JeremyZ

Kate anxiously took delivery of her new Dahon Speed D7 today.

I got home from work, took off all the packing material, and finished "assembling" it.

I gave one screw a 1/2 turn to center the rear brakes, and went to do the same to the front, and what did I see?

Some clumsy bugger in the factory bumped it on something, and it just ripped the plastic part and knocked the screw out. It wasn't me, it wasn't UPS, and it wasn't brandscycle, as the screw is not in the box, and the box was not damaged and was factory sealed. (with the copper staples and so forth)

The Dahon warranty card says I should contact the dealer, which I have. (brandscycle) I attached those pictures, and asked them to just please send the part, as I don't want to deal with sending the whole darned bike back. I wonder what they'll say?

In another thread, I just finished typing this afternoon that I'd rather have a good warranty than a company owner who frequents this site. If I get the run-around by brandscycle and Dahon, I will be eating crow.

Wish me luck!

SesameCrunch

That's so aggravating . I hope you get things fixed and are back on the saddle soon.

pm124

I had terrible luck with Brandscycle. Let us know how your experience goes in getting it replaced. They should pay for shipping the part as well.

I would only buy from Thorusa or Gaerlan. The latter is more expensive, but they unpack and inspect the bike, true the wheels, etc., before shipping it to you.

pm124

By the way, those welds look clean! Dahon is really coming along.

JeremyZ

pm124, you know the thing that really kills me about this? After I had already made the purchase online, someone pointed out that there is a Chicago dealer that stocks Dahon. Same price, but I would've had to pay tax. Would've been an extra $27 I believe...

Hindsight...

What was your horrible luck with brandscycle?

DaFriMon

I bought my Curve on-line through Thor-USA, and haven't had any problems. Normally, though, I'd rather go through an LBS, pay a little extra, and have it be that much easier to complain if something wasn't right. I second pm124's comment about Thor and Gaerlan, although I'm sure some other online dealers must be okay.

Anyway, I hope that Brands takes care of you. The only thing I've bought from them was a tail light, so I don't know what their service is like for a major purchase like this.

keithnyc

JeremyZ-
In March of '07, I too bought a Dahon Speed D7 ('06 model) from brandscycle and a part was missing (it was the bolt that attached to the locking screw for the seat post. After reading posts on the Dahon site, a very similiar problem happened to another customer with brandscycle. They probably are getting a little sloppy with their quality control, however I must admit that after calling Brandscycle, they got right on the blower with Dahon and had them ship me two free entire clamp sets, one that was made for the Dahon '06 model, and another slightly updated one as a second extra replacement (that also fit the bike). They paid for shipping etc. and the part was sent in one week from Dahon.

These are the folks I dealt with at both Brandscycle and Dahon:

montier@dahon.com

rob@brandscycle.com
Rob O.
The Brands Team
1-800-649-3739


(PS: I referenced this post on Dahon's site as well. The folks at Dahon seem very responsive...hopefully this should get some action). Best of luck

Spudmeister

I have also had trouble with Brand Cycles & Dahon. My Mu P8 was shipped loose in the box & arrived with the rear derailleur bent into the rear wheel. Twice I was sent the wrong replacement derailleur.

JeremyZ

UPDATE

Things are looking good. We'll see if I have better luck than Spudmeister with getting the correct parts.

Here's the email thread. I sent this last night, had a reply first thing this morning:
********

We're so sorry! We will send out a replacement set
today via Priority mail.
Thanks!
Rob O
The Brands Team
www.brandscycle.com
1-800-649-3739
M-F 9:30am - 8:45pm
Sat 9:30am - 5:45pm
Sun 11:00am - 4:45pm
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeremy" <########>
To: <info@brandscycle.com>
Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 8:58 PM
Subject: Re: Confirmation for Order No. ####


> Hello,
>
> We were excited, as we just received the bicycle
today. (Dahon Speed D7,
> as detailed below)
>
> However, we were most distressed to find that it is
partly broken.
>
> The plastic bracket on the right side that holds
the screw which centers
> the front brake calipers is broken, and the screw is
missing. The screw is
> not even in the box, and the shipping box was not
damaged, so this is
> certainly something that happened at the Dahon
factory.
>
> Would you please send this plastic bracket and the
screw? I would be
> happy to replace it myself, rather than have to send
the whole darned bike
> back.
>
> Refer to the attached photos, and let me know if
you need any more
> photos.
>
> I appreciate your cooperation, and hope that we can
get the part quickly.
>
> Regards,
> Jeremy Z

geo8rge

FWIW, quality breaks are usually on sale somewhere on the net. You might also look to abandoned bikes.

A LBS, or even a hardware or home store, should have a metric bolt in a rust restistant material.

Loch

So far Rob O and Brandscycle have been awesome for me. I attempted to order my Curve SL through my "local" dealer but I was soon playing the backorder game. I then ordered from Brands and they shipped it out right away. A week later I tried to order some tubes and fenders, Rob said he had them and I placed the order. Minutes after my order, he sent an email apologizing for not having the tubes and sent me the fenders with free shipping. They arrived without the hardware (not sure if they were lost in transit or what), but he quickly replied that he would send it out.

I've had some bad luck, but through it all Brands had treated me great.

Edit to add: That's a bummer about the bunged up brake out of the box, things like that do happen on occasion but it is frustrating. Personally, I would have used it as an excuse to upgrade the brake , but I'm sure you'll get it squared away.

folder fanatic

My sister is the Internet ordering junkie, but so far she only buys inexpensive items like blenders for mom or books. A finely tuned instrument like a bicycle is reserved for bike shops or speciality Internet dealers like listed above. They do take the time to make sure the bike is 100% tuned up and inspect the bike's condition before you even see it.

I agree. With my Dahons, both came with similar problems which were approuched and dealt with differently from 2 very different bike shops. For more intense discussion go to my Geocities Web site, Selection section. Here in a nutshell, is the main difference. My first bike shop was passable, but was not completely honest with me and placed bike parts lying around the shop instead of ordering the part (without cost to anyone involved) from Dahon's headquarters only 15 miles away. The other bike shop ordered the part by phone from Dahon and picked up the part directly from headquarters. The first one is only a local bike shop. This shop (no longer in business) just happened to be located nearby my residence. The other one is a great bike shop. This shop is located some distance from my residence, but it is thorough. See the difference? That is even more true on-line where a simple check and repackaging to ship directly to you makes or breaks the enjoyment of the bike.

As much as I like the convienience of ordering and shipping the product directly to the house, with distance purchasing a expensive and finely tuned machine such as a bike, I prefer to deal directly as much as possible.

For whatever it is worth, I hope you will finally solve all your problems with the bike so your wife will be able to really learn to appreciate and grow to enjoy her new bike. Nothing is more sad to me than a bike gathering dust in the corner.

law4jba

online source for stainless metric bolts of various sizes: boltdepot dot com

They are located south of Boston MA but ship nationally

keithnyc

Jeremy-
Excellent...glad things are working out....it looks like Rob O is the guy to go to a Brands......He was very helpful to me as well.

JeremyZ

Well, I just got some repair parts in the mail yesterday from brandscycle.

They sent entire brake levers, pads, and everything, but they are not the same as the stock ones. They look like higher quality, and have the Vanguard name on them, but I'm not sure they will fit.

So we have one of two situations here:

1) The folks at brandscycle know that this is a problem and have found something more durable that works, or

2) They just shipped the first thing they had to shut me up.

If it's 1) I'll be happy. If it's 2), I'll go to Dahon and start raising a little hell. More after a trip to the garage.

I noticed there's another thread questioning Dahon quality. This is not a good way to bust into the US market. If I have the kinds of problems others are having, I'll probably try to get my money back and give downtube a shot.

JeremyZ

Well, the new brakes work great. They're better than the Dahon ones. Maybe a few oz. heavier. But the part of the pad that bears against the rim is flat, whereas on the Dahon ones, they were curved. (They're both curved to fit the curve of the wheel, I meant curved where they meet the rim)

Anyone who has bought a Dahon bike recently may want to consider pulling the brake parts off and greasing the stem that they mount on. On our D7, one side didn't have any grease, and the other had that nasty brown grease, and not enough of it. I put some Bel-Ray waterproof grease on there, and the front brake action is buttery smooth now.

The centering adjustment screws thread into the metal instead of into the plastic.

Finally, we did our first ride on the Speed D7. It is quite nice. As expected, it is less effort to go fast than the Curve D3. This is perfect though, as my wife usually has a hard time keeping up, so now I will have to work a little harder and we will be going about the same speed. The saddle's a bit more comfortable than the Curve's, as is the riding position.

We've got them packed up in the hatch of the Matrix and are going to a local tourist town. (Lake Geneva, WI) for the day.

wrafl

It's good to read you've overcome the brake problem with your D7. Since the D7 ride better than the Curve and with less pedaling effort, why didn't you get the D7 for yourself too? The ride will be much better if you switch to a suspension seat post and replace the saddle. Enjoy a good day riding up in Geneva.

JeremyZ

I'm going to probably take my D3 on the train and bus from time to time, and I thought it would be more packable. Also, I liked the hub shifting over the external derailleur. It should be more reliable in the long run. The D3 has better tires, (puncture resistance, shock absorption) and weighs significantly less, but the folded size of one vs. the other is damned close. They are the same thickness, with the D7 being only a few inches taller.

As for the ride, I would say they ride about the same, as far as bumps & comfort level. I attribute this to the Schwalbe Big Apple tires vs. the Kendas on the D7. But the D7 has a more spacious riding position, and one doesn't have to lean as far forward with the D7 as the handlebar comes out further while still meeting the minimum insertion.

One other really nice thing about the D7 is that one doesn't have to adjust the handlebar height to fold it. Just rotate it up so the brake levers don't hit things, and the depth is right. There's some fiddling involved with the D3. It actually has to be pulled out to a position higher than is safe to ride in order the clear the rear axle & kickstand. So the D7 folds faster.

A shock-absorbing seat post would not solve the uncomfortable saddle problem with the D3. It is the constant pressure in the wrong areas that make it uncomfortable, not the shocks. I'll probably buy one of those cheapo Bell fat-bottom jobs and be done with it. (weight be damned) I would have actually done it already, but I'm thinking about getting one of those fancy English leather ones. I've not seen one bad review on them.

As for Lake Geneva, I attached a couple of pix:

A couple are of a beautiful, vintage Datsun 280Z we saw on the street. My brother's first car was one of these, but it was the ZX (which was a 2+2 instead of a true 2-seater) and it was a rust-bucket. But the 2.8L inline 6 was such a sweet engine, he still fantasizes about having another straight six.

There's another one of a guy made entirely of exhaust system parts, except that his banjo seems to be a brake drum. His hat seems to have been a heat shield in a previous life.

A couple shots are of us and our bikes.

Then, a couple of this kickass hill. It has about three alternating sets of steep & shallow sections; took us about 15 minutes to climb it. The one shot was taken looking down from about halfway up. The other is of my wife approaching the bottom.

On the way down, Kate gave a good test to her brakes, (she doesn't like speed) and I tested the stability of the 16" wheels at a an estimated 30 mph. (good, as long as you only turn very gradually)

Oh, the last one is of me, while riding. Not worthy of comment, but I noticed that in one lens of my glasses, I can see my outstretched right arm, holding the camera. In the other lens, I can see my wife riding ahead of me. Pretty cool, & totally accidental.