Was a pleasant day at work - not much to report - was very busy. Was a beautiful evening to do a simple 35 miler (still recovering from the Century ride on sunday) - nice billowy clouds, cool breeze, sunset, little humidity - will be like this all week until Hurricane Francis hits this late weekend. Speaking of hurricanes, Richmond, VA got hit HARD by Tropical Storm Gaston - downtown got 14 inches of rain in about 2 hours - major flooding - 5 people killed. The area where it hit I used to live - if I was still living there, I'd be in a shelter tonight - they condemed a 20 block area of that neighborhood. The parking lot where I used to parking lot where I used to park my car was under about 15 feet of water. Thousands of cars downtown were rushed away by this flood. Here are some pics, and day after pics.

I just fired off this email to the Windsor bike frame company (about my defective frame - damn creaking sound) hoping they will replace it:

To Whom It May Concern,

I bought a Windsor Trent through www.bikesdirect.com a litle over a month ago. It arrived, in great shape - had the rest of it assembled. I have loved every bike ride I have had on it - it is lightweight, streamlined, quick and aesthetically appealing. I have since put over 1300 miles on it since I received it, and this past weekend finished my first American Century (100 mile) ride.

One problem though, about 2 weeks ago - a small creaking sound began to develop. I initially thought it was the pedals - so I took them apart and greased them, greased the threads and put them back into the crankset - still creaking. Thought it was the bottom bracket - I took it to the local Performance bike shop ( http://www.performancebike.com ) and they tried to isolate the creaking sound in the frame - sound travels through aluminum and carbon fiber - they said that it may in fact be the bottom bracket. I was planning on upgrading the bottom bracket and crankset to Ultegra - so I gave them the ok to do the work. After they replaced it - the sound didn't go away. It was somewhere in the frame. It stumped the mechanic.

So I took it to a different (and equally reputable) bike shop a few days later (meanwhile I'm biking 40+ miles a day hearing this annoying crick crick crick sound as I pedal), they went through the same routine - took out the bottom bracket - put ceazing lubricant on it, replaced it (the sound still happens when the bottom bracket and crankset are removed from the frame) - it's not in the drive train; they removed the derailers front and back, both wheelsets; they removed the headset - regreased it and the handlebar-stem connection all the bolts - the noise still happens with both the headset, handlebars, fork, stem off the frame; they removed even the brakes, water bottle cages, seatpost - basically everything off the frame - the frame still made this creaking sound when you put minor to medium pressure on it. I was dissapointed it could not be solved.

So finally, before contacting you as a last resort - I went for a third opinion, I took it to another bike store - had the mechanic do everything they could do to find the creaking sound - they stripped everything off the frame - still the same thing.

Conclusion - three bike shops have taken this bike apart and determined that the Windor Trent bike frame that I have is defective. Something in the inner welds or the inner tubing of the frame is making this very noticeable sound. There are no noticeable cracks or anything - I have not been in any kind of accident - no wear and tear on the frame out of the ordinary - it's only over a month old.

Please advise me as to what I should do.
According to the warranty ( http://www.windsorbicycles.com/warranty.htm ) "Windsor America warranties every cycle sold in the United States." and "Windsor America warrantees free of defects all components on each new cycle for a period of 5 years from date of purchase. In addition, the frame and fork on each new cycle is warrantied free of manufacturing defects for life." I understand that I will have to pay for shipping, but I will forego that if I can get the frame replaced or repaired. Should I have the frame shipped to you and a replacement frame sent to me? Can you ship a replacement frame to me and I can ship the bad one back? I need to do this as quickly as possible - I have several Centuries that I am biking in the next few weeks. Please advise.

I really love this bike (sans creaking sound) - I thank you in advance for a solution and I look forward to your quick reply.

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