Southern Maine fork Mechanic
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So i took my ride into Allspeed last month, my first experience there and i have to say it was not a good experience. It seems a lot of people in the area like the shop, but i doubt i will give them another chance. It is too bad because i know it just takes one mechanic having a bad day and pass it off on a first time customer. So i guess i was that customer.
I wanted to take it somewhere closer to work but i guess i'll be taking to Wheel Power in Exeter, which is out of my way a little bit. But they've been pretty good the few times i've been there. And they are Rock Shox certified, whatever that means.
I took my bike into Allspeed to get my fork fixed. Instead a week plus later get my bike back with a quick fix, and told my lowers are bent and just kind of passed off to the register with a see ya later attitude. I was left having to ask question after question trying to get to the bottom of what would need to be done. In my opinion it is important for a shop to spend a little time with a customer explaining what was found, what was done, and what is the best way to fix the problem. It is, or was, a $700 shock, i would like to know more than "my lowers are bent." Just communicate with your customer, if you are busy with someone else, tell me you are busy and if i could just wait you'll be with me in a moment.
I'm still in search for "my shop" in the area. I used to drive an hour for "my shop" in NJ, but they were worth it.
I wanted to take it somewhere closer to work but i guess i'll be taking to Wheel Power in Exeter, which is out of my way a little bit. But they've been pretty good the few times i've been there. And they are Rock Shox certified, whatever that means.
I took my bike into Allspeed to get my fork fixed. Instead a week plus later get my bike back with a quick fix, and told my lowers are bent and just kind of passed off to the register with a see ya later attitude. I was left having to ask question after question trying to get to the bottom of what would need to be done. In my opinion it is important for a shop to spend a little time with a customer explaining what was found, what was done, and what is the best way to fix the problem. It is, or was, a $700 shock, i would like to know more than "my lowers are bent." Just communicate with your customer, if you are busy with someone else, tell me you are busy and if i could just wait you'll be with me in a moment.
I'm still in search for "my shop" in the area. I used to drive an hour for "my shop" in NJ, but they were worth it.
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Sorry to hear that. Bent magnesium lowers? I've never heard that before. If you get a moment, come up to Bath. We'll treat you right. I'm sure Wheel Power is great as well. I imagine they get a lot of traffic and the shop looks top notch.idbrian said:
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376 Posts
go to bath. great shop. best i've ever dealt with
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The mechanic from Allspeed was pretty "shocked" by it also. Based on the entire interaction i'm not confident it is even the case. All i know is the shock is all kinds of messed up. I'm going to go to Wheel Power and see what they have to say about it.
Apparently the lowers don't line up with the uppers when he tried to reinsert them.
Thanks for the recommendation on heading to Bath. I live in Kittery and work in S. Portland and i'm looking for a bike shop between work and home, or really close to one or the other. I need to start frequenting one shop and start a good relationship. I'm going to give Wheel Power a shot on this one as they've seemed good so far. I'll follow up with a report.
I don't know how bad of a crash i would have to get into to bend the lowers, but i'm pretty sure a crash that bad would have done extensive damage to the wheels and my person. My only guess could be that if they are in fact bent it must of had something to do with the way i travel back and forth to work with the bike often. They are fork mounted to a roof rack through a Yakima Fork-Up attachment.
Apparently the lowers don't line up with the uppers when he tried to reinsert them.
Thanks for the recommendation on heading to Bath. I live in Kittery and work in S. Portland and i'm looking for a bike shop between work and home, or really close to one or the other. I need to start frequenting one shop and start a good relationship. I'm going to give Wheel Power a shot on this one as they've seemed good so far. I'll follow up with a report.
I don't know how bad of a crash i would have to get into to bend the lowers, but i'm pretty sure a crash that bad would have done extensive damage to the wheels and my person. My only guess could be that if they are in fact bent it must of had something to do with the way i travel back and forth to work with the bike often. They are fork mounted to a roof rack through a Yakima Fork-Up attachment.
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1,406 Posts
It's not common but hardly impossible for magnesium lowers to bend or deform, I've seen it happen several times. It can often be the result of over-flexing the fork from a crash or heavy duty riding (more common with quick release drop outs, or downhill forks) and simply not springing back. It can easily be spotted by the drop outs not lining up, or stanchions not lining up when reassembling the fork. Continueing to ride a bent set of lowers will cause the bushings to wear into your stancions inside the fork, causing irreversable seal and slop issues. I'd recommend having the problem taken care of sooner rather than later. Your fork probably hasnt ridden well for a while, hence your inclination for a rebuild. The unfortunately nature of suspension is that a decrease in performance takes place over a long period of time, and is often unnoticable if you ride regularly. That's the biggest reason I stress routine suspension service for avid riders as a preventative measure. Your problem will likely be solved with a new set of lowers, it's extremely uncommon for uppers to twist or bend.
I work at another shop in the area and handle the suspension service there. From a mechanics standpoint, suspension is a bit tricky to deal with if you work in a busy shop that books by appointment only. Assume a customer makes an appointment to have their suspension serviced, but there are issues discovered only when inside the repair, much like yours. The result is the "phonecall," an even longer wait for parts (since they're small, specific, and impossible to stock all of), and an increase in the bill. Often times its an honest and unavoidable situation that can reflect badly on the shop and leave the customer without a ride. That sucks you had a bad interaction, but I'm sure it was just an off-experience. I know plenty of people who use that shop and love it. Best of luck at your next pitstop!
I work at another shop in the area and handle the suspension service there. From a mechanics standpoint, suspension is a bit tricky to deal with if you work in a busy shop that books by appointment only. Assume a customer makes an appointment to have their suspension serviced, but there are issues discovered only when inside the repair, much like yours. The result is the "phonecall," an even longer wait for parts (since they're small, specific, and impossible to stock all of), and an increase in the bill. Often times its an honest and unavoidable situation that can reflect badly on the shop and leave the customer without a ride. That sucks you had a bad interaction, but I'm sure it was just an off-experience. I know plenty of people who use that shop and love it. Best of luck at your next pitstop!
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1,450 Posts
Allspeed also told me to go ahead and ride it for now and get it fixed in the future when it becomes more of annoyance. I've ridden it since then but have been paranoid that the problem was more serious than how they were making it out to be. I definitely didn't want to get stuck buying a whole new fork. Hopefully i hear today what the verdict is.
This whole idea of appointment only bike shops is a new concept to me. Maybe it is because there are more shops in a confined area in NJ, where i'm used to. There are some great shops in NJ and i have never been asked about appointments there. Maybe it is more common with roadie shops, i used to go to the more MTB specific shops. Allspeed looks like they cater to both.
This whole idea of appointment only bike shops is a new concept to me. Maybe it is because there are more shops in a confined area in NJ, where i'm used to. There are some great shops in NJ and i have never been asked about appointments there. Maybe it is more common with roadie shops, i used to go to the more MTB specific shops. Allspeed looks like they cater to both.
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65 Posts
FWIW-
My lowers on my 29 Reba are bent(twisted). the front wheel is cocked when the wheel is securely fastened. Had to upgrade to a 15mm fox fork.
My lowers on my 29 Reba are bent(twisted). the front wheel is cocked when the wheel is securely fastened. Had to upgrade to a 15mm fox fork.
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3,795 Posts
shock treatment centers
as a small bike shop manager and wrench, i hear these types of stories ALL of the time. many bike shops are too damn busy to turn around a fork repair, rebuild in a reasonable amount of time. heck any shop that has to book out any kind of repair more than a week out should hire another wrench cuz more than a week out for almost anything is rediculous.
that said, i'm a small shop guy who doesn't get enough suspension work to warrant doing it at all. however i take it one step better and more efficiently by making use of one of my best parts distributors (QBP) and their shock treatment center. all they do is fork and shock work and can do anything within a weeks time door to door. so while i'm doing my daily repairs, they are rebuilding and servicing what i send them, doing it at wholesale and i can get it back to my customer properly 100% of the time so far and i can mark up what i need to to make some dough above and beyond while still giving my customer a very fair deal.
there are some good shops out there, but the problem with many of them is you never know sometimes whos gonna (try) to do the work and how long it's gonna take. all it takes is, doh, i guess i do have to order those parts for yer repair which doubles the time, or you can have it sent to where all of the parts are and pros that do it all day every day.
just my .02
service smart, not hard
rog
as a small bike shop manager and wrench, i hear these types of stories ALL of the time. many bike shops are too damn busy to turn around a fork repair, rebuild in a reasonable amount of time. heck any shop that has to book out any kind of repair more than a week out should hire another wrench cuz more than a week out for almost anything is rediculous.
that said, i'm a small shop guy who doesn't get enough suspension work to warrant doing it at all. however i take it one step better and more efficiently by making use of one of my best parts distributors (QBP) and their shock treatment center. all they do is fork and shock work and can do anything within a weeks time door to door. so while i'm doing my daily repairs, they are rebuilding and servicing what i send them, doing it at wholesale and i can get it back to my customer properly 100% of the time so far and i can mark up what i need to to make some dough above and beyond while still giving my customer a very fair deal.
there are some good shops out there, but the problem with many of them is you never know sometimes whos gonna (try) to do the work and how long it's gonna take. all it takes is, doh, i guess i do have to order those parts for yer repair which doubles the time, or you can have it sent to where all of the parts are and pros that do it all day every day.
just my .02
service smart, not hard
rog
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