Yeah, brand and/or shop are going to be really important here.
If this happens it's going to suck for the customer one way or another. You're going to be out at least 1 or 2 shock rebuilds if you don't get those on warranty by the time you realize something wrong is happening. THEN you have to start the warranty claim for frame alignment, and I know for a fact that some companies are going to tell you to kick rocks for a while if not forever, or maybe offer a crash replacement (oh you have alignment issues? shouldn't have landed that drop sideways you moron). Not to mention time spent off the ride, which matters more for some than others.
If you've bought direct to consumer you'd best be holding that company in high regard, and if got the bike from a shop they need to be ready to go to bat, and a lot of shops sadly just aren't. This is the kind of dealbreaker vs customer-for-life stuff shops really need to be thinking about these days.
The shop's reputation in the community matters, but so does their reputation and rapport with their supplies. I make a point to always be friendly to sales and warranty reps over the phone, sometimes I try to waste their time a bit by asking about their rides that weekend, personal bikes, etc (and they're always happy to tell!). Even when a brand is being sticky, sometimes we've had to say "OK, but it's really important to us that we find a solution" and it gets solved. Might not happen if our reputation was different.
April 17, 2020, 3:27 p.m. - Lu Kz
Yeah, brand and/or shop are going to be really important here. If this happens it's going to suck for the customer one way or another. You're going to be out at least 1 or 2 shock rebuilds if you don't get those on warranty by the time you realize something wrong is happening. THEN you have to start the warranty claim for frame alignment, and I know for a fact that some companies are going to tell you to kick rocks for a while if not forever, or maybe offer a crash replacement (oh you have alignment issues? shouldn't have landed that drop sideways you moron). Not to mention time spent off the ride, which matters more for some than others. If you've bought direct to consumer you'd best be holding that company in high regard, and if got the bike from a shop they need to be ready to go to bat, and a lot of shops sadly just aren't. This is the kind of dealbreaker vs customer-for-life stuff shops really need to be thinking about these days. The shop's reputation in the community matters, but so does their reputation and rapport with their supplies. I make a point to always be friendly to sales and warranty reps over the phone, sometimes I try to waste their time a bit by asking about their rides that weekend, personal bikes, etc (and they're always happy to tell!). Even when a brand is being sticky, sometimes we've had to say "OK, but it's really important to us that we find a solution" and it gets solved. Might not happen if our reputation was different.