Shimano v. Campy Warranty Service

Robin Hubert wrote:

You are about to hear how awful most bike shops are and how no one Qui
si parla Campagnolo, 'cept, apparetnly, for one.

Yes, Peter Chisolm can fix it for you in one day, but you still have to
send it and wait for the return.


ChisHolm, thanks...BTW, I am not the only place that can repair ERGO.
Many can, including the Yellow Jersey and places like Licktons and
Branford. If a decent wrench would just take a few minutes with an
ERGO, they would see two things-
-Easy to repair
-small parts available from MANY distributors

Or you can simply fix them yourself. However, changing over to
Campagnolo isn't cheap.

Mirage levers are cheaper than one Sora lever-


That said, buy yourself a set of downtube shifters (used, cheap) and
have them as backups for when your STI fails. You can, at least, keep
riding while you're waiting for repairs.


Robin Hubert

Robin Hubert wrote:




Robin Hubert


Oh, and to confound the issue, I have referred business many times to
Peter's shop. I have never once heard about it. And I bet Peter has
never referred anyone to mine.


Robin Hubert

Gee, didn't know you had a shop-What's the name, where is it?
I just may refer somebody there is I knew it existed.

I have never heard anybody say that you refered them to me.

On 7 Aug 2005 06:44:33 -0700, "Qui si parla Campagnolo"
wrote:

ChisHolm, thanks...BTW, I am not the only place that can repair ERGO.
Many can, including the Yellow Jersey and places like Licktons and
Branford. If a decent wrench would just take a few minutes with an
ERGO, they would see two things-
-Easy to repair
-small parts available from MANY distributors

You underestimate your ability and overestimate what many other
wrenches are capable of. Shops here do send the Ergos out for fixing.
I was doing repairs for one shop for over a year before the owner
wanted to learn how to do it himself.

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
scandal wrote:

[snip]

I have a mid-range road bike that I am dependent upon for commuting. It
came with Sora STI shifters on it. The right shifter has stopped
shifting. Not unexpectedly, after fiddling a bit, the mechanic at the
LBS said that no one can really fix these levers, and this one needs to
go back to Shimano for replacement. My LBS tells me that it will take
3-4 weeks for Shimano to get a replacement to them.


We just warrantied three levers. 7700, 7800 and a R600, got all back
w/i about 10 days. yer LBS is a blowin' smoke.

The LBS doesn't

have any other shifters in stock that they can put on the bike - I can
understand that even if they did, they wouldn't want to

Why not? we take levers out of our inventory all the time(shimano), if
we have them cuz we know shimano will warranty these things. Sometimes
I wonder if they even open our box.

Yes. I think the LBS is a problem. I confess it hacks me a bit. I was
sort of raised to use the LBS - where we used to live, the owner of one
of them had been a team sponsor for generations, and I loved the guy,
his mechanics, and the shop.

When we moved, I started patronizing this LBS, buying things for which I
know I was paying a bit extra and recommending it to other people,
because I had the notion that if there was a problem, the shop would
help. Then I have this problem - no transportation for weeks - and it's
as if the place has become Wal-Mart.

The mechanic in examining the shifter in the back room manages to make
the problem worse - from bad shifting to no shifting. He acknowledges
that the thing worked - poorly but it shifted - when the bike came in
and that it now doesn't work at all, but disclaims any responsibility
and makes absolutely no effort to help out. I accept this because he's
not a bad fellow, it's really Shimano's fault, and I know that he only
sort of knows what he is doing.

One of the more experienced clerks takes things somewhat in hand - he
seems to grasp, unlike anyone else in the shop that this bike is my
transportation to work and that it now is pretty much unusable - even
sort of arranging a possible loaner.

Then the owner/manager gets involved - a guy that is never around when I
am there. He vetoes the loaner, saying he wants to ensure that he
doesn't lose any potential money - not money that he is set to receive
but money that he might, possibly, if lightening strikes, get. Did I
mention that he wanted $20 to take the broken shifter off the bike? I
refrain from reminding him that he already has several years of my
actual, real money in hand. I continue to be polite and just ride off
quietly (in a 52X12), committed to never spending another nickel in the
place and to dissing this shop whenever I get a chance.

It doesn't help that at purchase time the shop said the Sora shifters
would work great, neglecting to point out (yes, I should have known this
or noticed this myself and there may be some transference going on) that
the things cannot be repaired and that the downshift tab cannot be
reached from the drops unless one is Mr. Fantastic.

Sorry about the rant.

[snip]

Campagnolo is 'ERGO', shimano is 'STI'-

Sorry. No offense intended. As recompense, I promise to find a shop
with an Italian name.

scandal wrote:
Is Campy warranty service significantly faster (or better) than Shimano
service?

I have a mid-range road bike that I am dependent upon for commuting. It
came with Sora STI shifters on it. The right shifter has stopped
shifting. Not unexpectedly, after fiddling a bit, the mechanic at the
LBS said that no one can really fix these levers, and this one needs to
go back to Shimano for replacement. My LBS tells me that it will take
3-4 weeks for Shimano to get a replacement to them. The LBS doesn't
have any other shifters in stock that they can put on the bike - I can
understand that even if they did, they wouldn't want to - so they plan
to keep my bike for 3-4 weeks.

This is a serious pain. (My spouse found it all very funny, until I
told her she was going to have to drive me around for month.)

Nonetheless, perhaps this hassle comes at an auspicious time. I am also
building up a bike for riding on unpaved roads and haven't yet purchased
shifters. This incident got me thinking that my original idea of using
Shimano STI shifters might not be so good. I was also wondering whether
Campy might turn around a warranty replacement in a bit more reasonable
time frame than Shimano.

(I have read that Campy STI shifters can be repaired which, now that I
am stuck, seems like an even better thing that it did when I heard about
it. And, I'm now also thinking about barends.)

It seems to me your real problem isn't a Campy/Shimano thing, it's a one
bike thing. Besides, the only really reliable commuter is a fixed gear.

Robin Hubert wrote:
Oh, and to confound the issue, I have referred business many times to
Peter's shop. I have never once heard about it. And I bet Peter has
never referred anyone to mine.

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
Gee, didn't know you had a shop-What's the name, where is it?
I just may refer somebody there is I knew it existed.
I have never heard anybody say that you refered them to me.

Robin works for Bob Lickton and I have sent riders there.

--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

-snip-
scandal wrote:
Then the owner/manager gets involved - a guy that is never around when I
am there. He vetoes the loaner, saying he wants to ensure that he
doesn't lose any potential money - not money that he is set to receive
but money that he might, possibly, if lightening strikes, get. Did I
mention that he wanted $20 to take the broken shifter off the bike? I
refrain from reminding him that he already has several years of my
actual, real money in hand. I continue to be polite and just ride off
quietly (in a 52X12), committed to never spending another nickel in the
place and to dissing this shop whenever I get a chance.

Well then why the heck don't you write the name of the
jerk's 'shop' ?
--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

[snip]

Peter Cole wrote:

It seems to me your real problem isn't a Campy/Shimano thing, it's a one
bike thing. Besides, the only really reliable commuter is a fixed gear.

lol. You're right. I definitely need more bikes!

Perhaps it's like asking the driver of a Ferrari and pickup why he
doesn't use the Ferrari to haul hay while his pickup is in the shop.

I have a fixie/singlespeed on one of my old racing frames. It doesn't
have a rack or a good spot on which to fix my lights. Worse, lugging
the things I need to lug to and fro for work in a backpack would be
difficult. Despite my awesome physical prowess I would need to walk
the hills with the all weight.

I used it yesterday to take the broken shifter back to the shop and
today to pickup milk and cereal.

A Muzi wrote:
Robin Hubert wrote:
Oh, and to confound the issue, I have referred business many times to
Peter's shop. I have never once heard about it. And I bet Peter has
never referred anyone to mine.

Qui si parla Campagnolo wrote:
Gee, didn't know you had a shop-What's the name, where is it?
I just may refer somebody there is I knew it existed.
I have never heard anybody say that you refered them to me.

Robin works for Bob Lickton and I have sent riders there.

That answers a lot.


--
Andrew Muzi
www.yellowjersey.org
Open every day since 1 April, 1971

On Sat, 6 Aug 2005 10:06:21 -0700, "rkoreis" wrote:

Anyway, the issue comes down to repair or throw away. Several years ago a
friend of mine had an Ultegra shifter that crapped out. He was told that
while a skilled mechanic can repair them, they are not designed to be
repaired. Shimano wasn't interested in customer service, so he had to buy a
new pod (almost as much as buying two). My Campy & Sachs shifters, however,
can easily be serviced. Reminds me of an old ad where the guy is saying
"You can pay me now, or you can pay me later" (don't remember the product or
service).

Yeah, but the Shimanos don't *need* to be serviceable.

(Except that they really do, of course)


Jasper