Trek bikes & quality
Last month my four children pooled some money and bought me a new Trek FX 7.7 bicycle for my 60th birthday. That is because the “60th” birthday is based on Buddhistic concepts something very special here in Japan, but I am not going into that now.
So, I got that new bike. For “safety reasons” I did not ask or check its price. If I did, I might get a heart attack! But I am sure it is quite some “luxury bike” – at least for me.
The frame is made of carbon fiber, but there are naturally bolts, nuts and other metal parts all over it. After only FOUR WEEKS (4! weeks) a major portion not only of those bolt and nuts, but also the other metal parts are covered in rust! Being covered in rust after only 4 weeks, I am forced to expect those bolts and nuts to fail within the year. Rotten! The only explanation for this phenomenon I can think of is the use of cheap, inferior quality Chinese products. After all, all those shiny metal parts on a product designed for OUTDOOR USE should NOT rust in only a few weeks.
I took the liberty of following the invitation “Contact us” on the Japanese Trek website to describe this very poor quality.
The computer returned an automated message and a little later my wife at home got a phone call from Trek Japan, telling her (I was not at home) that the company Trek DOES NOT DEAL WITH / DOES NOT CARE ABOUT this kind of problem. I am supposed to speak to the retailer. I VERY MUCH doubt, the retailer chose those metal parts!
Since Trek Japan (I live in Japan) did not care, I tried the same thing via “Contact us” on the American Trek website. Here I got ONLY the automated message.
In the brochure that comes with the bike the founder of the company, Mr. Burke, invites people to write to him personally, if they are not 100% satisfied. I DID write him, but so far have not received any answer.
