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demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
So i went to order 2 hubs and a set of spokes from i9. Turns out, they refuse to sell to me(or my shop) because they must build the wheel to ensure quality control. I have ordered 2 wheels worth of spokes in the past without a problem what so ever. (which obviously i built into a wheel) Turns out, you can no longer build your own i9 wheels? Now i get stuck shipping my rims to them, probably waiting longer,and getting hit on the way back. and im sure the price will go up. Great policy :mad:
 

-BB-

I broke all the rules, but somehow still became mo
Sep 6, 2001
4,254
28
Livin it up in the O.C.
That is one reason (of many) that I will not buy ANY proprietary parts any more. Learned my lesson with Rolf wheels and the Schwinn Straight-8 Pull shock.
 

norbar

KESSLER PROBLEM. Just cause
Jun 7, 2007
11,346
1,587
Warsaw :/
They just lost my interest.
I understand how they want to avoid badly built wheels ruining their rep but I don't want to send my wheels to them everytime something happens. Hadley here I go.
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
rep for "french cries" PM if you want it. I like their stuff, and probably will keep using it (no reason to toss great wheels away for a dumb policy) However, this becomes a major PITA especially if i were to taco a wheel, and have to send it in instead of just getting the spokes (the spokes took 2 days) wheels at least used to be a 6 week wait.
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
no, you still can
not sure, we tried to just order 72 spokes, than make a separate order for hubs, they wouldnt to do it, im sure you can order 5-10, but should you demolish a wheel, im not too sure. I guess they dont want bad wheels hanging around, but making you send them in to get fixed, not sure i agree with that.
 

IH8Rice

I'm Mr. Negative! I Fail!
Aug 2, 2008
24,524
494
Im over here now
not sure, we tried to just order 72 spokes, than make a separate order for hubs, they wouldnt to do it, im sure you can order 5-10, but should you demolish a wheel, im not too sure.
miller just ordered a whole set of spokes for his wheel just two weeks ago
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
You must have talked to the wrong person or not properly explained your situation.
Anythings possible, from what the shop told me (and im great friends with the guy that took care of it.) They will not sell you spokes/hubs to your house, they will sell them to you but you will have to mail the rims to them for assembly. I can see their point (not that i agree with it) I would assume its for liability, but i THINK that would fall on the shop or "you" if you did ti yourself for improper assembly. Anythings possible, and im calling in person tomorrow to make sure. The guy on the phone didnt seem against it, but the "let me ask my boss" man says there are no exceptions. I can almost eat the shipping, but it means 4-6 weeks until i will have wheels, rather than 2 days, and i can build them myself. Great product, and i dont want to have anybody think otherwise, but the policy has gotta go.
 

OGRipper

back alley ripper
Feb 3, 2004
10,647
1,116
NORCAL is the hizzle
Wow, if this is true it's pretty ridiculous. But I suspect there is more to this story or more likely an epic failure to communicate. Every time someone complains about the i9 stuff being proprietary the typical response would be that the parts are readily available, people can service their own wheels, etc.

Makes them sound like the chefs who won't give you salt if you want some.
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,030
5,918
borcester rhymes
buy the standard hubs? Aluminum spokes don't make a lot of send to begin with, throwing bad customer service on top is icing on the nasty cake.
 

Biffff

Monkey
Jan 10, 2006
913
0
^^^^ Hmmmm, they do sell convential hubs correct??? If you're buying all new gear go for steal spokes/conventional hub I9's instead.
 

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
85,558
24,181
media blackout
french cries was my tag. as was call the whaaaaaaambulence.

businesses change policies. facts of life. they also reserve the right to not do business with anyone at their discretion.


though this does seem a bit odd...
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
french cries was my tag. as was call the whaaaaaaambulence.

businesses change policies. facts of life. they also reserve the right to not do business with anyone at their discretion.


though this does seem a bit odd...

What i dont get, assuming its liability, is why they would WANT to do it, if a shop builds a crappy wheel and i kill myself and want to sue, isnt it the shops fault "they built it" potentially "wrong?" I would think i9 would want no part of assembling it, as it puts them right in the liability wagon, we didnt build it, we arent responsible. smart lawyer monkeys?
 

BMADED

Monkey
Nov 3, 2009
149
0
808 State
Anythings possible, from what the shop told me (and im great friends with the guy that took care of it.) They will not sell you spokes/hubs to your house, they will sell them to you but you will have to mail the rims to them for assembly. I can see their point (not that i agree with it) I would assume its for liability, but i THINK that would fall on the shop or "you" if you did ti yourself for improper assembly. Anythings possible, and im calling in person tomorrow to make sure. The guy on the phone didnt seem against it, but the "let me ask my boss" man says there are no exceptions. I can almost eat the shipping, but it means 4-6 weeks until i will have wheels, rather than 2 days, and i can build them myself. Great product, and i dont want to have anybody think otherwise, but the policy has gotta go.


lull its like buying a lower and you have to have it shipped to an FFL loolololo
 

Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,030
5,918
borcester rhymes
I think I9 still does standard hubs...I'd love to own one, but that's a lot of dough.

I can understand this policy, as internet tardz are going to immediately post "look what happened to my i9" and then the trollz are gonna come out and say "i9 is teh suxx" and then I9 gets a bad rap when in reality, a poorly built wheel is a poorly built wheel...but DH is too small of an industry and riding locations are too remote to deal with proprietary parts. Universal is better!
 

Udi

RM Chief Ornithologist
Mar 14, 2005
4,915
1,200
Could you just run normal wheels like us mere mortals?
 

manhattanprjkt83

Rusty Trombone
Jul 10, 2003
9,644
1,214
Nilbog
ppl forget that i9 makes j bend spoke hubs...IMO they are some of the best in the biz...the engagement is ridiculous.

To me this makes a bit of sense that you can't buy a whole wheel worth of parts, they want to keep QC reasonable.

They have great customer service...nothing but good things to say about them.
 

mtbman1127

Monkey
Mar 10, 2008
243
0
Raleigh, NC
I spoke to I9 today and it is true. They said they were having spoke/rim interface problems and that some people were building them to the wrong tension causing issues and they want to keep their reputation of building and making high quality wheels. To me it makes sense, and if you need you can always just order everything through them cutting down on your shipping time.
 

berkshire_rider

Growler
Feb 5, 2003
2,552
10
The Blackstone Valley
I spoke to I9 today and it is true. They said they were having spoke/rim interface problems and that some people were building them to the wrong tension causing issues and they want to keep their reputation of building and making high quality wheels. To me it makes sense, and if you need you can always just order everything through them cutting down on your shipping time.
:rofl:

At the end of the day, they have made a business decision they are going to have to live with - no matter how fvcking stupid it appears.
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Anybody agree/disagree with this. Its a good idea for their reputation, since the wheels may be stronger, but, now they have the reputation as the "company that wont let you fix your own wheels" I thought that was DH suicide, since we need quick turn around time and most of us (at least me) dont want to wait extra time and spend extra money. *assuming that the labor isnt free-and it shouldnt be*

cool tags guys, are you jealous my dad rewarded with another set of wheels for sandbagging, and my mom took the shipping tab? Its funny because im pretty sure i see alot of i9 wheels on here, but i guess your right, its only for rich snobby sandbaggers like me

EDIT, spoke to them on the phone today, you CAN order spokes to fix a wheel you may have taco'd and you can get hub rebuild kits (bearing/pawls, ect) You CANNOT start off your own wheel, talked to jake, he says it has to do with tolerances in the hubs and the spoke/hub connection. The only way to tell is when you build it, and they dont want bad parts leaving there. Reasonable, not sure i agree, but not my decision either.
 
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Sandwich

Pig my fish!
Staff member
May 23, 2002
21,030
5,918
borcester rhymes


proprietary wheels, proprietary service. Nobody rides spinergy anymore for that exact reason. They can do what they want though...
 
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