Longbarn Killer

You will be better off getting a fake Scott Spark. The real ones break too easily.

The warranty clerk of Raleigh told me that they destroy them with a hammer and throw them away.

That is a tongue in cheek comment (before I get flamed)

1. No they are not made by Merida. They are imported by the same people who import Merida into SA. 2. The salesman knows bikes better than me, but if the choice was mine, I'd take the Momsen any day (although spec for spec, they are probably very similar). 3. yes they are. 4. Momsen and Silverback will have similar specced bikes for similar money. Check this thread.........it may help you decide between the Momsen and titan https://community.bikehub.co.za/topic/141179-titan-or-momsen/

Stop asking questions on the hub............take to a Secialized dealer and ask how long it will take for a new frame to arrive. You said that it is 2012, so it must still be under warranty. Paint shouldn't just crack without some form of movement in that spot. If there is enough movement for the paint to crack, there will be enough for the carbon to crack too.

There is nothing wrong with any of the parts. Nothing will annoy you.The bike will last you for years if you look after it properly. Rather buy a new bike. You have the peace of mind of a warranty, the shop will make sure it fits you perfectly and there is nothing better than bringing home a shiny stead with no scratches.

You've heard about the complaints and are still considering one?

They have been breaking left right and centre. The chain stays seem to be the problem. Do a search in the rant and rave section to see how many complaints there have been. There have been mixed reactions to the warranty process. There have been complaints of waiting 6 weeks or so for replacement parts and there have been people receiving their warranty replacements within a few days. There is even a letter in this month's Ride magazine regarding a broken Spark.

It's a Bianchi, they normally carry a bit of a premium, as with the partson the bike. I would guess between R12 and R15 000, depending on condition

You can't really Rave them until you have put in a claim.

Is this a full suspension Titan or a hard tail? I didn't know that they made full suspensions.

So you knowingly bought a fake and you paid R37k for the frame that you could've bought for R5 000 from that guy in East London. What reasonable person would knowingly buy a fake for that price when there are so many other, cheaper sources. Or why buy a fake for R37k when you could've got the real thing for that price. These guys at CS are really clutching at straws.

Silverback also have a brilliant after sales service.

I'd hate to tell you this, but that is certainly not an OEM frame. That is a fake, just like the others. OEM frames are never made available to the public. The paint blemishes on high end frames are usually re-worked. On the lower end frames; it is not cost effective to re-work them, so they are destroyed.

Look a few pages back and you will see their reply.

The best quote for today

They need and deserve it.

Did Cycle Science use a fake lawer write this letter? The English is terrible............maybe the Chinaman who supplies the frames wrote it.

You can get clamps quite easliy that will fit. Just make sure the diameter of the frame and the clamp are the same.

It might be cheaper to buy another frame second hand. The one in the picture is over 10 years old, you could pick up a much newer aluminium frame for about R500. A friend of mine sold the same model frame for R350 with fork.

Have you considered a Fosso tube? They are these funny superlight clear tubes that cost an arm and a leg (about R200 each). They are as tough as nails. The bike shop owner tried to push a thin screw driver through them and it didn't go through. They are not flexible like a normal butyl tube, so they have to be seated perfectly when installed. They are pretty scarce and other than that one time, I haven't seen or heard of anyone one riding them. Perhaps you have better luck in you end of the world finding them.

The official paved walkway or the dirt path next to the holes? If it was right across the paved walkway, then I would say you have a good case legally, if it was across the dirt path (probably from people taking a short cut) you will have a tough time. Eitherway, they should have had some kind of a warning in place, maybe red tape etc.

Can you blame the contactors? The photos clearly show the poles were errected off the road and off the designated pavement/walkway. How are they to know that someone would be cycling there. It looks as if they were going to errect some sort of sign.

There is a list of dealers on the Scott website.