnar being named after Richard Schwinn's dog, IIRC) to be very
helpful and to provide excellent customer service. Rather than
just grousing about them, perhaps you might see if they would be
willing to make it right.
Why, yes, I've contacted Waterford Precision Bicycles (Boy, it was
tough resisting that one!), as I mentioned earlier in this thread,
explaining what problem was.
Sorry, I didn't see in your post that you had done this.
Quoted message said:Today, I was offered the opportunity to send the frame back to them.
Problem is, they're in WI and I'm in WA. I'm not real thrilled
about the increased potential for damage to the frame inherent in
two more cross-country trips with shipping companies, not to mention
having to pay to send it there. So, I've counter-offered to take
the frame to a local bike shop and get the re-reaming done and send
the bill to Waterford for reimbursement. I'll see what they think
about that idea tomorrow.
At least I know from their reply that Waterford thinks it's okay
to re-ream the seat tube to correct this problem. I don't know how
thin the walls of those tubes are, nor what the potential weakening
effect of taking more metal off in the process of trying to
straighten out the reaming would be, but I'm relieved to hear that
this may be correctable.
If it were my frame, I'd ship it to them and ask them to refund my
shipping costs if the frame is in fact incorrectly made. And to
replace the frame if it is. They might or might not go for the
shipping thing. The rest should be handled under warranty, as ISTR
that the frame is quite new.
The tubing is already quite thin and I would not trust a bike shop to
re-ream it without causing further damage. A custom frame builder
with much experience, perhaps; but not a bike shop (unless I was very
sure of the mechanic's skills, that is). You can see the wall
thickness by looking at the top of the tube, unless there is some kind
of lip or lug applied to the top for a pinch bolt. My Gunnar has a
separate aluminum collar for the pinch bolt, and the tubing thickness
is easy to see.
Quoted message said:I'll let you know how "excellent" their customer service turns out
to be.
I hope it turns out well.
