Recently I became the proud owner of a Cervélo P2 SL, purchased through the internet from R&A Cycles New York. However, much to my disappointment, the bike turned out to be downgraded from the version as advertised on Cervélo’s website http://cervelo.com/bikes/2005/P2-SL.html the wheels turned out to be simple Bontrager Select (no deep, aero rims) i.s.o. Velomax Vista as promised and the crank was Ultegra aluminium i.s.o. FSA carbon. I’m quite disappointed, frankly I’m pissed. R&A cycles claim that Cervélo changed the components and Cervélo simply doesn’t response to my questions by e-mail, telephone and telefax. Anyone has some advice? Had similar experiences? What can be done?
…that’s lame on R&A…if they sold it to you as spec’d - you should hold them accountable, especially if you mail ordered it.
sounds suspect.
What did R&A have on their website? If it showed the spec you expected, but did not get, then be pissed. I would get on the phone to them and make noise- a lot of noise
Weeman
…couple of other things, i’ve seen lots of the SL’s come into my LBS…all with stock components.
I’d be VERY surprised if Cervelo would use Bontrager wheels on their bikes…of all the brands out there, why give money to Trek?! Also, I recently got my Soloist Team and it came with an Ultegra deraileur…I called and talk to the gang in customer service and they were very apologetic and took care of it immediately…I’m getting it installed tomorrow. They didn’t even hesitate.
I’d be on the phone too…make noise…there are a lot of P2Ksl’s out there now…no need to settle.
http://www.racycles.com/trib/catalog/cervelo_p2_sl_4152651.htm
If this is what they advertise on thier website, this is the product you should get. If you didn’t get what is listed on that link, they are practicing deceptive marketing. It isn’t your fault that they haven’t updated the site if the spec changed. Ethically they should have called you and told you before shipping…or at least take the bike back for a refund…
The P2 SL was delivered to us with a fairly wide variety of specs. We had two come through with Shimano Dura-Ace 10 speed rear derailleurs (bonus). There have been a variety of wheels between Bontrager and Velomax. There have also been crank varieties.
In general, my take on the component spec is that they are roughly equivalent in quality The key thing is that the crank length is appropriate, the stem length and aerobars are sized correctly and the gearing is correct for your ideal cadence and terrain. If those fit parameters are correct, then I argue the component spec changes are indeed changes, but perhaps not enormously significant changes- again- provided the components are individually sized correctly for you.
Why is this? Well, the primary reason is related to a number of threads on this forum today: Go back a few pages.
Rants about bikes not being in “on time” (despite the fact that no date was ever promised by anyone), bikes not arriving on “deadlines” even though manufacturers and retailers across the country have repeatedly warned that deadlines cannot be meet reliably and that delivery times vary widely due to a number of factors totally and 100% out of manufacturer and retailer control- like the container recently seized due to quarnatined (non-cycling related) illegal contents being inside that is causing a delay for one manufacturer.
We warn people about that. Again and again and again and then once or twice more after that. But still the complaints come… “Why is it taking so long?”, “In my industry they would never stand for this.” “They *promised *it would be here by such and such a date…”
Sooner or later the bike companies just cave into that, and are put in a position where they are compelled to make component specification changes to get bikes out on time. Also, there is a financial motive: Imagine you are running a bike company, you need to deliver $2 million worth of bikes by the end of the month to stay on target with your bank and your creditors, and suddenly you run out of wheelsets. You have everything else, but for lack of 100 wheelsets worth a few thousand dollars over a million dollars worth of inventory is dead in the water and people are still screaming for it.
So you ship what you have. That is a part of what is happening.
Now, I would suggest most retailers, certainly a highly reputable retailer like R&A, who is a great shop, will likely make the reasonable substitutions to get the spec the way you prefer it. I shouldn’t speak for them, but that is what I would do here in my store- and R&A is much, much bigger than we are.
I do so understand the frustration behind waiting for a bike. You are waiting for one, I am waiting for about 40 right now. So I am with you 100%. I would respectfully suggest that some degree of understanding of the real factors involved, rather than just ranting “But in *my *industry…” may carry you toward understanding the buying experience and the factors that influence it.
that’s nice but none of that is this customers problem. I’d pack it up and send it back .
if they had substituted one aero rim for another , I could deal with it, if it were me.
my dual came from trizilla with an ultegra crank instead of the FSA. I certainly didn’t complain.
but those wheels aren’t a fair substitute.
in any event, he has every right to expect his money back.
p.s.
just what a guy who’s buying a cervelo wants.
wheels that are on every damn trek bike in the country.
how special
Send it back and get what? We all know that there is a shortage…maybe he can send it back and get a LONG wait till he can get what he really wants…all this over wheels and a damn crank? Hell…why not just go ride? Take out that agression on the pedals.
Call them. If you wanted one type of spec and didn’t get it then it’s fair enough as a customer to at least ask. Along the line of Tom though the spec is comparable although I’d ask for the changes if thats how you originally wanted it.
I’d side with RA except that they should have informed you that the bike was going to differ from spec before shipping to you just in case you weren’t okay with it. I don’t really think you got a downgrade, hell I’d personally take the Ultegra cranks over the FSAs anyways, I think you got an upgrade there. The Velomax Vistas are nice solid wheels, marginally aero as the rim is deeper than a Bontrager Select but they have huge straight gauge spokes so they certainly aren’t lightweights. I’d personally probably be pissed for a bit and then say screw it, keep it and ride it and never know the difference. Have you ridden the bike already? Maybe R&A can swap out some parts…
“that’s nice but none of that is this customers problem.”
Actually, as he correctly stated here. It is his problem unfortunately.
I’m with tai on the crankset. I wouldn’t have an isis bb. and if you spent money for a tt bike, and a good one like the p2k sl, you’re probably not going to race the stock wheels anyway, so just ride’em.
ok , well , it shouldn’t be his problem.
#1 the crank change was my issue and no big deal.I was just making a point.
but if parts are going to be different than advertised, the customer should be told up front.
especially when trusting an internet vendor.
I guess it’s easy to screw someone you never see face to face.
and you all might think it’s ‘equivalent’ these wheels, well that’s not your call.
the customer should have been informed up front.
I think ‘screwing someone’ is a little harsh in this context. |The bike had an $ equivalent type of kit but I do agree that a doublecheck phonecall would have been appropriate by R&A.
The funniest part of this sort of situation is that a company like Trek, who has grown large enough to overcome much of this problem…is VILIFIED for being so big, so popular, so mainstream, so ABLE TO GET THE CUSTOMER WHAT HE/SHE WANTS WHEN THEY WANT IT…In R10C’s view, they have no SOUL…that may or may not be true…but it IS true that you aren’t going to wait 3-6 months for a current Trek production bike.
You want a Corvette? Go down to your Chevy dealer and you can drive one off the lot in the next day or two…You want a Ferrari…well…you’re going to have to wait…
“In R10C’s view, they have no SOUL”
I think that new TTx has tons of soul!
Dave in VA
Three separate issues:
-
Cranks. I don’t think we would have shipped out any P2 SLs with Ultegra cranks, as we don’t have any. The only Cervelo with an Ultegra crank is the Dual9, but that is a 9-speed crank so that has nothing to do with a 10-speed P2 SL. All P2 SL bikes have been shipped with FSA Carbon cranks.
-
Velomax was months behind in delivery of Vista wheels. In case you wonder, there are not too many places where you can buy wheels in any quantity at short nocie, most suppliers are pretty slammed. So we ordered the Bontrager Selects Aero from Trek, but those kept getting delayed as well so instead they shipped Bontrager Selects. As an aside, they tested near the top of the field for a solid training wheel in TOUR magazine this month.
Don’t get me wrong, we prefer to ship the bikes with Vista wheels but there simply aren’t any to put on. And we got more than most other companies.
- DuraAce rear derailleur (brought up by Tom). Correct, some (in fact most) P2 SL bikes have received a rear derailleur upgrade to DuraAce at no charge.
Nothing much except to buy a frame and get what you really want, and build it yourself.
.
No Gerard…we want you to manage and control the output and inventory of all your suppliers. Additionally, there is a family with hungry children that could use some attention as well. Global warming is a concern as are solar flares interfering with cell phones and GPS…get on it will ya…
Noted, thanks for the heads-up. I didn’t have the solar flares on my list yet, the rest is in progress. I’ll report back on Monday.