Giant Warranty Issue

maklabouhlel · 23 Apr 2017 at 09:59

Hi, I've been having a noise problem with a Giant Defy bike I purchased 18 months ago from a local Giant dealer. I took it back the next day after purchasing it and after a week of to and fro and several attempts at replacing things like bearings etc, they said they replaced the fork. At the time, I rode it once and thought the problem had gone. Since then it's been on the trainer. I took it out today and the noise is back, even worse. A fellow rider said it's the headset.

Would this sort of thing still be covered under warranty?

Schizo · 23 Apr 2017 at 10:06

https://www.giant-bicycles.com/_upload_au/Giant-global-Warranty-Policy.pdf

maklabouhlel · 23 Apr 2017 at 10:26

schizo said:
https://www.giant-bicycles.com/_upload_au/Giant-global-Warranty-Policy.pdf

Thanks scizo for the link. I saw that but couldn't decide where headset would come under?

Schizo · 23 Apr 2017 at 10:28

If you have had trouble from the bike before then i would take it back,its not as if you have riding it hard outside or anything.

maklabouhlel · 23 Apr 2017 at 10:30

schizo said:
If you have had trouble from the bike before then i would take it back,its not as if you have riding it hard outside or anything.

It's just that it's a long drive and if it's not under warranty then I could take it to my LBS.

Jonny ///M · 23 Apr 2017 at 11:38

Do you cover the front of the bike with a towel or anything to stop the sweat dripping on the headset?

BennyC · 23 Apr 2017 at 12:08

What's the noise problem? Does it have internal cable routing?

maklabouhlel · 23 Apr 2017 at 12:20

Jonny ///M said:
Do you cover the front of the bike with a towel or anything to stop the sweat dripping on the headset?

Absolutely. Even on the trainer its only done about 200 miles, so not had much use.

neil_g · 23 Apr 2017 at 12:49

What kind of noise?

maklabouhlel · 23 Apr 2017 at 23:50

BennyC said:
What's the noise problem? Does it have internal cable routing?

I can feel the noise when I put my hand over the head tube and turn the fork. No internal cable routing.

neil_g said:
What kind of noise?

The noise sounds like two metal surfaces rubbing against each other especially when braking and going uphill. This is worse than when I purchased it. At the time they changed the bearings but this did not solve the problem so they replaced the fork. I thought the problem had gone or I did not stress it enough before mounting it onto the turbo trainer. I'll take it back to the store and hopefully they'll remember me having this issue eighteen months ago.

kieranv · 24 Apr 2017 at 19:29

If it is the headset then no. Specialized are the only ones to my knowledge to do a warranty on bearings and even then it's 12 months max, which is very reasonable.

I think you're clutching at straws asking the dealer to remember an issue you had 18 months ago but I'm sure they'll be able to rectify it for you.

maklabouhlel · 24 Apr 2017 at 19:48

kieranv said:
If it is the headset then no. Specialized are the only ones to my knowledge to do a warranty on bearings and even then it's 12 months max, which is very reasonable.

I think you're clutching at straws asking the dealer to remember an issue you had 18 months ago but I'm sure they'll be able to rectify it for you.

I don't really know what the problem is but I do remember returning to the store the next day after purchase and they replaced the bearings. This did not resolve the issue and after a week of regular visits to the store and struggling to find the cause, they replaced the fork. I remember riding a couple of miles with it and thought the problem had been resolved. Since then it's been on a turbo trainer with about 200 miles on it. I took it out again yesterday and realised it was the same noise, so I'm not sure replacing the bearings, like last time, will resolve the issue. The only thing I'm sure of is it's coming from the head tube. I'll pop down to the store with it and see what they say.

maklabouhlel · 25 Apr 2017 at 10:54

neil_g said:
What kind of noise?

Here's the noise when I lean on the handlebars.

neil_g · 25 Apr 2017 at 12:33

maklabouhlel said:
Here's the noise when I lean on the handlebars.

Sounds a bit like a creak. Had similar noises from stems where they aren't quite clamped to the fork or bars properly.

I'd suggest undoing the stem, remove, clean all mating faces between fork and bars and refit.

maklabouhlel · 6 May 2017 at 19:20

Just an update. I took it back to the store and they said they've isolated the noise to a faulty steerer tube. The fork has already been replaced once before because of the same creaking noise. I'm surprised that two forks would be faulty. Anyway, they're awaiting a response from Giant about replacing the fork.

Jonny ///M · 6 May 2017 at 21:35

I don't see it being the fork either but I can't see the bike.

Most likely the headset or some sort of problem with the spacing of it.

Don't see how a dealer could fit a wrong headset though but not out of the ordinary.

merlin · 8 May 2017 at 16:14

maklabouhlel said:
Just an update. I took it back to the store and they said they've isolated the noise to a faulty steerer tube. The fork has already been replaced once before because of the same creaking noise. I'm surprised that two forks would be faulty. Anyway, they're awaiting a response from Giant about replacing the fork.

Weird how a steerer tube can be faulty.

VERY similar noise on my Giant Defy 2016, took headset apart last weekend, cleaned everything thoroughly and re-greased - noise seems to be gone.

maklabouhlel · 8 May 2017 at 17:30

merlin said:
Weird how a steerer tube can be faulty.

And twice.

Roady · 9 May 2017 at 12:36

maklabouhlel said:
And twice.

If it's a bearing it's very unlikely it'd be covered, equally it would've been easily diagnosed the first time without all of those revisits. Bearings age and the smallest bit of grit/water can make them click and feel rough. They're also one of the cheapest components for a LBS to change (also probably one of the first things they'd have checked before the fork change).

As both of these faults point towards fork/steerer then it could've been a bad batch the first time (and maybe even the replacement). The other issue could've been the same mechanic who built it overtightening and damaging the steerer both times. Especially if its carbon (less of an issue with alu). There's nothing to say the first fault wasn't a damaged/cracked fork (from shipping) and the fault now is a different crack/fault from overtightening when they changed it. Equally it could just be grit between bearing/steerer/clamp (but I imagine any LBS - even Evans & Halfords, would check these & bearings prior to changing a fork).

Do you have a more local Giant dealer you could possibly take it to? Warranty is done by serial/frame number after all...

Disclaimer: I've not listened to the noise but as a Giant Defy owner I've been through 2 sets of headset bearings, 2 BB's and a number of other 'click/creak elimination troubleshooting' scenarios with it.

maklabouhlel · 9 May 2017 at 12:43

Roady said:
If it's a bearing it's very unlikely it'd be covered, equally it would've been easily diagnosed the first time without all of those revisits. Bearings age and the smallest bit of grit/water can make them click and feel rough. They're also one of the cheapest components for a LBS to change (also probably one of the first things they'd have checked before the fork change).

As both of these faults point towards fork/steerer then it could've been a bad batch the first time (and maybe even the replacement). The other issue could've been the same mechanic who built it overtightening and damaging the steerer both times. Especially if its carbon (less of an issue with alu). There's nothing to say the first fault wasn't a damaged/cracked fork (from shipping) and the fault now is a different crack/fault from overtightening when they changed it. Equally it could just be grit between bearing/steerer/clamp (but I imagine any LBS - even Evans & Halfords, would check these & bearings prior to changing a fork).

Do you have a more local Giant dealer you could possibly take it to? Warranty is done by serial/frame number after all...

Disclaimer: I've not listened to the noise but as a Giant Defy owner I've been through 2 sets of headset bearings, 2 BB's and a number of other 'click/creak elimination troubleshooting' scenarios with it.

Here is a link to the noise. The bike is with Winstanleys in Wigan. We'll see what happens with the warranty.