this is an age old dilemna. whenever a part contacts a frame, or a frame contacts a workstand, it's a crapshoot. period. i've been on both sides of all issues. if my attention span causes paint to get icky on a new frame, i'll return it on my dime to jb for quick help. if i'm building it up and the qr does it's thing on the dropout, i get upset, but still deliver the product. e-RICHIE chester, ct
The "one scratch" rule notwithstanding, I don't know where the line is drawn for bike shops. An extreme was related to me by a local rider here in Orlando. He had sent a Gios Professional for paint and had used the local bike shop to handle the transaction. The bike arrived back from the painter fine. He asked the shop to install the headset. They didn't "face" the headtube first (or so he says) and the result was a large 1/4 inch chip in the paint on the headtube-headset junction. His argument was that a professional shop should have known that they needed to remove the paint from the edges of the headtube by faciing prior to installing a headset. He insisted that they return the bike to the painter for a COMPLETE repaint. Apparently the shop complied. I've often wondered about how a shop can stay in business if all customers are like that. Lou Deeter, Orlando FL