[YaMon]

Walked into a bike shop with my Dare frame and a new Race Face Diabolus headset. I asked the mechanic if he could ream the headtube and install. I had sheared off a set of S2's (yea I know they are crap and had to replace with a set of Pig Dh's that had been shortened because when they were installed I was not living in the country and there was no way to have the headtube reamed.

Recently I started hearing a slight creak coming from the headset and decided to replace it before and more damage had been done. I bought the Diabolus because it seated an additional 1/4" deeper and I figured would cure the slight ovalization.

Now to my story.....the mechanic comes back and said that they were the wrong headset for my bike and that I had to replace them. Says that the Dare frame is a downhill frame and not designed for the deeper headsets. These deep headsets were designed for freeride frames. The Dare was designed to go fast and in the DH races they don't have big drops, lots of smooth trannys and that was the reason for them putting in the shorter cup headset in the first place.

And BTW, he has just the right headset in stock. A set of aluminum cup, regular depth, Race Face headset that he could install right away.

I suppose I am not upset because he suggested me buying another set from him, afterall he has to pay his rent. But do I have idiot stamped on my forehead?? Was this a cock and bull story or what??

What would you have done??

 

[Smelly]

I would have walked out of there and made sure of two things: first, that guy never touched my bike again, and second, that I never spent another dime in the shop. It's guys like that that are the reason people don't go to LBS's anymore.

 

[YaMon]

However, the bike shop that this idiot works for, does a lot of trail maintenance locally and has a big customer base. So, I am going to just watch the situation and see. I will request that the mechanic does not work on my bike in the future......which would never happen anyways since I wrench on my own bike.......(now I know why).

There are other compelling reasons that I did not mention. Like me telling him to put a caliper on the headset and compare it to how deep the headtube was previously reamed. only to turn around and he has already pressed the headset in..........:redhot: .

 

[binary visions]

I would have walked out of there and made sure of two things: first, that guy never touched my bike again, and second, that I never spent another dime in the shop. It's guys like that that are the reason people don't go to LBS's anymore.

Yep, and yep.

The guy is a moron. Don't ever spend a nickel in there again.

And I might call his boss (unless he is the boss) and inform him why he has lost your business. Buy your own tools, wrench on your own bike (headset presses can be assembled with simple hardware from the hardware store), and buy your parts online.

 

[bjanga]

If the shop does not want to do what I am paying them to do, then I can pay someone else to do it (or pay jenson for the tools).

 

[YaMon]

There are guys out there that don't know one end of a hammer from the other (you know the types...) and they are being fed cock and bull stories like this one and they are actually BELIEVING them.

I wonder how many times this guy has gotten away telling people stories like this?? I'm probably more upset at people for not knowing even the basics, how difficult is a bicycle to understand?? I am not talking about pulling apart a shifter and putting it back together. Stuff like changing tires, changing one broken spoke, knowing which way to turn the left and right pedals to remove them.......

 

[sanjuro]

You have to understand that most bike shop "professionals" want to give off an air of confidence, even if they are totally clueless. On the other hand, a mechanic is dealing with bikes from the 70's to the today's myriad configurations.

If I am not familiar with a particular product, I usually refer to the shop owner, who is the best mechanic in the county. If it is something I think I can figure out on my own, I will look at online docs or call manufacturer's tech lines.

I expect my customers to be patient, but me figuring it out will be much faster than the customer or many other "professionals".

 

[Quo Fan]

If he pressed in a different headset than the one you gave him I would have taken the frame (with the new headset) and my head set and left the shop. He did work on your bike without your permission, and with parts you didn't approve. IMO, you get the parts and labor free.

 

[jonKranked]

so what if the headset was designed for freeride? just because its "designed" for freeride doesn't mean it won't "work" for dh (case in point: i have a cassette "designed" for road riding (sram pg970) on my DH bike. it works, so by this mechanic's theory, i shouldn't do it, right?). if the headtube was reamed to the right diameter and proper depth then it should go in no problem.

 

[maxyedor]

It is possible that the reamed portion of the frame is not deep enough to accept the headset you wanted. Some heartubes step, or pinch in about 3/4 of an inch down. If that is the case he is just really dumb, but not trying to swindle you. It could have just been a missunderstanding. Also how many headsets did they have in stock? The shop I used to work at had just about everything instock so pretty much no matter what you needed we just "happened to have the perfect part for you" I'm just playing the devil's advocate here, I'd hate for a good shop to get a bad rep. over a silly missunderstanding.

 

[YaMon]

It is possible that the reamed portion of the frame is not deep enough to accept the headset you wanted. Some heartubes step, or pinch in about 3/4 of an inch down. If that is the case he is just really dumb, but not trying to swindle you. It could have just been a missunderstanding. Also how many headsets did they have in stock? The shop I used to work at had just about everything instock so pretty much no matter what you needed we just "happened to have the perfect part for you" I'm just playing the devil's advocate here, I'd hate for a good shop to get a bad rep. over a silly missunderstanding.

Initially I asked him if it could be reamed, he came back and said they did not have a reamer. But, it was the wrong headset for the frame............blah, blah, blah..