Any consumer rights experts?? Fauty Zeb Ultimate.

[Renton]

Hi all,

Just after some advice really.

Purchased a 2023 Rockshox Zeb ulimate online from a well known retailer. Bought on 17/06/22 and delivered around 5 working days later.

Fork was fine to start with but got progressively worse in the they became harsh and spikey, to the point that I lost control of the bars a few times at Cwmcarn and nearly had a big crash.

After that ride I contacted my local MTB shop and they were sent off for a warranty repair. They sent me back a full new fork apart from the lowers.

Yesterday I took them for a ride and they feel horrendous, really spikey and harsh, probably worse than before. Riding along normal bridleways or trails they become almost rigid.

I had a shockwiz fitted yesterday to try and help set them up and it just kept saying remove all HSC and LSC compression. I did this after the first trail and it kept asking for more to be wound off.

They were also sticking down into the travel and would only really come back up if I took all weight off the bike or yanked up on the bars.

Any ideas on what my rights are here. They have been repaired once that has made no difference and they are still under 6 months old. To be honest I have lost confidence in them and am worried about having a crash.

Thanks

Steve

 

[Electric Life]

Hey Steve,

Definitely sounds strange! Have the shop which sent them off had any contact? Did they send the forks to Sram/Zyro? Do they have a report with what was done?

Cheers,

David

 

[Renton]

Hey Steve,

Definitely sounds strange! Have the shop which sent them off had any contact? Did they send the forks to Sram/Zyro? Do they have a report with what was done?

Cheers,

David

Hi Dave,

I've not spoke with the shop that sent them off as they did me a big favour in the first place by sending them off when I didn't by them from them. Also, if Im to try and get a refund I thought it would be best to start liaising with the place I did buy them from.

They were sent off to SRAM and came back as a full new fork apart from my original lowers. I have the paperwork to show this too.

They honestly feel worse than before. A riding buddy I was out with yesterday had a few rides on my bike and said they felt rubbish. He has a 2022 Zeb and it feels uber plush off the top and really supportive. Mine in contrast feel terrible.

 

[Electric Life]

Hi Dave,

I've not spoke with the shop that sent them off as they did me a big favour in the first place by sending them off when I didn't by them from them. Also, if Im to try and get a refund I thought it would be best to start liaising with the place I did buy them from.

They were sent off to SRAM and came back as a full new fork apart from my original lowers. I have the paperwork to show this too.

They honestly feel worse than before. A riding buddy I was out with yesterday had a few rides on my bike and said they felt rubbish. He has a 2022 Zeb and it feels uber plush off the top and really supportive. Mine in contrast feel terrible.

That's a shame, having ridden a few bikes with those forks, they've felt great! Side note, great to hear that the shop helped out! Always what you want to see/hear!

Certainly worth liaising with the retailer to see what they say, but they may want to send the forks off too which could put you in a loop!

Hopefully hear that you get sorted soon!

 

[Morton027]

Honestly my first call would be with the LBS that arranged the work for you. Take the bike, let them see what it’s doing. They will most likely be in the best place to advise you where to go next. As they sound like they’re helpful, they’ll probably be able to give you a reference to offer their thoughts, or back you up with either the manufacturer or the retailer you purchased from.

In this way, you’ll probably get better service and a quicker resolution than going to the original retailer first, where I imagine they would want to start investigations from scratch.

 

[Mikerb]

Whilst I appreciate you should get resolution without cost I think going back to the original retailer or your friendly LBS will just send you around the loop again. Personally I would send them off to a specialist like tf tuned. If they service them but need no replacement parts you should have the situation resolved for c £100. If they find a fault that needs new parts that evidence can then be used with whoever your lbs used for the warranty repair. The fact you bought them 6 months ago limits your options.

 

[Renton]

Whilst I appreciate you should get resolution without cost I think going back to the original retailer or your friendly LBS will just send you around the loop again. Personally I would send them off to a specialist like tf tuned. If they service them but need no replacement parts you should have the situation resolved for c £100. If they find a fault that needs new parts that evidence can then be used with whoever your lbs used for the warranty repair. The fact you bought them 6 months ago limits your options.

Hi there, thanks for the reply.

Just to clarify, they have been back to SRAM who have already replaced pretty much all of the fork apart from the lowers.

I am still within (Just) the 6 months of buying them hence I would just prefer to get a refund on them. Ive lost confidence in them and its making not want to ride.

 

[thebarber]

I remember mtbtelly on YouTube having an issue with them 'binding'
Either the uppers or lowers weren't aligning properly

 

[Growmac]

I had '20 Lyriks that were similarly horrible. Both the damper and air spring were faulty as it turned out. Full Factory Suspension got me a new damper on warranty, and when we realised the air spring was dodgy too, I elected to keep the upgraded-for-free damper (one bonus of covid parts shortages) and just coil convert them. Now they're lovely. Fin at Full Factory, or TF Tuned as mentioned above, would be able to advise you. (disclaimer: Fin's a mate, so is Greg at TF, so my recommendation is a bit biased).

 

[cappuccino34]

If you can send them back and get EXT Era V2 forks instead you definitely won't regret it.

If you can't send them back, try taking all the air out and fully compress the forks to the bottom of the travel, without a wheel fitted.
Measure across inside the wheel mount and make sure that it's exactly the same as your wheel is across the axle.
Obviously it should be 110mm, but check both the fork and the wheel hub width.
If they don't match the forks won't be parallel and won't work well at all.

 

[PennywiseTheDancingClown]

A refund, maybe... they might? You should be compensated at least with an entire new fork.

 

[Renton]

They have gone back again for another look under warranty. Fingers crossed they just refund me now as I’m sick of not being able to ride my bike when they are away all the time or not working correctly.

 

[G-Sport]

In terms of consumer law, I think you let the original retailer off the hook by taking them elsewhere first. To be fair to the original retailer, if they haven't had a chance to fix them then they can't really be blamed, they just got a box of forks in and passed them on to you.
In terms of the actual problem, I would always try to diagnose it yourself.
cappuccino34's advice seems excellent to me. If the entire fork apart from the lowers really was replaced then it seems fairly likely that the lowers are responsible.
If it passes thattest, then you could also try just bolting one side at a time together and then moving the fork by hand. So connect just the air spring tube and cycle that at low pressure and feel for issues, if that is fine, unbolt it and repeat with just the damper.
Hope you get it sorted.

 

[Renton]

In terms of consumer law, I think you let the original retailer off the hook by taking them elsewhere first. To be fair to the original retailer, if they haven't had a chance to fix them then they can't really be blamed, they just got a box of forks in and passed them on to you.
In terms of the actual problem, I would always try to diagnose it yourself.
cappuccino34's advice seems excellent to me. If the entire fork apart from the lowers really was replaced then it seems fairly likely that the lowers are responsible.
If it passes thattest, then you could also try just bolting one side at a time together and then moving the fork by hand. So connect just the air spring tube and cycle that at low pressure and feel for issues, if that is fine, unbolt it and repeat with just the damper.
Hope you get it sorted.

Understand what you are saying but they get sent to the same place for warranty work no mater where I send them from. Both shops have sent them back to Zyro/Fisher for sram to do the warranty work. I wouldn't expect Leisure lakes to be able to repair them under warranty.

I Don't want to take them apart, shouldn't have to to be honest. For the money I paid they should work fine out of the box and should be expected to work for a long time(at least a year without service)

 

[G-Sport]

Sorry I must have misread what had happened. Thought they had never been back to the original retailer. My understanding of consumer law is that as soon as you bypass the original retailer, whether to the manufacturer or wholesaler or whoever, you essentially release then from their original contract. I might well be wrong or out of date though.
From a practical point of view, if you want forks that work then I would roll your sleeves up and dive in (or send them in to someone like TF at your own cost; Or send them back to the original retailer and be prepared to wait).
I don't think you will get anything but stress trying to get a completely new replacement pair instantly after nearly 6 months (which is when they would normally be due a lower leg service anyway, I think it is 50 hours or six months and although most people push this way past 50 hours of use with no issues that doesn't change the official recommendations).
I think during the pandemic rush lots of forks may have been assembled quite hastily, I found a huge blob of grease in the air spring of my new Fox 36's and the forks worked like shit until I removed it.
cappuccino34's suggestion was very very good and wont take long to do, if it shows a clear variation through the stroke then you will have a really good piece of evidence to show the retailer or distributor.
Good luck, hope this is helpful

 

[Renton]

Sorry , you are correct. They hadn't been back to the original retailer but did get sent to the same place where all rockshox warranty work is carried out.

This time have gone to the original retailer who have also passed them onto the rockshox warranty place.

 

[Doomanic]

should be expected to work for a long time(at least a year without service)

Lower leg service is 50 hours, that's 3-4 months use for me.

 

[Renton]

Lower leg service is 50 hours, that's 3-4 months use for me.

I wish I had the chance to get that much riding in !!

In all seriousness though I did one ride on them when fitted then spent a lot of time off my bike recovering from open heart surgery. So although nearly 6 months old they have only had about 3 months use and been back for warranty once in that time too.