HUGE Issue Found with TIME Bicycle Frame 

All in all, in this world and industry, Everything and anything can happen, so qaulity control is a big deal yes but what it really comes down too is how that company handles the issue at hand. Make sure you get a company that you feel comfortable with and has a good reputation because you dont want to be here shit out of luck. Time was very responsive with the first time talking to them and I am sure if the customer wants a new fork, He will get one

Hey there, this is Dustin from TIME. I wanted to let you guys know that we did not suggest sanding the fork. Our recommendation was to do a file on the clear coat and follow up with a polish. We want to replace the fork for the customer and are in the process of doing so.

I also had an issue with a new Time ADH frame. The rear axle would not thread by hand and it was very clear that the derailleur hanger didn’t sit square in the dropout. On a phone call Time responded by suggesting the hanger was cross-threaded and promptly shipped a new one (in spite of my insistence that it was an alignment problem). I sent pictures and even a video to Time demonstrating the problem but never got another response. Rather than dealing with sending the frame back (which was shipped from Europe), I mixed some epoxy and carbon fiber shavings and filled the area around the hanger mounting screw. I sprayed the hanger with mold release, mounted it loosely in the frame, put a wheel in place and threaded and tightened the axle. The fix worked perfectly - the axle threads easily and there is no added stress to the hanger mounting screw. I’m lucky in that I have extensive experience working composites, probably not a common situation among bikers. I love the bike, it rides like a dream, but I’ll never assume a bike frame from Time or any manufacturer, is perfect.

I am an engineer. And as such I would go with the solution that requires the less amount of Faff and is safe, basically what you just did. I would create a ticket with the time just in case if the client wishes to deal with it properly later down the road or the issue evolves into something. That way they can’t tell him it is his fault or the fork is deformed. Anyways saluté Grant, you used your knowhow and experience to resolve a problem. That means you are smart! Not educated but smart, those two might not align.

My personal experience of Time has been very positive in terms of quality. I own two recent models, a friend used to be the Time UK distributer a fair few years back so have seen many in various states of build and I've been lucky enough to ride many of them. My recent models are both made in Slovakia (I think) and were perfect in all aspects that mattered - geometry square, holes round and in line with each other, paint perfect. When you push in a Hambini BB or test the through axles, it all just fits smoothly and is clearly in-spec. on an ADH '23 There was a small amount of excess lacquer that I had to sand off where the seat collar needed to sit, but no problems with this. That's the only issue I have experienced. Back in the day, there were a few 'quirks' with some of the decisions Time made in design that needed a practical minded bike mechanic to work around them, but the quality was always good. I'm very surprised that a current gen fork got through QC without basic check that the caliber mounts were square and faced. The issue you showed meant that that can't possibly have been checked and passed QC. If you don't mind me asking, was this frame made in Europe or from Time's new facility in US? Not sure if that's up and running or not yet. All in all, comparing my Time frames to the high end stuff I've owned over the years (Carbon: Colnagos (4), Cipollinis (2), Cervelo (3), Storck (1), Canyon (2)... Titanium: Lynskey, Litespeed) the Time frames have had the fewest issues and just seem put together to last. When the Scylon gets an update I'll be ordering one, then can't see anything other than my Time bikes being my bikes for life. Hope that helps!

Someone in the old tour-forum had the same problem (different frame) If this would be a canyon, cervelo etc. everyone would be raging how bad the quality is...

Good of you in being professional about the this small issue and solving the problem. Keep up the good work.

This is a perfect example showing defects across all brands, especially frame-only products, in which the brand cannot QC the frame after it gets assembled. What justifies the cost difference is the aftersale services in your region.

Paul from Mapdec Cycles is going to have a heart attack when he sees this and I must say that the finishing layer of carbon in the area of the caliper mounts is quite sketchy. Cheap carbon parts from ali are finished better than this. For the price they charge for the frame (~4k$) and all that marketing yapping about their engineering excellence (which apparently is not the case here) I would definitely claim the warranty and demanded the fork to be either replaced or that bulge to be sanded down by themselves. Asking the customer to do this on his own is aliexpress' customer service level....

I would expect a replacement from Time. No way that would be acceptable for me.

Just nice to hear everyone (you, Time, the client) all being cool about it.

hard to see in the video but it does look like its just clear coat build up from the paint process, possibly a sag in the clearcoat that didn't get noticed. I've painted thousands of car parts and many bikes and this can happen. Quick fix, if you have the experience, would be to block it out flat and polish it up. But I'd be cautious too if it meant voiding a warranty.

Hey time owner. Get that fork replaced.. You paid a pretty penny for that frame.

If you still have them on the phone ask them for me why my Time shoes came apart this past summer. Bottom part came completely off. QC needs to get on the stick

Did you weigh the adapter before and after the grinding? Dude, you're saving grams!

shouldnt this be considered as a defect? this should be warrantied too...

Well, if TIME can get it wrong then there’s literally no hope for the rest of the industry 🤣 PS I like the solution, I’d have done that myself too.

I'd ride it with your fix temporarily but i would definitely want a replacement from time.

Thank you for your transparency putting this video together and share.

Back to the simplicity of rim brakes and exterior cables, please. We have passed the point of diminishing returns.

So why is this a 'huge' issue as you say so in your title? You had a quick fix and you could have had a new fork in warranty. That's what I would call, as a bike shop, a small issue. Much hot air being moved for next to nothing.

My neighbor has this very same frameset. I sent this vid to him. He said the frameset had a couple of issues but no troubles with the front brake adapter.

How this passed QC ? this is most common and standard area to be check !!??, this is high end frame for about $4000 .WTF

You don’t just grind off parts of the brake mounting system. It’s safety-critical. Sounds like Time are replacing the fork, which is the correct outcome.

The key with engineering is that there is always a solution. Nice job. I'd be happy with that. 👍

Awesome video update! Thanks! I just went and checked my ADHX (exactly 1 yr old) and there is a sliver of daylight between the mount and the fork.

New fork stat.

Not sure if someone else suggested it, but the first thing that came to mind is to add a little spacer either on top/bottom or on both between the fork and the adapter. This should have distanced the adapter from the fork and work just as well, doesn't it?

I am more concerned with Time's blind comment of "sand the carbon" than I am a QC issue...

I like your way of thinking and solving the issue, personally I would change it for the simple fact of the cost of one of those frames, it is very expensive to tolerate failures of that type, greetings

Try Birchwood Casey Aluminum Black Metal Finish. Works great on alloy firearm parts, I'm sure it will work good on this.

The first TIME you built from scratch...😂 I see what you did there.

I would have time sent out a new fork and let them pay for the extra labor. In the mean time... would ride the bike while waiting on the new fork. Good solution... but i wouldnt be happy as a long term solution

Great info! I have this frameset in my garage for my next build. I’ll check that fork and see where it stands.

No direct criticism to anyone involved, certainly not yourself, but if I was that customer I'd absolutely be requesting a new fork from Time. Even if the solution works for this particular customer at the moment, the idea that this customer / future owners of the bike will have to modify a brake mount to fit different size rotors just feels poor for a premium product costing thousands. Fair enough it's an appropriate bodge to ensure the customer can ride the bike soon, but I'd expect Time to make it right all the same (ie send a new fork and, once received, send the faulty one back).

Hambini - The awesome engineer that has a totally shagged out bike that he's totally failed to maintain.

Dude, get a Dremel i've had to do countless little mods like this and having a dremel really speeds up the process. Bench mounted are great but being able to get into nooks and crannies with a mini hand held grinder is so liberating it becomes invaluable.

Good video. I think this was the way to go. Like you said , he can always just make Time aware of it now and if there are any issues later they seem willing to resolve it. Win win.

So not a HUGE issue then... but certainly a defect...

It seems like every bicycle brand has some QC issues these days. 😔

I think I would have made more effort to contact Time than a "Couple of Instragram messages" not convinced that gets you in touch with the right people. Customer is as much to blame with 'I want the bike this weekend". Just replace the fork and not bodge.

I wonder if you could use a Hope RX4+ caliper, since it has a bit of an arch on the inside right at that point thanks to the adapter-less design.

Would a thin washer have worked to pull the brake mount away from the fork?

The grind downed bracket would bother me to no end. Also, wouldn't the fork come out of a mold? The fork should be fully cured inside a mold before the mold is removed. How can a lump exist like that?

If that was a manufacturing issue it would appear on every fork produced, but because of the way it is made it cannot be the carbon bulging, it's an overspray issue, it needed polishing out after a bit of sanding. Hardly a massive issue

In my situation I would get the frame that supports rim brakes cuz fuck disc brake rub and pumping loss. Get aero rim brakes if you are worried about aero.

No issue with this kind of things on my rim brake bike :P And by the way, nice solution !!

Looking at my fork, theres definitely a lump on your customers fork which shouldn’t be there. Also the bottom nut looks to be too recessed. Get a warranty replacement.

My suggestion for a short term solution, would have been 1-2mm of washers behind the bottom bolt to flush out the mount until the fork was replaced.

Random guy in the back row "This wouldn't be a problem with rim brakes"!

Ok Elves it is. If anyone has problems than I will go for the cheapest one 😎😅

Hey GC, When an issue like this is discovered, regardless of the resolution, one has to question Time's overall quality control practices, i.e., ummmm what else did they miss????

I appreciate your solution. However, for $4k I would demand a new fork.

I would just add a washer to increase space. if it was a cheap Chinese frame, that is. If I found a 4 or $5k frame with a defect like this, I'd just return it and buy a $1k frame instead, because what good is spending money on expensive frames, if you can't be sure of top quality?

If you would have put a plastic or carbon spacer, to offset the gap or height in the flaw it would work perfectly! Worked for Toyota for 13 years, was a Master Technician!

HUGE in all caps feels a bit click-baity

I was thinking that exact solution before you mentioned it. Not sure if you use this, but I found an aluminum blackening touch up pen on Amazon, I use it for all scratched aluminum.

4:55 That’s what I would have done (if a fork replacement was not an option, that would be plan A for me) but this wouldn’t be the first time I have had to do a modification to a component like this. The last one was an ENVE seat post bracket and after contacting ENVE they just said “just grind a gap in it till it fits, it will be fine.” Always an email response you keep for your records. 😅 But back to your fork, yea the last thing you want to do is sanding the carbon, it’s way more of a risk than modifying the clamp. However, I do wonder how much material you can safely remove until you run the risk of the part snapping in use? Personally anything more than 20% and I’d rather get a new fork. Well done on the fix anyway, the life of a bike mechanic. Manufacturer messes it up and we make it work. 😂

Another unbelievable QC flaw from the bike industry... either all shitty frames go to youtubers or there is a general problem here.

As the mounting bracket is bolted to the fork at the ends, it is not subject to much bending force where it's been ground away so I'd be perfectly happy with your modification from a technical viewpoint and once it's been painted or varnished I'd be perfectly happy with it aesthetically. I'm more concerned that you seem to have connected the front brake caliper to the wrong ie left hand side, brake lever. Only kidding, I'm from England where, as I'm sure you know, we have our front brake operated by our right hand side brake lever. It's good to see a bike shop thinking what's best for their customer and be willing to carry out such a modification rather than taking the "safe / no liability" time consuming option of getting a replacement fork. Good work GC.

This is obviously a "fake" Time frame. Because everyone knows that Hambini's word is law when it comes to Time and Look frames and he is NEVER wrong.

If I was buying a Time frame for 4000€, with the reputation they have, I would expect perfection. No way that I would accept something like this. I know that grinding a little bit of the bracket is no problem, but I would think of that everytime I would ride the bike

That part of the fork is basically solid carbon so you can pretty grind away 😊

Couldn't agree more. From a manufacturering BG, I can say all and I mean ALL companies have a product that once in a while leaves the factory and needs attention after and as you say its how its handled that shows their worth! (Side note) plus that would be incredibly hard to pick up in QC as it wasn't apparent until the fitting and visually probably looked fine (as in mounts were flat) to the inspector.

Just put a washer on lower bolt between fork and brake mount so it evens out.

This is what happens when you let social media influencers dictate what to purchase instead of going out and trying bikes for yourself. Definitely this guy isn’t a 1st time buyer and TIME framesets aren’t cheap with his schmolke stem. I would’ve sent that whole frame back.

so you solved problem, disc brake adapter should be different

Not the prettiest solution but probably the best solution.

where is mapdec?

It’s all relative. These things happen to Porsche’s and Ferrari’s. Sometimes I wonder if going public for clicks on a channel is really a good idea.

The Magura QM 50 adapter might work perfectly in this situation.

it is easier to file down the mounting bracket as it just need to keep the proper distance between the caliper and the frame which is being hold by the screws. So in general if you file down the bracket to sit arround the bolge will be better than sanding the fork

Someone i knew in the past rode in france for an b racing team the time carbon bikes where team issue he hated it and when back in uk ride his own bike!

Proper bike mechanics!

The design of brake adaptors needs to change to allow some clearance without having to grind them like that.

I’ve had experience with problematic caliper mounts. One way I’ve got around the issue is to use very thin shims specific for the job. They work well but they’re not easy to get.

Could you have spaced the bottom bolt with washers/lockrings to even it with the top bolt when it's tightened? Seems like that would've straightened it and maybe the caliper sits a millimeter or two higher on the rotor but the pad would still function. I'm no mechanic but that would've been my home solution.

Dustin son ever heard of quality control, final visual I was thinking of a Time but !!!!!!

Clever fix. Couldn't you add a small stainless washer between the fork and the caliper mount on the lower bolt?

I wont lie, those wheels look very nice! If they would add quality steel I would purchase a pair.

Throw a 2mm washer in the bottom level it out more same with a lot things if tightening one side down completely then the other I've added shims in these before with no rises saves all the gaining and loosing the stench of the parts, but this being a defect time need to warrant the warranty and replace the forks later on fix or not

Just get a new fork, there is no excuse, problems can happen but they seem to be standing behing their quality and help the customer

Good fix.. but I’d have them send a new fork .. and then swap out when it arrives.

I would have used a couple of washers under the mount.

This shows that all manufacturers can have defects occasionally.. it’s one of those things. A lot of channels have a go at some big manufactures who have the odd issue which gets highlighted but the majority of products they produce are good quality. Just my opinion.. Pete 👍🚴🏻

Place 1 washer at each bolt. Or sand the mount (not the fork) 2mm.

So happy I own a rim brake bike❤❤

Love it,real mechanic skills

This is going to kill Hambini, literally!

Every time he says „Carbon“ to the Epoxy my toe nails curl. And i cant unhear it.

I’m curious why you didn’t use a thin washer on the bottom bolt. No grinding necessary.

Send the whole bike back and ask for compensation. Far too expensive to bodge

why not just add a washer between the fork and plate??? .5mm washer, also it seems that the ltwood bracket mount would work perfectly there lol.

I had a small problem with my Yoeleo R12. They have made it right for me. Communication was not fast or easy. But they sent me a replacement seatpost. That is what mattered. The rest of the bikecis flawless. As you say, stuff happens. It is how companies respond that matters.

i agree with the guy about the spacers. he could put a couple of small washers with a plastic washer. that could give enough space but he should just have ordered a new fork if time was going to replace it.

It almost looks like the adapter should be turned upside down/fliped and turned in. That angle at top of the adapter looks like it should fit. But, good catch. I encountered that on a fork about 5 years ago building one of my bikes.

Works for me. Nice work around. Beautiful build

I would have used a washer underneath the bracket

You mean to say I should start grinding my disc brake adapters to save weight? Good idea, thanks for the tip

The problem is with the plate (adapter), I use original Shimano, or even Chinese clone and have perfetc fit. The forks comes from the form, and it cannot change the shape that much, then it is polished and varnished. It could be heavier coat of varnish.