linus

Most of the dealers won't sell their bikes without assembly because they are liable for whatever problems or safety issue arise.

Homebrew01

What was the misleading advice, and what is stopping you from buying parts and doing your own repairs ?

I have been riding for 35 years and have never taken my bikes to a shop for repairs.

HillRider

I certainly hope this was intended to be a joke. If not, you've got a knowledge problem beyond what anyone's customer service can fix.

As other posters have noted, except for the frame and fork, every component on that bike is made by an outside supplier and you can find assembly and repair guidance from the appropriate maker's installation sheets and on-line.

It would have been very interesting to overhear your conversation with the Cannondale CS rep. I expect it wasn't nearly as unhelpful as you seem to think, you just didn't realize what you were being told.

jsharr

Bike specs from bikepedia https://www.bikepedia.com/QuickBike/B...&model=Quick+6

tech docs for spec'd bottom bracket https://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830657743.pdf

tech docs for bottom bracket OP lists https://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830758324.pdf

Burton

Or maybe your original post was more than a little misleading itself
NIB specifically describes an item thats New In Box as in brand new in its original packaging. What you are now describing is a secondhand bike that was reboxed for transport. Changes absolutely nothing already posted.

Warranties aren't transferrable on bicycles and components are only covered for the first year after the initial purchase anyway. The support system is still the Cannondale dealership. No-one else is going to have Cannondale specific parts like derailleur hangers.

But just for fun - Cannondale bikes are shipped with a sticker on the outside of the box detailling the contents. Including the serial number. If the serial number on the box doesn't match the contents - its NOT a NIB item. If it does - chances are good that you ARE dealing with a stolen item. Please feel free to carry on with your rant.

HillRider

Even that isn't strictly the case as there are aftermarket suppliers for replaceable derailleur hangers too: https://derailleurhanger.com/cannondale.htm

However, the OP seems to think Cannondale somehow owes him a complete shop manual for his bike and it's their fault that they don't have one. "Rant" is right.

samg07094

I'm starting to like the idea of fabricating a mud guard for the right-side of the BB. What, 5 minutes work and the problem is gone.

The bike was NIB. And it was moved cross-country. How hard was that?

I think that Cannondale "owes" everybody who owns one of their products a diagram of the product with a list of the components. That is done in many thousands of other areas of industrial design. It is up for the 2013 models on their web site. They want business, they need to support all of their owners -- the ones who talk anyway.

samg07094

Gee, a challenger to replace the Cdale CustServ operation. You get my vote.

Using google for what turns out to be a M151 with site=techdocs.shimano.com pulls up 27 distinct documents. Gotta love it. This is amazing:

https://techdocs.shimano.com/media/te...9830671853.pdf

These guys are good !!

The "expert" at Cdale lost me when he failed to identify a 5mm .8 thread Allen bolt for the water bottle. It didn't interest him. So he told me it didn't interest him. Roughly, if he is so into secrets then he should work at NSA.

jsharr

Personally I thinnk you are fixing a problem that is not a problem. This is a bicycle, low speed, low load, bottom bracket. A bit of dirt may get in, but you should be servicing the thing every year or so anyway. I have seen some pretty nasty stuff on my mtb, and have never found much dirt or water in the bottom bracket. Just saying. It may not look right to you, but I am pretty sure it is functioning as designed. I could be wrong as I cannot see it. While you are making your mud guard, you should go ahead and repack the 4 year old grease anyway.

jsharr

Ooops, missed that yours is sealed bottom bracket, so not really serviceable. Here is the tech doc on it.

https://www.shimano.com/media/techdoc...9830694234.pdf

Bezalel

Except that Cannondales aren't sold boxed (at least they aren't supposed to be).

fietsbob

... perhaps, dealer re-boxed it to ship to remote Retail customer? IDK , I'm just Guessing, Blind..

Out Here, We Get Used Bikes in Boxes all summer , Bike Tourists .. some head east , some head south,

TheReal Houdini

I'm sure an authorized Cannondale dealer will happily assemble the bicycle for you and address any concerns you may have for a reasonable fee, a service included in the normal retail price of the bicycle (but not the $200 Craigslist steal).

HillRider

Uhh, EVERY water bottle cage bolt on EVERY bike is M5x.8 mm threaded. It's not exactly a trade secret. I expect the Cannondale rep made the unwarranted assumption that you knew that. If you want a list of components for the bike, Cannondale does indeed publish it, it's called their catalog.

samg07094

No need. Took me 20 minutes to reassemble it and get in a few very minor adjustments. She gets an A+.

Back in 2009 the bike was put together by a dealer for a test ride, then reboxed for a gift. Then the recipient shipped it back East without reassembly. The serial number on the bike matches the serial number on the Cdale box, which I did discard after getting the bike rolling.

Poor thing had to sleep in a box for 4 years. Lonely in there.

Paranoia about the bike's provenance is comedic. A bike from CL Hell !

Bikepedia and googling techdocs.shimano.com get to 100% of what's needed. Happy BFers got me there. That's no excuse for Cdale "experts" providing no information and saying there were no detailed diagrams.

The bike is nothing to bike perfectionists. To Cdale's CustServ the Quick 6 is a cheap bike with explicitly "low-end" components. To me it feels almost as solid as the Panasonic Sport Deluxe, which has gone 33 years without a single metallic thing breaking. The Panasonic cost $80 at a company event in 1981. ($225 dollars with inflation.) In 2009 the MSRP for this Quick 6 was $399.

If I'm cranking 5 miles, it's the Q6 gets the nod.

Burton

Maybe because I'm sitting in a shop with over 500 bikes on the floor - maybe 30% of which are Cannondales - and there isn't an original box for any of them in the shop. They were built up over the winter to minimize turn-around-time during the spring / summer rush and the boxes have long since hit the recycling bin. The only boxes available in the store for shipping come from special orders or recent shipments to replenish stock. All of which are also built up prior to being sold. Box availability is by reservation and the chances of it even being from the same company are pretty slim.

But obviously the seller presented you with the original invoice and ownership documents when you chatted over coffee and got the whole long drawn out improbable history behind your purchase - so please feel free to dismiss me as a complete moron. Too bad they couldn't help you out with everything else you wanted.

wheelreason

I am laughing so hard that I am unable to contribute at this time....

reddog3

I would loved to have been on the other end of the line when you made that call to C'dale. There's a good reason bike manufacturers don't print a detailed manual, to be supplied to the owner, like you require. No one would read it. All the info you require is online, so if you really need it (which I doubt) go get it.

HillRider

Me too. I expect all of our sympathy would have been with the Cannondale CS rep.

Wilfred Laurier

nobody rides west for some reason

wimps

dabac

But there isn't a problem to start with. In fact, you're more likely to create one.

Mounting a crank to a square taper bb is probably the most critical step in your whole drive train assembly. The cranks have to be pressed on just right. If you don't get the torque high enough the crank will wobble on the axle and destroy the fit of the interface. And that kind of thing is usually seen as non-repairable.

Sure, some have caught the wobble just in time, and been able to save the crank through liberal application of torque, others have reported luck with JB Weld, yet some claim to have resurrected doomed cranks by filing. But a far larger group have been forced to replace the crank(s). Only glimmer of hope is that the left is a more likely victim than the right.

And let's not forget that it's not unusual to have the crank puller strip the threads in the crank.

If you want to extend the life of your drivetrain components, get a properly long front fender, one where the lower end of the fender/mudflap extends lower than the chainrings. That'll keep your chain, chainrings and bb from getting sprayed with road grime or whatever your front tire is able to lift off the road.

Anecdotal evidence below:

My commuter bike has a very similar bb, and it sees hundreds of winter miles in a place where roads are sanded and salted for a good 4-5 months each year.
I go through chains and cassettes like you wouldn't believe, but the bb is entirely unfazed by the environmental load.

My 1st MTB got ridden straight into the Mediterranean at the finish to a whole day climbing followed by an epic descent.
The only bearing that didn't get submerged was the headset. Clean-up after consisted of riding through a couple of sidewalk showers intended for bathers. Later (much later) disassembly of bearings showed nothing but the regular gunk to be expected from a bearing that hadn't been serviced recently.

Yeah, well, there are lots of things that would be nice if the world supplied them. But as long as it isn't providing a competitive edge, I don't think Cannondale is going to go for it.
Thing is, the destiny for most bikes is to be bought, and then neglected - just as your bike was. Maintenance and servicing isn't going to be an issue for, say 80-90% of the bikes. They just won't see the mileage to make it needed.

Anyone dedicated enough to actually ride their bike(s), is likely to be dedicated enough to pick up the maintenance skills anyhow, so they're not particularly bothered either.


That might easily sow as much confusion as it'll clear up, as bikes are rarely (if ever!) sold with with a consistent spec throughout the life of a certain model. Imagine the frustration on consulting your spec sheet, ordering a replacement part, only to discover that it doesn't fit.
If the spec sheet can't be trusted, and still has to be verified, what good is ist?

Yeah, but in an industrial application, what gets bought gets used. Not so with bikes.

No.
They only need to be as good, or bad as the rest of the pack, and they'll hav an excellent chance of retaining the same market share as last year.
Unless "good documentation" becomes a selling point, why go to the effort?
And people don't buy a bike to maintain it, they buy them to ride them. Your average bike buyer is far more likely to be concerned about the styling and/or the cost rather than the quality of the manual.
It's a bike, right, how hard can it be?

Homebrew01

Perhaps the BB mudguard will be a simple clamp-on rig that attaches to the downtube and blocks the area between the crank arm and the frame. Then there will be no need to mess around with removing & reinstalling the cranks.

Wilfred Laurier

what some seem to be missing
is that there is no need
for any sort of mudguard on
modern sealed bottom brackets

the op has identified a solution
in need of a problem

HillRider

The OP has identified many "solutions" to non-existent problems.

Homebrew01

We know he doesn't need a mudgaurd, but if he wants to make one, then best to attach something in a harmless way that does not affect other components.