Kinesis Racelight 4S Disc Custom built

Weirdly Kinesis have told me again that no crown race is required. The bike came with one but then it also came with a star fangle nut which definitely isn't needed! Think I will put it together dry when I measure for cutting the steerer and see how it all feels and take it from there.

Kinesis have swapped between two types of fork crown race on their CXD forks so it might be similar to that? This one (full carbon, newer version) has an integrated crown race (note no metal band where the crown race would fit)

and this is the older version that does need a crown race (note the metal band at the bottom of the steerer tube to protect the steerer tube from the crown race you'd need to fit)

Just received an email from PBK answering a few of my questions.

They won't pay for the frame to be stripped or rebuilt, nor will they cover the cost of all the one-time use parts on the bike such as quick link, gear cables, brake olives etc. Also, I have to send them back everything inc. forks, brake adapters etc so I've really got to take the bike to pieces.

What a fucking hassle. I spent £150 on a ribble audax frame that lasted me about 5 years (inc. fully laden touring) with absolutely no issues and I've spent £550 on a Kinesis which hasn't even managed 6 months/2k miles of commuting around London and the occasional weekend ride.

Personally I would contact Kinesis direct and let them know the situation, and that you are not hugely happy with how PBK are handling it.

Is also ask PBK to justify why they want the fork back, as you are not asking for that to be warranted?

This is what I would do too.

I have messaged Kinesis on FB, letting them know what's happened thus far and how disappointing and frustrating the process has been. Tempted to ask them if I can cut out PBK and do the warranty replacement with Kinesis directly. Is that even an option?

PS - One thing I will say is that everyone I've spoken to at PBK so far has been really nice and polite, just sounds like the process itself isn't exactly made to leave customers happy...

Could they be asking for the fork in case there are signs of crash damage? It could be that they need to do a full inspection to get the ok on the warrantied replacement.

Wow, just got a message back from Kinesis apologising for the hassle and saying that they've been in touch with PBK to pre-approve my warranty claim.

And @Thoma, fair point - hadn't considered that.

Bonza, my experience/understanding of the Kinesis lot are that they are good people, glad to hear they've stepped in.

Oh great. My fork has the metal band...

Started stripping the bike down, some better pics of the crack:

What do you reckon, dodgy design? Dodgy manufacturing? Something I've done?

That doesn't look very strong

dodgy design

I'm no metal stress expert though.

So a quick update - a week after I submitted the warranty/return claim PBK asked me to send the frame back to them. They then sent me an email saying it'd have to be sent to Kinesis for 'further investigation'. I messaged Kinesis asking about the 'pre-approval' and whether they'd asked PBK to post the frame to them. They said it'd be sent back to them, quickly approved and a new one out to me, but that they'd prefer if I kept all contact through PBK...

Chased PBK yesterday and they've emailed today to say they received it on 8th August and apparently shipped it off to Upgrade Bikes, the distributor, on 9th. Apparently they expect a response from Upgrade within 14 days. Don't know if that's 14 from when they sent it or from now, but it looks like Kinesis' efforts to get the warranty claim 'pre-approved' haven't come to much.

Needless to say, this is becoming increasingly frustrating...

Needless to say, this is becoming increasingly frustrating...

Hammer away at Kinesis. Tell them that you want to ride their bikes, put snaps on instagram and whatever. They are the folks with something to lose from this.

TBH that drop out looks jokes.

Hope you get that sorted @TurtleRecall

I'm currently looking to build a bike around that frameset, and wondered where, those of you who have done a build, had your bottom bracket/headset/brake mounts face & chased, as per the instructions on the Kinesis site?

Also, I'm a little worried about the sizing, as I'm normally medium to large on a bike, but the geometry numbers seem to suggest a 54cm for me, even though I'm 4cm taller (180cm) than the height range shown for that frame size. I've always been a bit sceptical about height as a guide to frame size, as it's more about torso/arm length, IMHO.

Any advise gratefully recieved.

Cheers! I hope so too... I didn't bother getting anything faced or chased as it all looked smooth and straight.

In about 6 months/2000 miles I didn't find any problems with BB or headset and didn't have any issues with brakes (after fitting a 140mm rotor on the rear, 160mm will be very close to rubbing the chainstay and in my case rubbed a tiny bit under power).

Size-wise, I went for a 63cm as I'm 6'6" and the geo was very similar to the 64cm ribble audax I used to have, specifically 215mm head tube, within 5mm of the top tube length and same 73.5 deg seat tube (I've got relatively short femurs so need saddle kinda far forward on an inline post).

What bike do you have at the moment and do you have stack and reach measurements for it? If I remember rightly, kinesis do provide S&R numbers...

My current bike is an inherited Wilier Lavaredo -Wilier Lavaredo - for which I'm trying to find an online geometry spec for. Have done a bit of manual measuring, and it's pretty close to the 54cm Kinesis - with the virtual top tube being 16mm longer (556mm) on the Kinesis.
Having said that, I have a mountain bike with a virtual top tube of 580mm, so you can see why I'm confused.
I feel a little uneasy about commiting to a size that may be wrong - it's an expensive mistake to make.

P.S. Yes, stack and reach are on the Kinesis website, but I have no idea how to obtain these for my other bikes.

P.P.S. 6 foot tall, 29 inch inside leg (and gibbon arms)

Am in the process of arranging a test ride on a 55.5cm bike - will update, as I progress.

Kinesis/Upgrade have agreed to replace the frame, just got the email from PBK saying they've given me store credit and to re-order. So... Almost exactly a month since the stay broke, it's been warrantied!

Hopefully I'll have the replacement delivered to my parents for this weekend. My mum'll enjoy me building a bike in the kitchen on her birthday weekend, right?

Great news - kind of hoping I don't get all my parts before the weekend, as I'd be tempted to squander a bank holiday Monday, building a bike (not to mention the likely divorce proceedings)

Haha, totally worth it!

What size did you end up going for?

Still waiting for the test ride but, as they have both sizes in stock, I could get one there and then. Still waiting for rear wheel and bars, though.

Great to read that @TurtleRecall!! Hope this new one keeps on for years :)