A customer brought me a Specialized Roubaix SL4 frameset for work.
It was something they acquired through a private transaction, so
no matter which shop they took it to,
they'd hear "That's not one we sold..."
The fork steerer tube is uncut and the frame shows no assembly marks—it's brand new.
The image above is after I worked on it, but when it first arrived
when the front fork was inserted into the head tube,
the fork wouldn't seat all the way in. Something was clearly wrong.
I could see silicone-based grease leaking from the back of the fork, so
I wiped it clean and took another shot.
The lower headset cup on this fork has an unusual design, so
it seems impossible to fit a standard-spec fork to this frame.
↑Fork
↑Frame's seat stays
But no matter how I look at it, the frame and fork
have the same model, year, and color, so
there's no reason they shouldn't fit together.
Apparently, this is the fourth shop this frame has been brought to.
First stop: Uemura Parts
"Something's clearly wrong, but I can't figure out what.
Take it to a shop that knows Specialized well,"
they said.
Second stop: Rabbit Street
They looked at it and tried to fix it, but got nowhere.
About the lower headset cup, they said "I've never seen one like this."
Maybe they're not that familiar with Specialized.
I didn't ask if they charged for the work.
By the way, the lower headset cup is fixed with epoxy and can't be removed,
and in solving this problem, the issue wasn't with the headset cup or fork.
Third stop: Silvest Cycle
They wouldn't even look at it. Turned the customer away at the door.
"Turned away at the door"—that's not my phrasing,
that's what the customer called it.
But honestly, that's way better than fumbling around and making things worse.
Looks like they have some sense after all!
Good job there, yes yes.
Fourth stop: Mura Lab, the sketchy neighborhood bike shop lookalike dark bicycle workshop
Solved it in less than 10 minutes of work. Labor charge was 1,000 yen.
I did the work right in front of the customer too,
and explained what was actually going on. Won't write it here though.
I'd say this—no disrespect to the customer—was an "interesting" case.
If I come across something like this again in the future, I can handle it instantly.
Actually, I don't think this was the kind of problem worth
the customer hopping from shop to shop over...
The customer had already contacted the person who sold them the frame about
possibly returning it as a defective item, so
I told them to call right back and apologize, saying "Actually it's fine, no problem,"
and all's well that ends well.
And everybody's happy
That's a wrap
Ta-da, ta-da, ta-daaaa
It was something they acquired through a private transaction, so
no matter which shop they took it to,
they'd hear "That's not one we sold..."
The fork steerer tube is uncut and the frame shows no assembly marks—it's brand new.
The image above is after I worked on it, but when it first arrived
when the front fork was inserted into the head tube,
the fork wouldn't seat all the way in. Something was clearly wrong.
I could see silicone-based grease leaking from the back of the fork, so
I wiped it clean and took another shot.
The lower headset cup on this fork has an unusual design, so
it seems impossible to fit a standard-spec fork to this frame.
↑Fork
↑Frame's seat stays
But no matter how I look at it, the frame and fork
have the same model, year, and color, so
there's no reason they shouldn't fit together.
Apparently, this is the fourth shop this frame has been brought to.
First stop: Uemura Parts
"Something's clearly wrong, but I can't figure out what.
Take it to a shop that knows Specialized well,"
they said.
Second stop: Rabbit Street
They looked at it and tried to fix it, but got nowhere.
About the lower headset cup, they said "I've never seen one like this."
Maybe they're not that familiar with Specialized.
I didn't ask if they charged for the work.
By the way, the lower headset cup is fixed with epoxy and can't be removed,
and in solving this problem, the issue wasn't with the headset cup or fork.
Third stop: Silvest Cycle
They wouldn't even look at it. Turned the customer away at the door.
"Turned away at the door"—that's not my phrasing,
that's what the customer called it.
But honestly, that's way better than fumbling around and making things worse.
Looks like they have some sense after all!
Good job there, yes yes.
Fourth stop: Mura Lab, the sketchy neighborhood bike shop lookalike dark bicycle workshop
Solved it in less than 10 minutes of work. Labor charge was 1,000 yen.
I did the work right in front of the customer too,
and explained what was actually going on. Won't write it here though.
I'd say this—no disrespect to the customer—was an "interesting" case.
If I come across something like this again in the future, I can handle it instantly.
Actually, I don't think this was the kind of problem worth
the customer hopping from shop to shop over...
The customer had already contacted the person who sold them the frame about
possibly returning it as a defective item, so
I told them to call right back and apologize, saying "Actually it's fine, no problem,"
and all's well that ends well.
And everybody's happy
That's a wrap
Ta-da, ta-da, ta-daaaa