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i recently purchased a cheap fixie bike on ebay, brand new. it arrived today and looks great, but when i tried to attach the front wheel i realised that the right dropout is slightly (1mm) larger than the left dropout. also, the right dropout is slightly bent. this means that the wheel needs a lot of pressure to be put in to the dropouts. do you think this is a dealbreaker? should i send the bike back? or get a new fork? or is this normal with no-name bikes? am i compromising the structural integrity if the bike if i ride it?

I bought this bike for £130, and I think return postage would be around £30. The link to the eBay auction that I got the bike from is here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fixed-Gear-Road-bikes-700C-Brand-name-Green-WAY-London-/111469878644?pt=UK_Bikes_GL&hash=item19f41f5d74

and I have attached some photos to help illustrate the issue I'm having...

bent dropout it needs a good push to be put on

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    Looks like defective merchandise to me. Unless the unit was sold as "irregular" the seller owes you your money back and he should pay shipping. (And you should give him a nasty evaluation on Ebay.)
    – Daniel R Hicks
    Sep 27 '14 at 18:22
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    I think you have a case for saying it is "not as described". The seller is saying this is new, but is that rust I see on your close-ups? Forget the issue with the forks, new bikes should not have rust - period. I hope you paid by Paypal, you should have a guarantee. The serious issue here is that you get what you pay for, and you won't get a decent bike new for that price. My advice is to look at some of the questions on here regarding buying second hand. Use the search box, top right.
    – PeteH
    Sep 27 '14 at 18:55
  • The ebay listing states that it is a steel frame and fork.
    – BPugh
    Sep 29 '14 at 1:33
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If the issue was just the 1mm difference in the dropout, I would personally just file it out and note it in the Ebay feedback.

With this one bent, contact the seller and see if there is a replacement/return option. Failing that you could try to get a shop to bend it back and bill the seller. If the seller gives you a lot of grief then take it up with Ebay right away. Whatever you do, be sure to reflect it in your ebay feedback.

If using a nutted axle, it shouldn't be a safety issue but may take more effort to get the wheel on/off.

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Depends how cheap it is and how much it bothers you. On principle I'd return it myself.

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  • Please consider expanding your answer with the reasoning behind why you would return it and/or what might qualify as too cheap to worry about.
    – jimchristie ♦
    Sep 29 '14 at 15:40

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