# Chameleon blah



## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

Bought a 2021 in fog gray and 29er D build.

Out of the box the top headset bearing was crushed, the rear brake made a Chewbacca sound, and the rear tire weeped sealant like a mfer.

Santa Cruz was like “lol, what warranty call the manufacturers of the components.”

So I replaced the bushing, rear tire, and rear brake rotor and pads at my own cost because the manufacturers were like “you didn’t buy this **** from us, lol.”

Kind of reminds me why I used to build my own bikes.

I am disappoint.


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

Cheap_Basterd said:


> Bought a 2021 in fog gray and 29er D build.
> 
> Out of the box the top head tube bushing was crushed, the rear brake made a Chewbacca sound, and the rear tire weeped sealant like a mfer.
> 
> ...



- The brake was most likely easily fixed without buying new parts. 

- The rear tire, if it was a Maxxis, would be covered under the warranty without issue. 

- WTF is a headtube bushing? 

- Did you bring it back to the dealer who should've handled all of this for you?


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## the-one1 (Aug 2, 2008)

What is a head tube bushing?


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## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

FrankS29 said:


> - The brake was most likely easily fixed without buying new parts.
> 
> - The rear tire, if it was a Maxxis, would be covered under the warranty without issue.
> 
> ...


Headset bearing, my bad.

The bike shop said there was nothing wrong with the brake, even though there was metal fouling of the pads.

And they told me that it’s perfectly normal to have tires weep as much as this one was weeping.


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

Myself and my main riding buddy have warrantied weeping tires with Maxxis. Sent pictures to Maxxis and new tires showed up, no issue.

Sanding/cleaning the pads and rotors with a good realignment should have been perfectly good to brake good again.


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## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

FrankS29 said:


> Myself and my main riding buddy have warrantied weeping tires with Maxxis. Sent pictures to Maxxis and new tires showed up, no issue.
> 
> Sanding/cleaning the pads and rotors with a good realignment should have been perfectly good to brake good again.


I sanded them down, cleaned the rotors, and tried to re-bed the brakes, but it wasn’t perfect, so I just got new pads and rotors and that fixed the problem.

I will email Maxxis again with photos of the tire, maybe they will send me a new one.

I already bought a new one, but this way I’ll have a spare one.


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## FortOrdMTB (May 29, 2021)

Cheap_Basterd said:


> Bought a 2021 in fog gray and 29er D build.
> 
> Out of the box the top headset bearing was crushed, the rear brake made a Chewbacca sound, and the rear tire weeped sealant like a mfer.
> 
> ...


Santa. Run warranty covers the frame. You want them to cover your tires and the way a bike shop put it together too?


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## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

FortOrdMTB said:


> Santa. Run warranty covers the frame. You want them to cover your tires and the way a bike shop put it together too?


When you buy a car, the car company doesn’t make the brakes, seats, dash, or tires, but it’s still covered under warranty.

And the manufacturer IS responsible for their authorized dealers.

I’m just pissed off that the shop and Santa Cruz didn’t want to step up for a poorly built bike.


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

Cheap_Basterd said:


> When you buy a car, the car company doesn’t make the brakes, seats, dash, or tires, but it’s still covered under warranty.
> 
> And the manufacturer IS responsible for their authorized dealers.
> 
> I’m just pissed off that the shop and Santa Cruz didn’t want to step up for a poorly built bike.


Blame the shop. It was their responsibility to build the bike and check for issues.

None of this is the fault of Santa Cruz.

When you buy a car, you go to your DEALER (that would be the bike shop in this instance) with an issue. As for items not manufactured by the car company, that warranty is handled by that individual company.

When my Pirelli tires are shot and making horrible noises from excessive run out on my 6 month old car, Pirelli themselves warrantied them for me as the car manufacturer said it wasn’t their issue to warranty. 

Honestly, cars and bikes are horrible correlates in this situation.


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## RacerLex (Jan 20, 2010)

I agree this sounds like a dealer issue, but when an issue like this is reported by the customer to the bike mfg, the mfg should follow up with the dealer to ensure customer satisfaction. If I were Santa Cruz, I would want to be sure dealers are not pushing crap builds out the door because it affects the perceived quality of the product.


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## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

RacerLex said:


> I agree this sounds like a dealer issue, but when an issue like this is reported by the customer to the bike mfg, the mfg should follow up with the dealer to ensure customer satisfaction. If I were Santa Cruz, I would want to be sure dealers are not pushing crap builds out the door because it affects the perceived quality of the product.


Dealer ghosted me.

Santa Cruz said it’s not their problem.

I thought the manufacturer should step in the LBS won’t fix the problem.

Might as well buy a frame and put it together yourself.

I like the bike, but I’m going to upgrade it with better parts as stuff breaks if the manufacturer and dealer have zero interest in supporting it.


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## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

FrankS29 said:


> Blame the shop. It was their responsibility to build the bike and check for issues.
> 
> None of this is the fault of Santa Cruz.
> 
> ...


So the LBS essentially just has the right to sell complete builds from a manufacturer that they can put together half assed with no liability and the customer is expected to then go hound the component manufacturer (SRAM, Maxxis, Cane Creek, etc) if there’s a problem?


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

Cheap_Basterd said:


> So the LBS essentially just has the right to sell complete builds from a manufacturer that they can put together half assed with no liability and the customer is expected to then go hound the component manufacturer (SRAM, Maxxis, Cane Creek, etc) if there’s a problem?


Not at all what I said.

I’ll say it again: Blame. The. Shop.

They should have dealt with all of this for you on a brand new bike.

The main point is, you don’t have an issue with anything Santa Cruz manufactured. Your issues are with crappy assembly and other manufacturers defects.

With your issues, the shop should have dealt with dealing with manufacturers and replacing parts as necessary.

And yes, this is exactly why I build pretty much all of my bikes up myself from components I selected.


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## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

FrankS29 said:


> Not at all what I said.
> 
> I’ll say it again: Blame. The. Shop.
> 
> ...


So who’s responsible if the shop doesn’t want to fix it?

SC sourced the crap parts.

The bike shop claimed it was put together poorly at the factory, Santa Cruz claims the bike shop assembled it poorly.


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

Cheap_Basterd said:


> So who’s responsible if the shop doesn’t want to fix it?
> 
> SC sourced the crap parts.
> 
> The bike shop claimed it was put together poorly at the factory, Santa Cruz claims the bike shop assembled it poorly.


I hold whoever collected my payment accountable.

Part of being a dealer is representing your brands on offer and representing your customers when things need to be taken care of.

Otherwise Santa Cruz might as well as sell consumer direct.

I would ask who the Santa Cruz rep is in your area and have a chat with them.


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## slapheadmofo (Jun 9, 2006)

FrankS29 said:


> I hold whoever collected my payment accountable.
> 
> Part of being a dealer is representing your brands on offer and representing your customers when things need to be taken care of.
> 
> ...


Eggzacklee.


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

_whamp whaaaaamp_


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## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

FrankS29 said:


> I hold whoever collected my payment accountable.
> 
> Part of being a dealer is representing your brands on offer and representing your customers when things need to be taken care of.
> 
> ...


I’m in the bay area, I’ve already talked to them. Both the main office and a representative who sells bikes to a different shop, the one who actually unfucked my bike.

Who do you think told me to call SRAM or Cane Creek so they can send me new parts?

SC say my beef is with the bike shop and if the bike shop doesn’t want do anything about it take it up with the component manufacturers.

It seems like SC have an extremely low bar for whom they consider to be an “authorized dealer,” sounds like any monkey with a bunch of hammers will do.


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## eri (Sep 4, 2012)

I went with my dad when he went to get his ebike. Gave it a solid once over and a bunch of things were wrong both mechanically and with fit. I insisted they be fixed, otherwise id be doing it later. Gave them the list and we came back the next day - not paying for a messed up bike. Shifting was still bad the next day and they replaced the housing while we went and had lunch.

tubeless…. Its a process… id refuse to set it up if i was a bike shop, or id warn customer i was charging them by the hour. Like others have said maxxis is great about tubeless warranty.


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## justin70 (Sep 17, 2007)

I had a rear hub, drive-ring break on a Santa Cruz highball a few years ago. The shop gave me the run around, saying I must have taken the hub apart and put it back together wrong. Yes, I took the hub apart when it stopped engaging and found the drive ring in pieces. LBS refused to warranty the hub. So I had to contact Santa Cruz directly who just sent me out a whole new wheel. Screw that LBS.


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## dompedro3 (Jan 26, 2004)

I experienced similar situation when I bought my santa cruz a few years ago. The chainring was loose and on closer inspection the chainring lockring (raceface) was cross threaded and had messed up the threads on the crank arms and the lockring. I emailed santa cruz, they said talk to the bike shop. I talked to the bike shop and after going back and forth, I received a new crankset and sent them the crankset back (bike was bought online). 
The twist is that when I went to remove the crankset I could not do it, it was put on so tight I could not remove it. I took it to my LBS and they eventually removed it but told me it was put on way too tight.


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## vikb (Sep 7, 2008)

If you paid by credit card you can contact them and ask for a refund. Tell them you tried to resolve the issue with the bike shop. My guess would be after they call the bike shop they'll be willing to help you.

Warranty issues for components are not SC's business. It should be something the LBS handles for you with the component companies. Unless they are SC branded components of course.


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## Harold (Dec 23, 2003)

what is metal contamination of brake pads? most pads are intentionally made with metal in the pads (some more than others).


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

Cheap_Basterd said:


> Bought a 2021 in fog gray and 29er D build.


if you bought this bike brand new, your local Santa Cruz dealer should have handled ALL of it without you needing to lift a finger. 100%. if they didn't, have you contacted Santa Cruz about this experience? the bike manufacturer might want to know that their authorized dealers are doing such a lousy job.

as a former bike mechanic, customer service is what keeps the lights on in the shop. whenever someone came in with a bike that had issues that we thought might be within warranty range, we'd remove the part from the bike and replace it with something that works ASAP, then deal with the manufacturer on our end so the customer never has to suffer any of the drama. if the company denies the warranty claim, the shop would eat the cost and the customer would be happy and recommend to friends. if we didn't do that, we'd lose customers left and right and lose a lot more money in the long run.


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## dysfunction (Aug 15, 2009)

Yep, you're paying for the service. Always. Or, might as well either go DTC or just build your own and buy frames. Both bypass the LBS, although I _try_ to buy components from the LBS when possible.


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## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

So I replaced the rear tire, rear disc, and installed a new fork. Might do some upgrades later.

Sucks that I’m paying to fix everything myself, but I’m over it.


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## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

mack_turtle said:


> if you bought this bike brand new, your local Santa Cruz dealer should have handled ALL of it without you needing to lift a finger. 100%. if they didn't, have you contacted Santa Cruz about this experience? the bike manufacturer might want to know that their authorized dealers are doing such a lousy job.
> 
> as a former bike mechanic, customer service is what keeps the lights on in the shop. whenever someone came in with a bike that had issues that we thought might be within warranty range, we'd remove the part from the bike and replace it with something that works ASAP, then deal with the manufacturer on our end so the customer never has to suffer any of the drama. if the company denies the warranty claim, the shop would eat the cost and the customer would be happy and recommend to friends. if we didn't do that, we'd lose customers left and right and lose a lot more money in the long run.


Santa Cruz told me to contact the dealer, the dealer doesn’t want to do a thing. I’m done.


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## mack_turtle (Jan 6, 2009)

Cheap_Basterd said:


> Santa Cruz told me to contact the dealer, the dealer doesn’t want to do a thing. I’m done.



It probably doesn't help you, but please let SC what their authorized dealer is doing to the brand.


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## FrankS29 (Oct 23, 2019)

Cheap_Basterd said:


> View attachment 1975134
> 
> So I replaced the rear tire, rear disc, and installed a new fork. Might do some upgrades later.
> 
> Sucks that I’m paying to fix everything myself, but I’m over it.


If you haven't done so yet, crack that 34 open and do a full lowers service on it. 

Fox forks basically show up dry from the factory (except for the massive glob of Slickoleum on top of the airspring that needs to be removed).


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## Cheap_Basterd (May 28, 2020)

FrankS29 said:


> If you haven't done so yet, crack that 34 open and do a full lowers service on it.
> 
> Fox forks basically show up dry from the factory (except for the massive glob of Slickoleum on top of the airspring that needs to be removed).


Thanks, I already checked that when I took it apart to tune it.


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