Oh bugger!

To compound our misery a little, it turns out the bent rim was only one of the problems with our tandem. The pannier rack (As pictured) ain't in great shape either.

As you can see, it has been bent badly enough to actually have a split in it. It's kind of annoying to buy a brand new bike and not be able to use it because some ignorant worker at some point along the line of its getting here has taken absolutely no care over it whatsoever.

There were two black marks on the inside of the box, suggesting it had been damaged since being boxed. Whilst it's possible that could have been someone at Dawes (Between boxing and shipping) or Spa Cycles (I think it was sent to them and they, in turn, sent it on to me) I really don't imagine either of them are to blame (I could be wrong but I doubt it). More likely than not, it was some arsehole in one of the courier companies who didn't give a damn about how one of their packages was treated and knew fine well they had dropped/driven into/kicked etc. something hard enough to damage it. It must have been quite a dunt to flatten part of a rim and bend the pannier rack. It all scares me a bit as I might discover there are other, more subtle, problems with the bicycle as a result of this incident. I hope I don't find anything else wrong with it, especially whilst speeding downhill.

It's all very frustrating and I hope it can all get remedied soon. We've been really dying to try out our tandem and it's annoying having the frame sitting there without being able to use it. Aaaargh!