AARRGGHH!!! For the third time in as many years I broke the chain stay on my commuter bike. The frame, theoretically, has 1 1/2 years left on its 5 year warranty. Unfortunately, the bike shop where I bought the frame no longer carry Vitali bikes because they were such arseholes to deal with. If I want to continue on the warranty route I'll probably have to pack the frame up and ship it to the factory in Italy... ON MY DIME!I'm trying to get some contact info for the factory so I can see what they have to say about the whole deal, although I've heard some pretty horrific stories about euro bike manufactures not honouring warranties. I noticed that Vitali has no web presence and that vitali-bikes.com and vitalibikes.com are both unregistered. If I get no joy from Vitali, then I'll register one or both of those and post up my story.
The frame always was a piece of junk. The brake bosses are mounted a few mm off of where they should be, the paint peels off the frame when I take it out of the bike fixing stand, and apparently the dropout is made of some sort metal with the strength of Parmesan cheese. I flirted with the idea of taking the thing out behind the woodshed and going at it with an ax, but then when I calmed down I realized how hard that would be on the ax. Or maybe not...
I bought a used Diamondback frame off of someone on craigslist a few months back, intending to build it up for a buddy. I'll take all the hardware off of the Vitali and install it onto the Diamondback and that'll become my new commuter. I've had pretty good luck with used workhorses in the past.
8 comments:
Doug,
I like you and all... but you are never going near my new bike!
Between the broken hand and the fact that you broke the chain stay on your commuter...
I am have come to the conclusion that you are a hack!
(But so am I... so it is all good!)
Cheers!
Buddy!
Dan
LOL!!! How's your collar bone healing, Berrecloth?
No Comment...
I thought you owned a welder?
Sounds like a decent reason to head to Italy. Just sayin'....
That is exactly what I said Ted! I say we pack up the frame, search out Vitali, say starting in Umbria.. make our way through the back alleys of Rome - notorious bike factories there - and then the Amalfi coast. Surely someone will have heard of the bike maker and Doug can make his peace while I enjoy a morning cappuccino on the piazza...
I can't think of a good reason NOT to head to Italy!
As for me owning a welder, it's true. However I burned a hole through 1/4" square tubing when I was building the pipe rack for the truck. Imagine the mess I'd make of 1/32" tubing. Dan's correct in his assessment of my riding abilities but doubly correct when referring to my welding skilz.
Ah yes, no need to worry about breaking your 'chain stay' (whatever that is) when riding the GO train in to work every day ... just the fact that it's so flipping busy that you have to STAND the whole 25min ride, that actually took 45min because of who-knows-why, for which you only paid $160 flipping dollars for a monthly pass, only to have some arsehole cough in your face. Hope you get your bike fixed ...
Post a Comment