New Member with separation anxiety

[Berrybiker]

I have been reading here for quite awhile and decided it is time to join in. I just got back into biking this spring after 8-10 years of not riding at all. My husband and I were out running some errands in May and he suggested stopping at a bike store we saw. "Just to look around." My last two bikes were a mid-80's "sport-touring" Fuji (introductory bike but fun and I loved it) and a spur-of-the-moment mountain bike purchase (wasn't riding off-road--knobby tires on pavement felt slow and heavy, bike never fit right and I hated it). Then hybrids became popular and I thought I might want to try one sometime. This was my intent when I walked into the bike store this spring and proceded to test-ride a few bikes. I soon found out that there were several types of hybrids, and that what I wanted was more of a fitness/flat-bar roadbike. I tried a Trek FX 7.3, which I liked a lot, then I went to another shop and tried a Specialized Vita Elite. I knew immediately that was going to be my next bike. It felt faster than the Trek, seemed to have good components for the price, and came with a carbon fork and bar-ends. All of those were perfectly good reasons to buy one bike over another, but I have to admit that the hook for me was the color--a georgeous matte purple color they called Berry. The only problem is that the LBS said they were sold out in the size I needed. My husband (who you might guess by now is a major enabler) called around the found the Berry color in a 54 cm for me.

I love this bike! I know it isn't going to be my last bike--I am already fantasizing about a new road bike, but this is the bike that got me back into cycling and I have no intention of ever parting with her. Except...I haven't had her for a month now. Late in the summer Specialized has a recall on the carbon forks on some of their 2011 bikes, including mine. So I took the bike to the local Specialized dealer, as instructed by the company. The actual instructions were to stop riding the bike immedately, and when I called the shop they asked that I bring it in immedately. Okay..... inconvenient, but okay. I got nervous, though, when I dropped the bike off, and the guy I spoke to said that "Specialized hasn't told us what to do yet, and we have a few of these here already." ????? They called a few days later and said that Specialized was out of the forks, and that they would call us in about a week to give us an update. Well, that was a month ago. I decided to give them some time, but finally called a few days ago to check on my bike. The guy at the shop said that he was going to check with Specialized again, and that they even had a few 2011 bikes in their shop that they can't sell because of this. This just doesn't seem right, and I am not sure what I can do about it. I guess a month is not so long in the scheme of things, but I just want my bike back!!!

[TTUchick]

I feel your pain! My lovely charcoal grey Vita Comp was also included in the fork recall... the fork for mine is still on backorder :( I have two other bikes I could ride... but the Vita is my favorite all-purpose cruise-all-over-town bike.

[jyyanks]

Welcome to the forum! It's so nice that you found a bike that's an extension of you. It's too bad that its taking so long to get the bike back. Do you plan on riding in the winter? I figure that for me, there's only about 2 more weeks left of riding, though I'm only riding on the weekends now.

Did the LBS give you an ETA of when it would be done? I would continue to hound as I know that some owners were able to get their bikes fixed. Perhaps you can email Specialized directly?

[hebe]

Welcome! I hope you can be re-united with your lovely bike soon.

(The Specialized Vita Elite is on a shortlist of two for my next bike, it was great to read about your experience with it, thank you and also to TTUChick).

[Berrybiker]

Thanks for all of the replies--and the support. I have learned so much from this forum already. I have to admit it's the only one I have ever felt inspired to join!

The first thing I did after I took the Vita into the shop was get my "vintage" (sounds so much better than old/outdated) Fuji down off of the hook in the garage and take it in for a tune-up. It's not my Vita, but much better than no bike, and I'm actually kind of enjoying being reunited with it. (Did that sound weird?)

I am thinking about contacting Specialized directly, because I know some people did get replacement forks earlier. A lot of them seem to be back-ordered now, though, so quick results don't seem likely.

And no pictures yet--I should have taken some before but didn't get around to it, but I will try my best to get and post some once I finally get the bike back.

Jyyanks, I am going to try riding this winter, at least on "nice days", but I guess I will find out how hardy I am. I can only ride on weekends now, too. I miss the after work rides. I am planning to get a trainer and put the Fuji on that for the winter, so I will at least have an indoor option when it really gets cold.

[Owlie]

I completely understand your separation anxiety. When I left my bike at my parents' house last year (for about six months), I was not a happy camper when spring rolled around! (And let's not talk about how grumpy I got over the summer while she was it the shop.)

(And no, it doesn't sound weird to want to get reacquainted with your Fuji.)

[radacrider]

Hmmm, I wonder, if you really want your bike back, if there is a way the LBS can provide a "loaner" fork, hopefully at Specialized's expense. I mean, you paid to ride the bike and it is not your fault there is a recall, so you should not have to overly suffer.

Just a thought, I guess. Good luck and happy riding.

[TTUchick]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention about the recall... I did receive a quick replacement initially, but Specialized sent a fork with a matte black finish which IMO looked terrible on my bike with a glossy grey finish with white pinstriping. After discussing my disappointment with the asthetics, my LBS called Specialized and arraigned to have a new fork custom painted to match the original.

You might want to inquire about what the replacement looks like along with the estimated timeline for repair.

[Berrybiker]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention about the recall... I did receive a quick replacement initially, but Specialized sent a fork with a matte black finish which IMO looked terrible on my bike with a glossy grey finish with white pinstriping. After discussing my disappointment with the asthetics, my LBS called Specialized and arraigned to have a new fork custom painted to match the original.

You might want to inquire about what the replacement looks like along with the estimated timeline for repair.

I don't blame you for not being satisfied with the replacement. Are they charging you anything to have the new fork custom painted? I don't understand how they can do a recall on the bikes that we purchased, replace the part (eventually) with one that doesn't even look like the original, and expect customers to be satisfied. I'm not trying to be unreasonable here--I really like specialized bikes--but I would like to end up with the same product that I purchased. I guess I could live with a black fork that is safer, but still....

By the way, one of the reasons I am trying to be patient here is that the LBS that has the bike now is not the one I bought it from. I do shop there, and I would have liked to buy the bike from them. However, they told me that they did not have, and could not get, the one that I wanted. The recall notice said that I should take it to a Specialized dealer. Maybe I should have taken it back to where I bought it, but that (for various reasons) was not convenient at the time. I checked with the LBS shop, is the closest Specialized dealer, and they said they would do it.

[TTUchick]

Berrybiker, thankfully they are not charging me for the custom paint. I actually begged the guy at the LBS to just put my original fork back on and that I would take my chances on not having one of the defective forks... that is when he made a few calls and Specialized came back with two offers: either a monetary compensation or having a new fork painted to match the original.

Good luck with being patient! I currently have my bike in the garage but am still quite impatient to have her back to her normal self. ;) I originally wanted the black/pink version which was unavailable so the guys at the shop talked me into upgrading to the grey/white version... which even matches one of my favorite dresses (yep, I am one of those chicks who wears a dress while riding somewhere lol)

[Bethany1]

My fork hasn't come in either and it was several months ago. I've seen the fork (black) that goes on everyone's bike regardless of paint scheme and it's not pretty. If Specialized can't bother to match my bike fork (Sirrus Comp) that I paid a lot of money for, I'd rather have my money back citing that it's their fault.

Of course they won't do that under grounds that they replaced the fork, but I'm also tempted to get just go get my bike back and take the risks. My understanding is it was two people's forks that went out hence the recall.

[Berrybiker]

I am also seriously thinking about going to get the bike back--unless/until the forks are in and I can see that I am going to be satisfied with the replacement. When I think back to when I asked the guy at the LBS about it, I was told that Specialized wouldn't even send them the fork until he had the bike in the shop, so he advised me to bring in it as soon as possible. So I did, the next day, and then was told that Specialized hasn't told them what they are going to do yet....and I think I covered all of that in my first post. They haven't been able to give me any kind of estimated time of repair, and I don't like the idea of just leaving the bike there. Of course this shop is the only Specialized dealer in the area, so if I have to take it back....I guess I don't know whether I should risk making waves or not. I have never been in a situation quite like this before.

I just keep getting this mental image of some kind of holding pen with all of these bikes gathering dust, looking abandoned.....