Two general questions: re bike builds, how much do you trust the factory to do basic stuff (BB installation, spoke tensioning) and do you hold different price levels of bikes to different standards?
Also, serial numbers on repairs--I try to record every legible, accessible serial number on repair tickets regardless of length. I'm in an area near Portland, OR, and at least on their side of the river bike theft is terrible. Does anyone else record serial numbers on repair bikes?In my experience, assembly quality varies with different bikes.
The higher the price of the bike, the better the chance it has been assembled properly.
However, it still comes down to the assembler.
Most everything can be adjusted without huge efforts, except for 1 component.....the bottom bracket. There's just no way around removing the cranks to inspect it.
I'd say a lot of BB's are torqued to spec, but there are some that need to be tighter...not to mention the lack of grease applied during assembly.
I always assume a bike hasn't been assembled 100% properly and proceed to inspect everything.
If you find that certain components aren't being installed properly on a regular basis, simply contact the manufacturer with this information.
Most of the time they welcome the feedback.
Just don't call them up and say "you guys have some crappy assemblers". Be professional and courteous until they give you a reason not to and then be professional and courteous.
Always record serial numbers. Nuff said.
