New Bike- assembly rushed?
 

New bike. the problem? I rushed the shop without realizing it. I assumed the bikes were all assembled and ready to go but when I got to the shop after an hour notice I realized the owner had to rush to get the bike together. Not understand things like a trued wheel- I didnt see an issue. Now that I am home I am thinking I rushed the guy and the slight wobble in my new wheels should not be there. The shifting seems a little...off... too
Should I bring it back and ask to have it tuned?
Or did I make my own bed by accidently rushing the owner?

I feel bad for giving the guy an hours notice- but he could have said he needed more time too..

That said- it does ride

Take it back.

At the end of the day there's this: You have no obligation to make him happy. He earns his living by making you happy.

That's what he's already tried to do. He tried to make you happy by hurrying the assembly of the bike that you said you wanted to buy. Now he deserves a second chance to make you really happy by tuning the bike the way that you really want.

None of the issues you are having are that unusual.

The shop isn't really going to care if you take it back to have them tweak it.

It is difficult to say if you pushed the shop too fast to get the bike to you. But every bike needs some minor tweaking after it is delivered and ridden for a while. Typically within a month or so the bike should go back to make those adjustments.

Now if you really did cut his time short, it is not an issue for the shop, since less time was spent initially. Ironically, you’ll be put in the queue to get these things done.

John

Kind of odd that brand new wheels are out of true. Or did the shop built the wheels themselves and not getting them true was a result of the rush?

Dan

The owner should have said he needs more time but probably didn't want the confrontation. I would take it back immediately and tell him that you apologize if you rushed him and ask him if he can tune the bike better. You should also be able to take the bike back for a free tune-up once the parts have had time to wear in a little. Cables stretch, wheels get out of true and sometimes fasteners need tightening. That used to be around 30 days after purchase. Not sure what they do now though.

Just take it back and leave it with him for a couple of days so he can take his time.

I find that a friendly, patient attitude can usually get you to a good place with any shop owner. Just be that kind of customer they wish for and let them do their thing.

Take it back, admit you made him rush it, offer to offset some of the cost of the redo or maybe take them some homemade cookies as a peace offering. I take my LBS cookies every year right after thanksgiving, they always look forward to it. Sometimes I will throw in some other type of baked good. The goodwill will take your far

Since you are seeking permission, it means you expect either a yes or a no answer.

I would not bring it back because I can DIY all the issues.

This is a great opportunity for you to start.

As mentioned, take it back. There is certainly a warranty and as already mentioned, this is not an unusual event. It isn't my intention to insult you, but since you asked if it would appropriate to take it back, I assume you don't have the experience to correct any of these things in a DIY manner, and there is nothing wrong with that. But you can hose a wheel quickly trying to true it if you don't have the experience. Don't void your warranty.

In 2016 I retired and bought a bicycle from a local LBS near me in the spring time frame. The LBS had a bunch of bicycles to assemble, so they hired two off the street people to help put them together(the owner told me this). I had to wait about a month for it. On my first ride it would not shift to the third chain ring. After a few miles playing with the terrible shifting I made a U-turn to head home and the handle bar shifted out of it's front bracket. I almost took a nose dive. I returned the bicycle as I had no confidence in the bicycle or the LBS at that point. The LBS took it back no problem and I went to another LBS further from my house and had a great experience in getting a new bicycle that worked correctly out of the gate. Like you I called them weekly to see when it would be ready and I felt I pushed them some. But in the end they cut corners that they should not have.

Bikes ALWAYS need a bit of minor tuning post assembly. Wobbling wheels are another matter and without more info I won’t speculate.

I would return the bike and explain your feelings of having “rushed” the assembly. For good measure (and good will) I would be sure to include something along the lines of a complimentary “I’m sure this example doesn’t reflect your true abilities,” and then be patient while they get it right.

If they don’t (or can’t) get it right after that, you might want to look for other options.

There is a saying:
People don't have time to do it right the first time, but have the time to do it over again

I had to teach our staff to learn to say "no" when it came to rushing an assembly. We had happier customers in the long run when we allowed ourselves the proper amount of time to assemble and adjust a bike. The shop would have better off telling you to come back the next day.

The shops I worked at used an assembly checklist for each bike, signed by the mechanic and with a shop sticker on each frame with the mechanic's initials on it. The assembly was not complete until the bike was test ridden, the sheet signed and the sticker in place. We would not be rushed on any assembly. Things might be different these days.

To paraphrase the line above, if they don't have time to do it right when will they have time to do it over?

Almost all brand new wheels need to be trued and tensioned, especially in this modern day of machine-built wheels. Not all shops do it on all bikes before they deliver them, but they should.

Ssshh, you aren't supposed to tell everyone that bike shops do make some of same mistakes as the assemblers working at Walmart/Target/Dicks Sporting Goods!!

Take it back.

Every time I've bought a new bike (three in the past five years) the shop included a tune-up with the purchase. They asked me to bring it in after 300-500 miles for adjustments. If this was the case with your bike, and you can put a few hundred miles on it as is, I'd ride it for a while before bringing it in. Cables stretch, for one thing, and likely need adjustment. If it's not ridable as is, then bring it in now.

It's not that odd for cheap new wheels made for disc brakes and trued by a machine to have slight wobble. ALL of them does and it's not an issue on disc brake bikes.

Machine truing will give higher priority to proper spoke tension than getting the rim perfectly true. It is much faster way to "true" a wheel. Ironically, such method actually gives you stronger, longer-lasting wheel. But this only works on disc brakes. Rim brake bikes will always need perfectly trued wheels, no exceptions.

This why the dirt cheap and low end market favor the disc brakes because the braking system doesn't require perfect truing and is a lot faster to make.

Thanks all. Its a Kona Dew. I asked to have it tuned up for free. Perhaps the wheels are fine and a slight wobble is normal- I have no Idea! The bike is solid- the shop owner himself put it together and its a 30+ year shop. Legit. But it is a buisiness and if a "noob" like me admitted to the owner I had not ridden for the better part of a decade, then I could understand why he may have decided to let me buy a not so well finished product- for the sake of further profits on the back end with maintenance in the future. Sound cynical? It is... But such is life

This 100%. You might have said an hour, and when it was my day job, getting a bike out the door in 20-30 min from box to built was easy. But if it wasn't working the customer could stand there tapping their feet for all I cared, it wasn't done till it was done right. Nothing wrong with saying I think maybe I rushed you since there seems to be something wrong, but he also should have never let himself be rushed.

Best is a box of entenmann's chocolate chip cookies or similar and a 2l of coke.
Though smart customers who knew they needed their race bike the next day showed up at 11 with a pizza and coke so you could work through lunch on their bike.