Dawes USA bicycles - Review

[bikereview]

I purchased a DAWES USA bike from SportyMamaBikes on Ebay. Rode the bike less than a handful of times and had the cycle break down on flat paved concrete and throw me. Dawes USA cycles come with a lifetime manufacturers warranty. The problem is that the manufacturer is absolutely unwilling to entertain any notion of a manufacturers defect. They told me it was impossible for one of there bikes to have a defect. If you want them to work with you on the problem, you essentially have to file a lawsuit which isn't worth it for a $350 bicycle. Further, SportyMamaBikes is quite friendly when they are taking your money for their product and extremely unfriendly and unprofessional when you have a problem with their product.

The long and short of it - spend just a little bit more on brand name bike from a reputable bike shop or dealer. I purchased my replacement bike from Performance Bikes who deal online as well as have shops across the U.S. If you should have a problem with a bike, I think you'll have better luck resolving the problem if you deal with an established business, rather than a business that deals out of their garage (SportyMamaBikes).

Stay away from Dawes USA Cycles and go with a brand name bike with a good reputation. Especially at the end of the season (Fall) you can get good deals for a brand name bike for not much more than what you spend on a Dawes anytime of the year.

Basically, the potential headache with buying a dawes cycle is not worth the little bit of money you save.

 

[Scotty_Dog]

Did you assemble the bike? What broke? Please describe the problem in detail.

 

[alienator]

...............Basically, the potential headache with buying a dawes cycle is not worth the little bit of money you save.

Sorry, your story means nothing without details. There's no reason for anyone to believe you based only on what you've said so far.

 

[oldbobcat]

Rode the bike less than a handful of times and had the cycle break down on flat paved concrete and throw me.

A bicycle is an inanimate object. How can your body be thrown by an inanimate object?

 

[alienator]

A bicycle is an inanimate object. How can your body be thrown by an inanimate object?

It could have been a bicycle transformer....

 

[bikereview]

Sorry, your story means nothing without details. There's no reason for anyone to believe you based only on what you've said so far.

No one needs to believe me. The wheel failed which is assembled by the manufacturer. I understand there can be defects in man-made products (otherwise there would be far fewer civil suits in the world). My problem is with how the manufacturer and the retailer addressed the issue and failed to come to an amicable resolution.

It only takes one bad experience with Dawes USA and SportyMamaBikes to make you wish you had spent another $100 on a better bike from a company who's only success isn't from an online auction where the product is essentially sight unseen. Online-only companies bank on you being willing to sacrifice reputation for a deal so they price the product just below what you would spend in a bike shop, and try to give you confidence by offering a warranty (except that the warranty turns out to be useless. By the way, on Ebay you can only give feedback to the retailer shortly after the transaction...you can't go back and give revised feedback so you can only trust their rating to a minimal degree.

 

[alienator]

People have asked for details, and you've provided none. That paints a picture of someone slinging mud and blame throwing without knowing what really happened.

As someone else said, bikes don't throw you to the ground.

 

[cyberlegend1994]

...By the way, on Ebay you can only give feedback to the retailer shortly after the transaction...you can't go back and give revised feedback so you can only trust their rating to a minimal degree.

You can't change a feedback rating, however, you can leave one follow-up comment on feedback you've already left.

 

[oldbobcat]

No one needs to believe me. The wheel failed which is assembled by the manufacturer. I understand there can be defects in man-made products (otherwise there would be far fewer civil suits in the world). My problem is with how the manufacturer and the retailer addressed the issue and failed to come to an amicable resolution.

I might venture to assert that if this is how you approached your problem with SportyMama or Dawes, I can hardly blame them for not coming to an "amicable resolution" with you.

Most of us recommend that beginners buy bikes from local shops, and we support your decision to follow that recommendation in the future, but unless you want to give us a clear picture of what happened, we're inclined to give Dawes USA and SportyMama the benefit of the doubt.

 

[alfeng]

No one needs to believe me. The wheel failed which is assembled by the manufacturer.

Okay, I'm an inquiring mind -- what do you mean when you say that "the wheel failed"?

 

[bikereview]

Essentially, the rim separated at the seam. The two ends of the rim are no longer touching and are not aligned with one another. Have that fail while you're riding the bike, and you may very well find yourself tumbling across the asphalt and landing within two feet of being struck by a passing car. Components can break or fail, and can be replaced or repaired. The extremely poor customer service by the seller and the manufacturer is my major complaint.

Before I purchased this bike, I read several reviews of Dawes USA bikes and found several pros and cons. I took a chance on an affordable off brand bike and paid dearly and I'm simply adding to the constructive intent of the forums to give consumers valuable information on products and companies/sellers.

 

[bikereview]

I might venture to assert that if this is how you approached your problem with SportyMama or Dawes, I can hardly blame them for not coming to an "amicable resolution" with you.

Most of us recommend that beginners buy bikes from local shops, and we support your decision to follow that recommendation in the future, but unless you want to give us a clear picture of what happened, we're inclined to give Dawes USA and SportyMama the benefit of the doubt.

Don't you worry. I supplied the companies with several photos of the mangled bike. I don't need reviewers to believe me in order for me to go about my day. These forums are very useful for consumers, and I'm just contributing my experience. Some make take it into consideration - others may not.

 

[bikereview]

People have asked for details, and you've provided none. That paints a picture of someone slinging mud and blame throwing without knowing what really happened.

As someone else said, bikes don't throw you to the ground.

No mudslinging. Just sharing my experience for consumers who want to take it into consideration when looking at purchasing online a bike with no legitimate reputation.

I apologize that my review is hurtful and offensive to you - maybe you have an association of some kind with one or both of these companies. I hope you recover quickly from the pain.

 

[alienator]

No mudslinging. Just sharing my experience for consumers who want to take it into consideration when looking at purchasing online a bike with no legitimate reputation.

I apologize that my review is hurtful and offensive to you - maybe you have an association of some kind with one or both of these companies. I hope you recover quickly from the pain.

Well, now you take the Smart a$$ approach. Do you think that really works for you? I don't work for Dawes, thank you, but they seem to get good write ups/have a good rep in the UK.

Now a little info for you: the rim failing was not a Dawes problem in all likelihood. It was a problem that originated at the rim manufacturer. As far as I know, Dawes doesn't make anything. Truing a wheel, whether bad or good, won't likely make a wheel come apart at the seam. The forces generated in a built wheel are primarily radial, something which wouldn't cause the rim to separate.

Hitting a pothole could cause that, as could hitting a curb or some other such obstruction at speed. It is sad that you fell down, granted. It is SOP for people to provide pictures and details.

It's likely that if you addressed Dawes with the attitude you display here, they were less inclined to believe you. Try being a nice boy.

 

[mawtangent]

I don't work for Dawes, thank you, but they seem to get good write ups/have a good rep in the UK.

Hello, I was just doing a search on google and this thread address came up (I'm actually a member here, but haven't been around since July)...

I just wanted to chime in that I've read many times that Dawes USA is not affiliated with the Dawes bicycle campany in the UK. Dawes USA aquired permision to use the "Dawes" name in the United States. Apparently Dawes USA distrubutes bikes that are made elsewhere (often equipped with recognizably-mamed parts), their advertising info makes note/claims that their bikes are made in the same factories as repected, well-known bike companies.

I have mixed feeling about the OPs situation. I have a circa 2008 59 cm Dawes Lighting Sport with a chromoly frame/fork, 2200 derailers and stem-shifters. This is the lowest-end road bike the Dawes USA website had listed in 2008 (Actually the very same bike is still listed on their 2009-version website, though it seems that the newer models being sold on ebay have aluminum frames now, I think mostly some 47 cm chromoly-framed bikes are still available).

I like my bike (circa 2008 Dawes Lighting Sport). I got it at a discount ($189 shipped) because it was advertised as having cosmetic flawes (most new "real bike shop" road bikes seem to be at least $600 plus). There was a 1-cm long gouge in the handle bar stem that needed to be filed down to prevent any possitblity of cutting. The rest of the cosmetic flawes consisted of mostly scrapes and scratches in a few places, what one might expect to find on a year-old bike that had been allowed to fall a few times. The wheels needed trueing, which I was able to do myself, but I was left with the nagging disapointment that I couldn't quite get the back wheel "right" around the seam of the rim. I don't feel any possible inperfection in the ride of the wheel unless I am costing very fast down a hill on very smooth pavement (which is to say, that initially 95% of the time it was the furthest thing from my mind as being a problem, and for the last few 100 miles I haven't thought of it at all). A more-general possible "con" on this bike is that it weighs around 29 lbs (59 cm frame, via bathroom scale technique). I've ridden the bike about a 1000 miles. I find myself in some semi-rough places at times (large gravel, grass, mud) and riding a "cheap" bike allows me a bit of peace-of-mind when I hit a rough spot (the most I can lose is $200, right?). I'm not familiar with more modern-equipped bikes so I'm pretty unsophisticated and maybe easy to please in that way. I could get my back wheel trued by a professional and/or maybe get an inexpensive back wheel for $50, then I think the bike would be perfect "for what it is".

I hope the OP was not seriously hurt. I didn't catch how long the OP had this bike or how many miles was put on it. I can't fault the OP for trying to get some compensation/replacement for a part he felt was defective. The Dawes sellers will note how easy it is to set up one of their bikes, but at the same time they will often "cover their butts" by suggesting one take the shipped bike to a bike shop for set-up (I'm sure "improper set-up" can be used as an excuse for non-liability on many issues). I'm not sure I would count on a "mail-order" operation to stand by a sub-$400 bike, especially if it was okay at initial delivery. I can understand why the OP will not buy a (USA) Dawes again, but at the same time a $50 repair get him back on the road with his bike. I know this seems like I'm blaming the OP for his accident, but this is a warning for all of us to pay attention to the components on our bikes and inspect them from time to time to check for possible points of weakness/failure...rambling over.

 

[greyblade123]

dude the only thing i can tell you is if your wheel failed dawes has nothing to do with cuz it is just a part they spec. wtb(wilderness trail bikes) would be the ones responsible for their part failure. besides if the rest of the bike is fine just buy a new wheel, you can get one from nashbar.com for like 80-90 dollars if you look for it. good luck to you on your high dollar bike from perfomance but the rest of us poor people cant afford that **** so leave us the haymakers!!!!

also to let you know dawes is made by kenisis alloys in taiwan who also build frames for schwinn, trek, gt, giant and all the other high dollar machines especially those that come from performance bikes < snip >!!! don t beleive me, look it up on wikipedia!!!! PEACE!!!!

 

[1 straight line]

dawes bicycles uk has bloody nothing to do with dawes bicycles usa according to our fine mates at wikipeda.com, quite deceptive if you ask me. the faux dawes has no company history on there web site probably because there not the bloody real dawes.!!!!!!!! low grade chinese bicycle rubbish. i looked at another bicycle site that flimflammed me best cycling mate with a faux dawes and they don't even have a bloody customer tele number.!!!! what a bloody bloody mess he is still sorting out the bloody mess .man did he did get ncked. total bloody duplicity!!!!!!! me cycling mate and you need queens counsel, one should put a stop to this charade before someone else get nicked or ends up in hospital. Regards 1 straight line

 

[1 straight line]

dawes bicycles uk has bloody nothing to do with dawes bicycles usa according to our fine mates at wikipeda.com, quite deceptive if you ask me. the faux dawes has no company history on there web site probably because there not the bloody real dawes.!!!!!!!! low grade chinese bicycle rubbish. i looked at another bicycle site that flimflammed me best cycling mate with a faux dawes and they don't even have a bloody customer tele number.!!!! what a bloody bloody mess he is still sorting out the bloody mess .man did he did get ncked. total bloody duplicity!!!!!!! me cycling mate and you need queens counsel, one should put a stop to this charade before someone else get nicked or ends up in hospital. Regards 1 straight line

 

[alienator]

Originally Posted by 1 straight line .

dawes bicycles uk has bloody nothing to do with dawes bicycles usa according to our fine mates at wikipeda.com, quite deceptive if you ask me. the faux dawes has no company history on there web site probably because there not the bloody real dawes.!!!!!!!! low grade chinese bicycle rubbish. i looked at another bicycle site that flimflammed me best cycling mate with a faux dawes and they don't even have a bloody customer tele number.!!!! what a bloody bloody mess he is still sorting out the bloody mess .man did he did get ncked. total bloody duplicity!!!!!!! me cycling mate and you need queens counsel, one should put a stop to this charade before someone else get nicked or ends up in hospital. Regards 1 straight line

Well when you order from a place that doesn't have a customer service number, you might just get what you deserve.

 

[oldbobcat]

Holy back from the dead, Batman!

I was surprised to find that Dawes Cycles has existed in the UK continuously since 1906 (http://www.dawescycles.com/t-about-us.aspx), according to their web site. According to their dealer locator, Dawes apparently no longer exports. The web site also makes no statement as to the place of manufacture of their bikes. If they were being made in Birmingham I'm sure that point would not be hidden in fine print.

Dawes USA is a BikesDirect (a Texas corporation) brand, along with Motobecane USA, Mercier, and Windsor. None of these BikesDirect brands have any association with their former companies or countries of origin. I can only speculate that BikesDirect probably gained control of the brand in the US through an importer, without the consent of Dawes Cycles.

Sprtymama distributes accessories and BikesDirect bikes on eBay. Currently, her feedback is 99.8% positive.

Bottecchia USA, based in Houston, has similar control of the venerable Bottecchia name, but seem to be defunct.