sean.hwy

All shops are your best friends when they are selling you a bike and parts. I have purchased three new bikes in the last two years. 1 topstone major squeaky wheel to get them to fix the bottom bracket. Had to go in at least 10 times. They kept pretending they could not hear. Each time I would have take them out then all of sudden they could hear it. etc...

I bought 2 giants. LBS keeps just wanting to lube the bottom bracket and kick the can down the road for a few months. Now the bike is over a year old and not sure Giant is going to fix it now.

I am thinking about getting Santa Cruz STIGMATA with the lifetime frame warranty. The warranty is useless though if the LBS does not honor it.

I am looking for recommendations for good customer service that sells the STIGMATA.

KJ43

The warranty on the Stigmata is not dependent on the LBS. Just register the bike with Santa Cruz.

I would pay more attention to a shop that actually has it set up correctly when it arrives. I got mine at Summit bikes and would never recommend going there after that. I had to re-do the hoods on my bars because they were askew and a crank arm fixing screw was not properly tightened.

I'd go through Mike's Bikes. They are now owned by the company that owns Santa Cruz and, while they are not my main LBS, they have been friendly and competent ever time I've gone in for something.

Polaris OBark

Demo it in Santa Cruz, and ask them for recommendations. Riding it in Wilder is a good option. (I thought it was a good bike, but nothing really special. It was one of the top ones in the lineup, with electronic shifting from SRAM, and their in-house wheelset.)

sean.hwy

I rented their blur mountain bike. What an awesome bike. I think the only special gravel bike is something like an s-work crux @ 10k+. That's a tad out of my budget.
I am little tired of my giant creaking bottom bracket. I just want a dependable easy to work on ( threaded bottom bracket ) gravel bike that's lite-ish for my price range. I have some lightbicycle carbon wheels I can throw to help with the weight a little bit. I like the Ibix MX also but it only comes in 1x.

I have four wheel sets for my gravel bike. Three cheap alloy wheels with various tires and cassette combo and the one nice lightbicycle carbon wheels. I like various riding combo of a gravel bike allows.

sean.hwy

I agree with how it "should be". But in practice that's not how I found it to be. I know you can buy a new toyota in NY and get a warranty work done in CA no questions asked.
My friend bought Liv ( women's giant ) from a reno dealership. After several months the cable shifter was rusted through and it needed to be recabled. The local CA LBS charged for the labor or was it the part. I forget which. They gave her discount but she was out money out of pocket. My GF LIV had the same problem. Since we bought the bike from them they said it would count as their one free adjustment so they did it for free. They did not do any of the other normal tune up stuff that was supposed to happen.

I bought a Giant from a redwood city store that went out of business. When I took my bike to the store that I bought the Liv for gf to them to warranty the bottom bracket they charged to lube it first. It's still not fixed to this day.

So, it would be nice to have a good LBS that wants to fix the bikes they sell. I know Giant is supposed to have a life time warranty I can't seem to get them to fix it.

Polaris OBark

I think Santa Cruz has a very good reputation for servicing their warranty, and being local, you can always show up at their doorstep.

We rented/demoed the blur and the stigmata at the same time.

If you are not in a hurry, have John Caletti (in Santa Cruz) build you a custom bike (like the one in my avatar). He's over a year out, and I just read isn't taking orders until he can get caught up, but depending on your time-scale, it might be worth holding out for. Mine has been solid since 2014.

Polaris OBark

Having said all that, Giant should fix your bottom bracket. Or get a Hambini, install it, and have your lawyer send Giant the bill.

sean.hwy

I have been thinking about gettng a hambini bottom bracket and just keeping this is my commuter bike ( let a friend borrow to go gravel riding etc... ).

I don't know anyone that's actually done the Hambini bottom bracket. His videos are convincing though.

KJ43

Santa Cruz has a great reputation for warranty as mentioned above.

The Stigmata is one of the best bikes I've ever owned. It just disappears underneath me whether I've done an 80+ mile road ride or I'm hitting up trails including fairly technical single track. It's a great choice.

Polaris OBark

I think there are several people here who have. I think there are other options, too, that have the same ideal. I've never had a press-fit BB, so I can't really give any advice (other than to check out these kinds of options).

I'm just assuming if you are ready to shell out for a Stigmata (it was the high price that gave me pause, not the quality BTW), even Hambini's expensive BB is a cheap option.

Have you tried contacting Giant directly? You might at least get an idea for whether they stand behind their products.

Barry2 

I installed a Hambini into my first Cervelo R3.
When my current R3 needs a BB, it’s going to get the same treatment!

Barry

squirtdad

what is your price range? group level? If you are doing a 6 or 7 k bike you could look into a custom frame and go from there

squirtdad

the cervelo does not look bad https://www.cervelo.com/en_US/aspero Dolce Velo on the Alameda has provided great service and is dealer worth checking out

LarrySellerz

I’d stop messing around and just go to Veloro in Redwood City. Gebhard will take care of you

KJ43

Doesn't look like they are a Santa Cruz dealer. The OP was looking for a shop that would be able to sell them a Stigmata.

LarrySellerz

u right