Bike repair dispute and advice

ssparks2003

Your sister purchased the bike the shop has no contractual relationship with you; only your sister.

Enterprise_1701C

I bought a cheap bike for just under £200, I don't pay more because I use it to get from A to B and B isn't a place I would like to leave an expensive bike, even locked with a decent D lock.

I expect this bike to last me 10 years, I cycle regularly but not massive distances, I keep it maintained and oiled/greased.

If I had bought a second hand bike for £150 I would expect it to be better than my current one, I would expect everything to be inspected and I would expect the bearings to last longer than a few months. If they are refurbishing bikes they are perfectly capable of inspecting everything, chances are some bikes they get are write offs and used for spares, and some bikes they are given have hardly been used.

Yes, it was out of guarantee, but was it fit for purpose when it was purchased? Bearings should do a lot more mileage than the OP is declaring here so I would suggest it was not fit for purpose.

Anything purchased should be of satisfactory quality, as described, fit for purpose, and last a reasonable length of time.

To my mind this bike fails on several of these points, if she had bought it for £30 then fair enough, but £150 is a LOT for a second hand bike.

Have a look here

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange#must

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/shopping/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange#goods

Retrogamer

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

I bought a cheap bike for just under £200, I don't pay more because I use it to get from A to B and B isn't a place I would like to leave an expensive bike, even locked with a decent D lock.

I expect this bike to last me 10 years, I cycle regularly but not massive distances, I keep it maintained and oiled/greased.

If I had bought a second hand bike for £150 I would expect it to be better than my current one, I would expect everything to be

It was all fine at the point of sale.
If the wheel is ruined, then it can only be ruined by the bearings wearing out the hub and cones and as soon as that starts to happen you get a clunk and knocking through the wheel in enough time to fix the issue before ruining the wheel.

If you keep cycling on worn bearings though with the wheel clunking about, it will get ruined after a while.

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

inspected and I would expect the bearings to last longer than a few months. If they are refurbishing bikes they are perfectly capable of inspecting everything, chances are some bikes they get are write offs and used for spares, and some bikes they are given have hardly been used.

Just out of curiousity, have you ever changed or greased the bearings in a back wheel spindle?
Checking them for me takes seconds by checking for free play in the wheel.
To strip the wheel down a bit to grease them takes a considerable amount of time. Especially if you need to start removing cassettes / freewheels to gain access.
I would not expect a second hand bike for £150 to have the bearings checked prior to sale.

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

Yes, it was out of guarantee, but was it fit for purpose when it was purchased? Bearings should do a lot more mileage than the OP is declaring here so I would suggest it was not fit for purpose.

Anything purchased should be of satisfactory quality, as described, fit for purpose, and last a reasonable length of time.

How many miles should the bearings on a second hand bike do in the winter?

The bike seemed to last quite a long time without being serviced or inspected. If you buy a used car and drive it 20k miles without checking anything and it starts to fail because of lack of maintenance is that the fault of the owner or the seller?

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

To my mind this bike fails on several of these points, if she had bought it for £30 then fair enough, but £150 is a LOT for a second hand bike.

It depends on the bike.
£150 for me for a second hand bike is cheap if it's a really good bike. I.e if it's a couple of years old and originally cost £1000, then £150 is a good deal. If it originally cost £200 new, then not so much

agrinnall

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

...if she had bought it for £30 then fair enough, but £150 is a LOT for a second hand bike.

So where's the cut off figure, £31, £149, something in between?