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| Snow Dog in Summer |
No snapping, no popping, no slipping, and nothing a hub shouldn't do. That's a good sign, since the last two times I tried the bike, issues arose after the first ride.
The difference? This time Phil Wood & Co. replaced the entire hub. They re-laced the wheel, and then sent it back. Pretty good deal, eh? It would seem so, but for a few pertinent things.
First, there is the issue of over five months without a rear wheel for my bicycle. That's a lot of time I can't get back, and that Phil Wood & Co. had my hub in hock, along with my spokes and rim.
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| A completely new hub. |
So, is it a bad deal? Well.....yeah, and no. Yes, because the whole thing reflects quite poorly on Phil Wood & Co, and no, because as long as the hub works, I'm good. Yes, it is bad because it cost me more than it should have in time and money, and no, because I don't have to look for another rear hub, and build up another rear wheel.
It is difficult for me to feel good about Phil Wood & Co. but I won't go out of my way to dissuade anyone from buying their products. Maybe my situation is an odd one. It would seem so. I hope, for their sake and the sake of their customers in the future, that they treat their warranty issues with a bit more communicativeness and with as little pain to the customer in terms of time and money than they did with me.
Now it is time to ride..........
7 comments:
Well, at least the bike is together. Like you say, thats a good thing.
So this means you will be in for Gnat's Adventure Ride in March 2012?
:)
@Wally: Absolutely! Already told my wife that I'll be missing the first week of March!
You've been more than fair, Ted. Imagine if this were your only bike and you couldn't swing buying a new rear wheel (because you spent $300 on a read hub). No bike for months. I believe this quality issue was a fluke--and as a consumer I can forgive that. What matters to me is the problem being fixed. So I'm wondering whether they acknowledged or apologized for their shortcomings in service?
@Idionycteris: The apology stated :"We wholeheartedly apologize for the extended delay...."
So, I did get that, in terms of the time it took, but they did not acknowledge my point about the shipping cost, which I had made known to them earlier in the e-mail thread.
glad it's back. honestly though, winter will be the true test whether or not it's fixed for good. hope so!!
Hi Ted,
I've been following your Phil Wood saga since for two months I have been dealing with the exact same thing. I just got my wheel back from PW and 30 minutes into my first ride there was a loud pop and the cranks slipped about 90 degrees. Any words of wisdom? Thanks!
@DanK: Well, as you may know, I finally had to give up and switch out hubs to Salsa Cycles hubs. The second Phil hub also was bad.
If you have older, 4 pawl Phil hubs, I recommend you get rid of them and find out if they will put you on the newer, five pawl design. Otherwise, I can not recommend Phil Wood cassette hubs with the 4 pawl design for anything bu a paperweight.
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