If you stopped by and read this blog prior to May 29th, thanks. You got to see the whole unhappy story. If you're stopping by after May 29th, sorry. Per a promise to myself and my partner, I cleared all entries three months after the original post.
I've had my say, and if anyone cares enough to ask, I'll tell them what happened. It's old news, now, anyway.
6 comments:
Hey I was considering a Davidson and missed this story. A custom bike is a big deal to me so I would love to hear your story!
Thanks,
John
Well, the short form is that I bought a custom ti frame from Bill in early 2003. Great bike, everything I ever wanted a bike to be, except that it had a speed wobble. Bill knew about the problem and knew about my efforts to fix it. I changed tires, changed wheels, had it fit by Eric Moen (top bike PT) and finally put on a different fork. All at my own expense.
When I finally gave up in September 2007 and took the bike back to Bill, he promised to "make it right".
Over the next year, he put me off, gave me excuses, and then finally forced me to take him to court. Per a mediation agreement, he finally delivered a new frame in September of 2008. It rode just fine, but had some pretty serious flaws. He refused to fix them, and when I took him back to court he used obfuscation and lying by omission to convince the judge that the flaws were perfectly acceptable. He won.
I sold the frame "as is" to get back some of my money.
Here are pics of the problems:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dayngerous/sets/72157607704494832/
If you want the whole sordid story, I can put it into a word document (I saved the original posts) and send it to you.
Thanks for this. Certainly a concerning story. Other makers you recommend in that wish you had used? Davidson comes so highly recommended but I am new in town so I am sure there are others.
Cheers,
John
If I were looking at a ti bike right now, I'd talk to Moots. They're not local, but their frames are excellent. I don't know who, locally, is building good ti frames these days.
Hi - I found your story. Sorry to hear about all the trouble you had. My partner is going through a similar problem now with a "reputable" builder. He wanted a ti road frame for ride comfort on century rides on rough roads. He got a stiff bike that rides like an old Cannondale. (The fit is great though.) The builder keeps telling him to try different wheels/handlebars/seatpost - to the point of rediculousness. Builder claims that it is the "best he can do".
Unknown - sorry to hear that. A stiff frame is a stiff frame, not much to be done about it. You can only do so much via components.
In the end, a bad frame is a bad frame, and because what's "bad" in cases like this is a matter of opinion, good luck getting any relief if it goes to court.
I hope your partner is able to reach a better outcome than I did.
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