[sundaydoug]

I just wanted to share a great experience that I had with DMR's tech/warranty department over the past few weeks.

I managed to mangle a left-side Vault pedal by catching a tree stump a few weeks ago. The crash ruined the pedal cage and bent the spindle, which made the fairly-new pedal inoperable. These are great pedals and were new this season, so I emailed DMR with pictures to see if they had any kind of crash replacement policy. I explained that I understood that it certainly wasn't a warranty issue and that I'd happily pay for a new pedal. One of the tech managers wrote me back the same day and said that they didn't have a crash replacement policy, but if he had a spare black left-side pedal he would send it to me free of charge. He got back to me a day later and said that while he couldn't find a spare, he understood my situation and wanted to help. In an effort of good will he offered to send me a brand new pedal free of charge. I got it in the mail yesterday. These guys are a real class-act.

You always hear when certain companies are bad to work with, but rarely hear about stuff like this.

 

[HardtailHack]

If you have a search around it seems like quite a few pedals have bent or snapped but it's still pretty cool that they sorted you out nice and quick and for free. I didn't get the same service with Burgtec, but they are **** pedals anyway so I wasn't too worried!

 

[Tomasis]

burgtec is not good, huh? pedals seem be quite burly.

 

[HardtailHack]

They are one of the nicest feeling pedals underfoot but their shape means that you don't clip rocks, they try to destroy rocks. It also looks as if the Ti axles are machined differently to the regular axle, the Ti ones look as if they have reliefs machined in to the axle to reduce the chances of them cracking.

My standard axle snapped where the axle steps down to a smaller diameter where the bearings sit. I am not an engineer, I don't even have a Macbook but my inner E engineer tells me that mine snapped because I had some bushing play and having two bearings side by side at the end of the axle puts a lot more radial load on it than just one bearing would. If the bushing and bearings died at the same rate it would be OK and if the body shape allowed you to glance off rocks it may have helped too.

I have learned to just not buy things deigned or made by people from the UK, I think my DMR bits are the only decent UK designed/made bits I own.

 

[norbar]

They are one of the nicest feeling pedals underfoot but their shape means that you don't clip rocks, they try to destroy rocks. It also looks as if the Ti axles are machined differently to the regular axle, the Ti ones look as if they have reliefs machined in to the axle to reduce the chances of them cracking.

My standard axle snapped where the axle steps down to a smaller diameter where the bearings sit. I am not an engineer, I don't even have a Macbook but my inner E engineer tells me that mine snapped because I had some bushing play and having two bearings side by side at the end of the axle puts a lot more radial load on it than just one bearing would. If the bushing and bearings died at the same rate it would be OK and if the body shape allowed you to glance off rocks it may have helped too.

I have learned to just not buy things deigned or made by people from the UK, I think my DMR bits are the only decent UK designed/made bits I own.

I'm pretty sure the main designer at banshee is scottish and I have no quarell with their products Also hope and orange?

 

[boylagz]

Thanks for sharing. I have close to identical experience with Straitline flats. Bent the left axle, emailed them, exchanged a couple, but the responses stopped... Not as fruitful as your experience, I still bought the axle retail.

 

[blindboxx2334]

had an issue with azonic and my buds cranks yesterday. he bent them two rides in and theyre trying to sell him a right arm for the price that he paid for the whole crank!

i didnt like azonics stuff to begin with, now i really cant stand them.

edit:
just realized you guys were pretty much talking about pedals. my bad

 

[HardtailHack]

I'm pretty sure the main designer at banshee is scottish and I have no quarell with their products Also hope and orange?

They have had their fair share of problems with earlier frames.

My UK fun-
Goldtec front hub- spacer between the bearings is floating so you have to put your pinky down it to get an axle through.
Planet-X- BB welded in crooked.
On-One, First frame, overspray, metal floating around in the frame. Second frame, BB shell had a big score on the end so when it was faced it was under 68mm, threads had to be chased as BB wouldn't wind in at all, brake tabs were so far off they couldn't be faced.
Pace Suspension- Blew the damper on a 150mm fork by hopping off three stairs, Pace tried blaiming me but Aus REP sorted me out, before they managed to bed in the carbon bond split and they spewed oil.
Burgtec- Axle snapped and my foot flew off the bike, **** machining and pedal shape.
I'm sure there's more, however I just put my 6-8yr old DMR Speedguide on my HT, it is an awesome bit of gear it's about the same weight as the ones on the market now.

EDIT- I forgot Hope, two snapped axles, Partly Sram's fault, still my NP hub went fine with a Maxle.
Brakes didnt work in the wet, calipers needed to be spaced up 5mm so the pads didn't hit the rotor spokes making for horrible low speed brake feel.
Ano peeled off one Master cyl bore on the V2(Moto lever was far better but too long).
Both the Moto and the V2 had the same rear piston seize, running different frames, rebuilt them using new seals and caliper grease and the same thing happened 6 months later. Running Magura now and it's sad when a Magura brake is better than a Hope brake.

Double Edit, Forgot Middleburn, cranks made of butter, hub spacers that have to be held in position by hand when installing front axle, rear hub skips unless you run a steel axle and the axle is made for 9mm DO's I had mine machined to take a 10mm axle bolt it is however a beautifully quiet hub.

Before all that I owned Minis and every part bar a set of roller rockers that was made in the UK fell apart, they are beer engineers, they go to to the pub get drunk wih their mates and design **** and sell it to suckers like me, screw you UK companies and Dirt Mag recommendations, I'm done, Taiwan ****s on you useless twats!

 

[trib]

Isn't this just the bike industry in general?

Intense: Misaligned
Sant cruz: anybody own a super 8 that didnt snap?
stratos, Risse, Girvin, 5th element, RST, Noleen: less said the better, they all sucked, for various reasons
Cannondale: There's the right way, the wrong way and the way that C'dale does things.
RS: forks arriving dry
Hayes: dizzying heights and some very low lows at their worst
Manitou: getting better but many, many years of 'wtf is that'
Marzocchi: amazing, then ****, repeat in roughly 5 yearly cycles
Tioga: why would you want tyres that grip in a controllable fashion?
FSA: the pig headset was great, the cranks they made of cheese weren't
Turner: "the horst link is the best linkage available, hang on, single pivot driven linkage is fine, no let's go DW now"
kona: "If we make it heavy enough, no one will be able to get it off the ground and break it"
Nicolai: we've made a nice single pivot, let's add reinforcing struts, braces, gussets, random bolt holes and a pink and yellow camo paintjob

now many of those companies have made amazing products, some of them (especially the fork companies) seem to make great products one year, then fall off the wagon the next.

I'm happy that companies like DMR exist, they make cheapish frames and components that allow youngsters to get into the sport. Some of their stuff blows, some is great. Good to see they offer good follow up support to their customers. Long may they continue