ephemeric

I have dealt with a few bike shops in the Pretoria East area and CL has the best returns and exchanges policy. I have yet to find a bike shop that does 30 day returns. I wanted to return some items to Hot Spot Cycles and they only do 7 days. Items were still boxed, unopened and unused. Tough luck for me. Corporates have their problems but returms they normally do very well.

How right you are. I thought I knew something... I was wrong. The most important lesson I learnt from this entire ordeal is: goedkoop is duurkoop. I hear you on used bikes from CL and BM. Lowballed and then marked up. Poor value for money.

In order to avoid my daily post limit, I have to do a rather lengthy response here: - there was no point in pushing some issues for parts as @thebob said - many thanks to @RobertWhitehead for your help, advice and most generous offer. I will be seeing you in the near future for parts, service and/or advice as you're close to where I am - agreed @sirmoun10goat: the parts spec being different was minor but for a pedant such as myself, a major irritation. I need to be told at times to calm down. There is a definite issue with those freehubs. CL is sending the bike to their Boksburg branch for inspection and will take it up with the supplier - upgrading the wheelset from @RobertWhitehead was an option, thank you @Koos Likkewaan 2 for the heads up - @Skubarra: your question WRT the price difference in parts, I would say negligible. I asked Elena Retief from Silverback for more info, no response - @Rowl: I hang my head in shame... I did not check the spec before buying the bike as I was not concerned about that for the money at the time. Once the problems surfaced I began to investigate the spec and to my dismay, cursed myself for not checking prior. I would have been happy with said spec if it simply worked... - @agentorenge: thank you for your profound insight into the matter - @RobertWhitehead: as per your upgrade suggestions, not for me, not at this price point. I did however learn plenty about parts and have watched lots of YT for info - @Robbie Stewart: so right you are. I am considering abandoning this venture and taking up bowls or knitting... I have till tomorrow morning to decide what to do - @OVERDRIVE: I like the TR bikes and those were the first that caught my attention. I might end up with one... - @Sandro: CPA was a last resort. Thank God that was not necessary - @The Ouzo: CL has good prices for parts and accessories, I will buy from then again - @Andro: I suspect that corners were cut somewhere along the line. Exactly by whom and where I cannot say and I don't want to make any false accusations on BH... Last, but not least... thank you CL! I got a full refund today, no questions asked, no hassle whatsoever. Amazing experience. Jaco the store manager from Lynnwood is the best! Nothing is too much for him. He and his team went above and beyond what was required to help me, the customer. Gerrit, Norman, Stephan, Andries et al., all great people. There really are good people at CL trying their best to deliver excellent service. Please do not write them off! He offered an upgrade to a better bike with discount too. I browsed for 2 hours looking at everything but only saw bikes I wanted starting at 60K. Oops. I took the refund. CL has a sale coming up end of April, maybe... I am so grateful to CL for their service. They really do stick to their customers. I even had "Engela Atkins and I am Head of Merchandise and E-commerce at Cycle Lab" reach out to me via mail and offer assistance. Before I could call her, Jaco called me and asked for me to come in and resolve the matter. Thank you sir. Am I bitter towards CL? No. Have they lost a customer? No. Is the relationship ruined? No. A BH member said "never go back". Life is all about relationships, they are hard work as all the married people will tell you. I am going to buy a biltong, nuts and fruit hamper for CL and drop it off in the week to say thank you. Very lastly: let us not pillorie, lambaste or speak falsely of CL or anyone for that matter. Here or elsewhere. Let us all be kept accountable for our words and actions, myself first and foremost. Thank you.

Um, WRT boost, I had to read up on that. I don't think the frame is boost as it's entry level and the spec states Shimano TX505 QR hubs as stock. So we have: 1) No. 2) Yes. 3) The problem looks, feels and sounds the same as before: the freehub is slipping.

For some reason, I'm assuming because I'm a new member, I have a daily post limit? First, let me say, this has been a learning experience of note here on BH. I appreciate everyone's candour in the matter. I had a long reply typed up and was going to post... but, I got the bike back today and took it for a ride... CL replaced the freehub "with a better one" under warranty. The technician showed me the freehub and said my assessment was correct, it is indeed failing. I spent a week trying to understand this problem. After 15km of riding... clang clang, skip skip. Oh no! Same problem. A new freehub? How can this be? The original hub lasted 35 days. I make it home and just to confirm, I put it in 7th and pedal hard up my dirt road outside the plot and the slip is there. I can reproduce the slip. I am now tired of this. 30 days has passed and I can no longer get a refund, which is what I now want. I am even considering filing a complaint with the CPA as a last resort. Product not as advertised and defective parts blah blah. I don't want to do that, I just want to ride and keep fit and do some cardio. Sigh. I am going to mail the CL Lynnwood managers now as we speak to ask what can be done. What does everybody think? If it was genuine Shimano TX505 hubs, would we all be happy? Thank you.

In theory the idea is great... but 3K gets you nothing. I looked at wheelsets: 10K for something solid with sealed bearings. But, appreciate the input @Koos Likkewaan 2! Is it just me or has the Rand gone to a complete ball? Everything is so expensive. I regret buying this bike: the *classic* case of "goedkoop is duurkoop"! I am an idiot.

Noted. Point taken. Thank you for your input.

I mailed Silverback and got told that the model I bought is available in different specs. There is a "high" spec and a "low" spec. After reading it seems that CL is advertising a "high" spec online and selling a "low" spec. It seems that "not as advertised" and "false advertising" are open to interpretation... Oops, I'm guilty after reading and will take that post as the "standard welcome" to BH. As @thebob posted: ride the bike for 12 months and get "something decent". I just spent 8K on a bike and I won't have 20-30K 12 months later for something better. 8K, at least to me is a _lot_ of money. I'm happy for BH users that have loads of cash to buy bikes but I don't. Thank you for all the free, good advice everyone.

Hi, I apologise if this is the incorrect place to post on this topic. I need some advice please. I bought a new 2023 Silverback Stride Sport on the 03-02-2024 from Cycle Lab in Lynnwood. Bike was marked down from R12,000 to R8,000. At the time, I thought it was a good deal. I am 49 years old, 85kg, plus bike and gear altogether is about 105kg. Well within the max total of 120kg. After about 32 days the freehub started slipping. Took me a week to diagnose and confirm the issue. Both hubs drone/squeak. Said freehub slips when in 7th, 8th gear on an incline pedalling hard. I ride the bike on dirt roads in and around Bashewa, Pretoria East. Nothing heavy. Took back to CL and I must say the staff were very helpful. Great team. I am awaiting a warranty replacement which is been done as we speak. There are freehub issues on this model, not sure if other Silverback models are affected for those thinking of buying. My main complaint however, is: the bike is advertised on their site with a certain spec. The bike I bought has a different spec. https://www.cyclelab.com/product/1017956-bike-mtb-ht-alu-slvback-stride-sport-my23 Bike is advertised as having: - SRAM chain (PYC chain supplied) - Shimano rotors (Tektro supplied, which is reasonable given the brakes are Tektro) - Shimano TX505 hubs (cannot see a name on FH or RH?) - chain guide (no chain guide supplied) Of all the things, the most upsetting is the hubs. I feel the supplied hubs are simply awful. Besides that, I feel it is false advertising and I have been cheated. I am going to ask Jaco, the store manager next week when I collect the bike, what, if anything can be done. What are my options? Am I over reacting? Do I file a complaint with the CPA? First speak with the store manager and take it from there? I am well aware that manufacturers and hence retailers cover themselves with the typical legal jargon of "specifications are subject to change without prior notice" and "images are for illustrative purposes only". Sigh. Thank you.