Progress so far...

June 30th 2009 - 22 stone 4Ibs. Current weight - 17 stone 1Ib. Weight loss - 5 stone 3Ibs. Commuting miles - 3389.
Non commuting miles - 359. Mileage this week - 101 miles. Total mileage - 3748 miles.


Thursday 29 April 2010

New wheels...

What a day yesterday, I managed to get my Giant home ok via the QE route I did on Tuesday.

Stats here:

Started: 28 Apr 2010 15:05:04
Ride Time: 46:33
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 11.77 miles
Average: 13.45 miles/hr
Fastest Speed: 34.74 miles/hr
Climb: 492 feet
Calories: 885


I then chucked it in the car and drove to Northfield Cycles to have a chat about the wheel/spoke thing, but not before I'd taken it to another local bike shop to get an independant opinion. You can never be too careful can you?

I'll keep the other shop nameless and the person who advised me as I don't want to stir up any LBS ill feeling! Suffice it to say I trust this person implicitly, I've known them for years and they've always supplied a great service. I kinda wish I'd had my road bike from them, but they don't do the types I'd researched and wanted unfortunately.

The advice I'd got from nameless LBS was basically that spoke breakages of the like I'd had were not the norm, I shouldn't be charged for them and nameless LBS would have repaired them for free or in the case of continuous breakages get me a new set of wheels. Nameless LBS actually used the "Not fit for purpose" phrase which is a terrifying phrase to hear in the industry I work in! Although I'm not certain the effect it would have on some one in the bike trade.

So, over to Northfield Cycles where I spoke to young Neil. At first they said they'd put another spoke in which would cost £12. I wasn't very happy with that and said that I do only around a 100 miles a week and I've only had the bike 2 months and I shouldn't be having spoke breakages. I said that just replacing spokes wouldn't cure the issue. Neil then said that Giant considered spokes a consumable and therefore not under warranty.  A bit of to-ing and fro-ing then occured as I stated my bottom line, which was the wheel is faulty, I want a wheel that is reliable, I had lost confidence in the bike and I also shouldn't have to pay anything extra. Neil said he'd phone Giant and get back to me. I then left and drove home.

At about 1730hrs Neil called me to say that after speaking to Giant they said that they'd supply a new set of wheels for me, these Shimano ones apparently. This is good news. To say I'm happy would be a bit of an understatement. The only slight negative is that I'd planned a 50 miler on Bank Holiday Monday to Bridgenorth which will now have to wait as it's unlikely I'll get the bike back before then. But the positive is it means I'll have to go on a MTB micro adventure instead!

Also no road bike meant that it was a tow path commute in. So my Ridgeback commuter was dragged out of the garage at early O'Clock and off I went. Just as I was by the Sainsbury's Supermarket in Northfield I saw a bloke on a hybrid whizz past through the red lights I was patiently waiting at and blast off down the hill towards Selly Oak, I really hope the footage comes out, Lights to green and I was after him. I soon caught him and kept a respectable distance behind him so he could drag me up the hill, punishment for red light jumping I say, but half way up he pulled over, I'm pretty certain he didn't like me on his back wheel! I said "Morning mate" as I went past and he said he'd pulled over as he had to cross over the road. Hmm...





Onto the cut and I never saw a soul until I got to work. Apart from a bloke feeding the ducks where the canal has been diverted to allow the Selly Oak By-Pass to be completed. Apologies for the sound and the blank last 30 seconds of the vid, still learning about this stuff!

Stats here:
Started: 29 Apr 2010 05:25:21
Ride Time: 48:19
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 11.39 miles
Average: 11.69 miles/hr
Fastest Speed: 27.63 miles/hr
Climb: 315 feet
Calories: 816

Weigh in tonight...

12 comments:

  1. A 100% win on the wheels then!

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  2. Looks like it mate. I couldn't see what the argument was really. You don't buy a new bike then have spokes pinging off all over the shop in the first few weeks do you?

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  3. no, totally wrong, same with my hybrid, but the company I bought it from were not intrested at all in anything to do with the bike, should maybe persue it, but dont see the point. Thats the downside to internet buying.

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  4. Can't agree more, it's always nice to be face to face with the supplier, they tend to see reason quicker than if you email or phone. Fair play to Neil at Northfield Cycles though. I am very happy with the resolution.

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  5. The advantages of buying local instead of off the internet.

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  6. Glad you the wheels sorted but is only wot is rite mate

    Sorry you was dissapointed on the towpath and that the guy was feeding Ducks not Geese lol

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  7. I had a similar problem with spokes on my Dawes when I first got it....Dawes ended up rebuilding the wheel when the Rim finally failed...Never had a problem after that...

    I managed to break a spoke on the RS10 rear wheel on the Merida last year....But it was power and a rough road...

    The wheels are good, the spokes are solid...

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  8. Love the vid Clive

    Tailgating then as he turned of u dun him wiv
    " morning mate " lol

    The Geese I think I heard him say as he flew off
    " Oh no FFS its Clive "

    Ure cycle lanes look better than we av round our way mate

    Towpath looks narrow in parts could see me ending up in the canal lol

    All in all great entertaining vid or do I need to get out more u decide mate

    Good luck with the weigh in Clive

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  9. Nice result Clive with the wheels glad its all sorted mate.
    I had similiar problem with my Trek and the crank making an anoying noise.
    Took it back twice but the second time i got the organ grinder to take a look and not the monkey and that was when it was over 12 month old.
    Great tunes mr dj,
    Brings back memories of my youth lol.
    Clive the guy spent or what seemed to me a long time out of the saddle
    I think you were pushing him to hard and maybe he didnt like being the pusuit person.
    Was it that you knackered him out and he pulled over.
    To much sheer power in those legs and determination.

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  10. Cheers Simon, he was out of his saddle a lot, I just stayed seated and pedalling normally. I think the pressure got to him! LOL!

    Glad you liked the music. Choosing tracks is always awkward, but being a 70's 80's kid does bring back some happy memories with the simple Minds tracks.

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  11. When I was researching which bike to get I searched the FAQs on Specialized's website and they say that wheels used by heavy people are consumables.

    Specialized FAQ

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