visp frame arrived today with a bend in the top lip of the headtube. the frame is aluminium, so can it be bent back ie repaired? i’ve msgd them about the damage but don’t know how good their customer service is. the packaging didnt appear to be damaged and the paint was intact so i don’t think it was damaged in transit (the paint is so crap it comes off just by touching it). any advice would be appreciated.
Yep it’s stuffed. As metals go aluminium is notoriously hard to repair as it weakens as it is worked. I had an aluminium frame that got dropped and ended up with a bent derailleur hanger (note to self to never buy an aluminium bike without a removable hanger). Every bike shop told me it was a write off but Mascot Cycles in Richmond was able to fix it, although it never changed gears the same after that.
Given you bought it new and it arrived damaged without any obvious signs of damage on the box I’d say you should push for a replacement. Given the volume that these online stores must go through I reckon it probably won’t be a problem. If they stuff you about it may be worth putting in a paypal claim (I’m assuming you bought it on ebay and used paypal?).
thanks for the advice guys
just waiting for a response hopefully they’ll send a new one without any additional cost
otherwise i guess i’ll have to go the paypal dispute route
The way to make a million dollars selling cheap bike stuff is to have great friendly staff on the other end of the sales@mycheapbikepartscompany.com address and nobody at the other end of the support@mycheapbikepartscompany.com address. A very popular business model at the moment.
i sent a second email through the address listed in the ad and got a friendly reply in 2 hours asking for my ebay id so a good start. i’m not uncrossing my fingers yet.
I bought a frame from a shop once with similar damage - a speaker had fallen onto it. I got it very cheap and fixed it with a cylindrical flare and a precision press-reamer. It was steel though.
got an email this morning saying a new frame would be sent out within 36 hours.
he also wants me to send the damaged frame back.
any suggestions for shipping to china?
yeah that was my iro, still sitting in my room. sounds like its a pretty common mishap. luckily australia post reimbursed me for everything…and this was after iro sent me another frame.