Re: Nightmare experience buying a road-bike from Scott India Clearly this can be a frustrating experience for somebody who has just bought their dream bike, so my sympathies.
Having said which, here’s a little more general context.
Stock wheels are mass assembled. Spoke tension can sometimes need to be adjusted after a bit of riding. It is not uncommon at all for spokes to either break or rims to go out of true. Having a couple of spokes come off can seem disastrous but it isn’t the end of the world. The same wheel can easily be rebuilt to far better standards with just better nipples and some dedicated skill.
You see, much as one feels one is spending a lot of money the first time one buys a premium bicycle and therefore everything should be perfect, it isn’t. The truth is that stock wheels for hybrids are entry level pieces of kit which are optimised for cost and averages (average rider of average weight on average global roads with average usage, etc) which are not adjusted for Indian conditions. They are far from the strongest and this is a reality one needs to swallow.
This is true even for stock wheels of bikes that cost lakhs. There’s a reason why good wheels can cost thousands of dollars and wheel building is a skill in itself (which not every technician in every bike shop possesses to be honest as even the equipment, let alone the training, takes money, time and effort). Cheap, light, strong - you can only pick two i.e. if it’s cheap and light, it won’t be strong, if it’s strong and light it won’t be cheap and if it’s strong and cheap it won’t be light. Please understand also by ‘cheap’ I mean in relative terms. A bike that costs 30-40k is definitely not cheap by our standards but in order to bring in that bike at that weight, compromises have to be made. Most manufacturers will only warranty the frame too as that’s what they produce. The rest of the components are assembled. In short, calling for a warranty replacement bike for this won’t really fly. So the best they can do is to replace a broken part.
I’m sorry if this doesn’t sound sympathetic, it’s just the truth of the industry.
However, the manner in which this has been handled certainly leaves much to be desired and it has robbed you of the joy you got into it with and for that you have every right to be aggrieved. Sadly, this is rather the reality with most premium bicycle dealers in India (with rare exceptions) and it’s more a result of the state of maturity of the industry or lack thereof. As cycling grows in popularity and more people get into it, the numbers will generate better business and more responsible, customer-friendly practices. At the moment though I do sympathise with dealers too because unlike say the bike or car industry, on total scale, business is still too small to carry a lot of inventory and the cost of satisfying an unhappy customer may just be too much for some dealers to stomach. I’m not saying it’s right, I’m just calling it out for what it is.
Short version, I’d say just take your bike and replacement wheel and get it checked with a good wheel builder and then get out and keep munching miles while you put this episode in your rear view.
All the best. |