advice on breezer lightning pro replacement

hurin76

Retrobike Rider
Just thought i'd ask on here about a problem i'm having with my 2012 breezer lightning pro

I bought the bike as shop soiled but new condition about 4 months ago on the interest free credit option at Evans cycles. original price was 1595 pounds. this was reduced to 1095 and then reduced to 959 with the shop soiling. i then traded in a old bike for a further 80pounds off, reducing the price to a final figure of 880.

anyway all was well with the bike till last week when I went riding and one of the bottle mounts popped out of the frame, underneath there was a clear amount of rust under the paint. I took the bike back to Evans and they offered to repair the bottle mount or swap the bike out for an 1100 pound bike approximately(we haven't reached a consensus yet!) I've looked at all the models at this price point and I am at a loss at what to do as they are all fairly characterless alloy frames with lower spec than what the breezer had, I would really want an alternate breezer frame but evans no longer distribute breezer in the uk and have no contact with them anymore.

so can anyone suggest a good alternate bike at that price. i've looked at the bmc teamelite deore 2013, cannondale trail sl1, fuji tahoe 29 1.3 and the specialized carve expert 2013. all have a variation of the fox ctd fork or rockshox recon gold or the specialized has the rockshox rebas. groupsets seem to be a mix of the slx and deore with some xt,

any advice would be greatly appreciated, just can't make my mind up at the moment, suppose could do some testing but i don't wanna mess evans about too much!
 
Surely if Evans don't sell them anymore it must be a matter for Breezers UK distributor instead as it is their product and has been sold in poor order, that Evans wouldn't have known about.
 
Breezer no longer has a English distributor. I saw an article recently where joe was open to distributors contacting him in regards to the new repack model. The limited lifetime guarantee states that it is the distributors responsibility (Evans) and they will work with them or any other bike shop to rectify the problem. .trouble is Evans say they have no contact with breezer.
 
...can they not just warranty the frame rather than the whole bike - therefore you get to keep the better drivetrain etc?
 
There saying they can only repair the frame. Normally I might of done this but the frame is in perfect condition.
 
Get them to repair the frame. Your contract is with the shop not the importer / distributor under the sale of goods act. I think Evans are being fair offering you a repair or replacement of equivalent value. I'd ask them to go halves with you on a respray at Argos.
 
Just been in there and ordered a bmc teamelite deore 2013 to test ride..also maybe trying the specialized carve expert.. no chance on them paying for a respray probably
 
The Breezer looks to be a better bike, so I would be looking to get it repaired by Evans. You haven't explained in what respect the repair that Evans have offered to do would be inadequate?

My understanding of the warranty position is that it's correct to say that your contract is with Evans full stop. However Evans would then claim off the importer, who would claim off Breezer, who would claim off the frame builder. Bike shops like to try to hide behind the importer/maker, but even if they can't make the claim that they would like to make, that isn't your problem and it doesn't absolve them from their liability to you. [I would expect that they would have insurance to cover them against warranty claims that they can't make against gone-bust importers and the like.]

I'm not clear whether Evans are trying to get out of it, but their liability to repair the frame does mean a proper repair, not a shoddy one. If repairing the frame properly would entail a respray then surely that's what their liability to you must be?
 
I'd be looking at repair too; the Breezer is a lovely bike............the BMC is pretty average in my view. Doing the bottle bosses is not a big job and a respray isn't the end of the world either.
 
I probably would do a repair, the frame is slightly too small for me though at 17 inch. I really need an 18 inch frame. I am also concerned by the changeover to 29ers. The lightning pro has 26inch wheels, so I thought this maybe an opportunity to get the correct frame Size and 29inch wheels..so I'm gonna try the bmc and make a judgement after that.. I also get the feeling they are very reluctant to respray. It would be a real uphill battle to get it done.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top