Alien warranty

[olseko]

It seems that many people here were quite happy with the service by Alien. I want to share a different experience.

I bought an Alien Gents II a few months ago. I was using the bike for short distance commuting (twice a week, 5 miles one way)

A week ago when I was cycling I felt strange vibration in the rear wheel. It was increasing and when I dismounted I found that though the wheel was attached to the frame, the bearing nut was partly unscrewed and the baring balls were gone. After closer inspection at home I also noticed that the axle is bent.

I did not have any accidents, I am not an aggressive rider at all, and I am not very heavy (90 kilos). So I am quite sure that the defect was there when I bought the bike. I did check the bike when I got it, but I did not take the wheel off and when it is attached to the frame the defect is not visible.

When I asked Alien for warranty repair they refused saying " this is not covered by our warranty which excludes any physical damage to the bike whilst being used by the customer".

Very disappointed.

 

[Scatty]

Sorry to hear that, This is the first bad thing i have read about alien

 

[NRG]

Indeed, that's the first one I've read about and TBH it's disappointing, did you speak to Jim?

Edit: just had a look at the rear axle on mine and I'm struggling to understand how it could have happened...

 

[flecc]

Edit: just had a look at the rear axle on mine and I'm struggling to understand how it could have happened...

As someone ex-trade, I'm equally at a loss to understand how this could have happened, since at 20 miles a week for a few months, it must have been running ok previously. To run ok the wheel nuts had to both be secure, which wouldn't allow the bearing cone nut to undo.

The only vague possibility is that the bearing cone hadn't been fully tightened in assembly. This could allow the wheel to run with the ball bearings running on the outer of the cup taper, allowing the ball bearings to break up and emerge, but that means the wheel would have been wobbling all the time from new, making handling unpleasant, especially on bends.
.

 

[Old Timer]

As someone ex-trade, I'm equally at a loss to understand how this could have happened, since at 20 miles a week for a few months, it must have been running ok previously. To run ok the wheel nuts had to both be secure, which wouldn't allow the bearing cone nut to undo.

The only vague possibility is that the bearing cone not hadn't been fully tightened in assembly. This could allow the wheel to run with the ball bearings running on the outer of the cup taper, allowing the ball bearings to break up and emerge, but that means the wheel would have been wobbling all the time from new, making handling unpleasant, especially on bends.
.

I`m surprised as well, I would have thought that it would have been apparent from word go even if it had been done in transit. I suppose that a new axle with new bearings is possible for little money. It`s the first black mark I`ve read against them as well.

 

[olseko]

Thanks a lot for your replays.

I did not talk to Jim, we just exchanged a few email messages. And I also cannot imagine how this could happen.

After all it is not a big deal as I can hopefully fix it myself in half an hour when I have the replacement parts. I need a new axle and bearing balls but I am not sure which ones. I found here an axle which looks similar:
Axle For - Joytech/Sakae/SR/Suzue/BMX/3 Speed Coaster Brake(Axle, 9.5mm x 26 tpi - 187mm Length - Solid). If someone could confirm that it is the right one, I would appreciate it. And I have to figure out the size of the balls. (By the way, when I asked Jim to direct me to some online shop
where I could buy the axle and balls or to give their specifications, he advised me to go to
a local bike shop.)

 

[flecc]

I think the local bike shop is the best option since they will be able to see the existing parts and judge what's wanted from that.
.