Fit for purpose question

StorminBen

[FONT=&quot]Just wondering if anyone has any experience of this and can offer me any advice?[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The story[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bought a new Kona Kula mountain bike from an online store that arrived exactly a month ago[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Been out on it 3 times so far and put about 50 miles on it[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]When cleaning it after the first ride I noticed that the brake hose had worn through the paint on the headstock [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bit peeved that my tidy new toy was now less than perfect but figured as I’ll be doing my best to crash it into most of the trees and rocks in Cannock and Wales anyway it was only a matter of time [/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Bit of gaffer tape over the damage and out on the second outing[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]When cleaning after this one I noticed the lockout on the front forks was not working. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Not a major issue as I rarely use it but again, its a brand new bike !!!!!!! [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Noticed the hose had nearly worn through the tape so rerouted it to the other side of the headstock[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]After ride 3 I noticed a number of other areas where the paint had come away (rear fork, bottom bracket, chain stay)[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]Now my previous bike (Marin) has withstood 2 hard years and my riding buddies (Specialized) have endured the same[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]None of these are showing anything like this level of damage which to me looks like the paint is too soft[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]The store has suggested I return the bike to them to get the forks looked at by Rockshox[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I’m less than happy about the minimum 2 weeks without bike time but can accept that as they seem to have experience dealing with them[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]However, I fully expect them to turn round and say ‘tough doo-doo’ about the paint[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]I think I have a reasonable right to expect a fair degree more durability from the bike so my question is how do I go about achieving a resolution?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Can I demand a refund straight away or must I give them the opportunity to put it right?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]And if so, how many attempts and what timescale would be reasonable? [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I am obviously keen to avoid missing out on the last of the decent weather and really want to avoid a lengthy protracted dispute involving numerous back and forths
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[FONT=&quot]Thanks muchly for any and all advice
Ben[/FONT]

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worbikeman

Things are not built to last these days. If you are anything like me the bike will get a hammering anyway, I never expect to sell them on. I think the main gripe for you here is that, having bought the bike brand new it would have been expensive. My advice is to look around at auctions, you can always get good brand new or hardly touched bikes for nowhere near their original price. Short warranty, but you can check it out yourself to assess the condition. Buy two or three and if one doesn't stand up to a lot of use, you've got spares.

Tozer

Forget fitness for purpose. You need to prove that it is not of satisfactory quality.