stevem50 wrote:i dont buy based solely on what i sell, i bought this bike with the intention of getting " a longer travel bike that can climb ". i dont sell specialized either... but i have had great luck with specializeds since the mid 90's. way back before it was a big deal if you had a manitou bumper fork..ha-ha. i also really liked cannondale's m-800 way back when. but alas this time i went with a remedy, now it needs one. the thing that has me so pissed is that they as a company are WELL aware of this issue, and are doing everything they can to get me to give up and go away. between all the car, motorcycle, and bicycle dealers i have worked for, i have always been taught to respect your customer, as there is another dealer down the street for them to buy from.
even worse, they want me to let them put a band aid on this before they honor the warranty. if it comes back after the jb-weld, then maybe i can get a credit toward a new frame..
i dont want something for free, i just want the bike i was sold on to perform the way it should
I see your stressed to the max. I am type A and Anal, and have always let things like this bother me. However, maybe it would be better to reverse engineer what you feel is defective. Fix it right once and for all.
I had a Klein aluminum road bike for 15 years. The bottom bracket was glued in with green Locktite. The spindle was glued to the inner race and the outer was pressed into a smooth open tube with no stops. This always scared the H out of me.
I never had a problem with it, but I decided I wanted to put new bearing in (no reason). I had a special tool machined to press out the bearings and spindle. It took a tremendous amount of effort to remove these. I installed new bearings with my press tool, and reinstalled the spindle. It's still going strong today!
I really don't have a problem with this method of using retaining grade Locktite which I used to sell. This method is widely used in industry. If you truly have play and a loose fit, have you looked into finding oversized bearings. I don't know if they exist in the size you need, but they do in some sizes.
Where I work we re-manufacture Alternators, starters, tubros, etc. Many of the housings have had spun bearings. These damaged housings are repaired by welding aluminum back into the spun or broken area and then re-machined to a press fit for new bearings. I know welding will destroy the paint and may affect the heat treat, but one of the methods used where I work is to use the aluminum rod you see in the infomercial on TV. It melts at a lower temp.
I think it even melts with a propane torch. There is also spray welding used to build material without much heat. I don't know if it's done with aluminum.
I know you want satisfaction from Trek, but that's probably not going to happen. Rather than dealing with all the stress, I think I would just fix it right myself and move on. Remember, anything can be fixed......
Larry C