So I have not been a follower of Cervelo, not any particular reason, but just been a Trekkie. My buddy told me today that any frames bought through a dealer after 2004 or 5 can’t remember…are covered against things like failures as long as they are not from abuse.
Essentially…unless you break it you get free frames for life? Can this be? I gotta tell ya if that is the case I am going to buy a P2 next week…he said it’s for the original owner only, but that is perfectly acceptable and understandable.
If you discount abuse and crashes one frame will last a lifetime so it’s not that great a deal. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely admirable, but I’d guess 99% of frames are replaced out of boredom and to keep up with the joneses not because they “wore out”.
I’m not sure I follow you. I have had 2 Madones(not actually Madone…the 5200 and 5500…the first carbon OCLV’s) crack and 1 TTX. They sure didn’t last me a lifetime. None were crashed and were not abused, but ridden for sure. This ‘carbon has no finite life cycle’ stuff doesn’t seem to fall in my zip code. I didn’t replace any of mine to keep up with anyone, did it for cracked bb shells and 2 chain stays.
However, if I’m ever going to look at carbon again it will be from a gratis warranty and not some convoluted Trek warranty with a life span on it.
It’s so odd how many people don’t ‘know anyone’ who has had a carbon failure. Either they don’t ride hard and often enough or they don’t get out. I know 2 guys who have had carbon failures in the past year alone!
Maybe it is zip codes?! I’m someone who doesn’t know anyone who’s ever had a frame crack. I know people who’ve cracked them by knocking them over, over-clamping them or dropping something on to them but have a frame just give-out? Not one.
We just replaced a frame for a customer under Cervelo’s warranty. His derailleur hanger snapped off when he shifted, not from a crash. On Monday I sent pictures off to Cervelo and once it was approved we pulled a frame from our inventory to swap the parts. He picked up his bike a few hours ago and we’ll just replenish our inventory with the replacement from Cervelo.
There are some minor charges to the customer such as our labor for swapping the parts, new cables, shipping for the new frame, etc. but that’s about it. Cervelo is one of the easiest companies to deal with in terms of warranty and crash replacements.
That’s awesome! The girl at the dealer I just talked to said they just swapped out a 5 year old frame that is no longer in production for a guy…bottom bracket was failing or the shell cracked…can’t remember exactly what she said, but it went smoothly and quickly.
I mean I absolutely loved my Treks, but I will never own another one until they get a matching warranty of Cervelo.
Cervelo warranty is great. I had an R2.5 that delaminated around the bottom bracket. I was given 2 options take an R3 or upgrade to a Soloist Carbon for a small amount. I was back riding my new bike within 5 days.
Solid! This is the stuff I like to hear. I was very dumb to buy the TTX w/o a warranty given my experience with the 5200 and 5500 from 99 and 2001, but I learned a valuable lesson.
The Wolf SL fork recall is another good example. Cervelo shipped some forks to each dealer ahead of time, at least the larger ones. As customers brought their bikes in to have the forks replaced we would just hold on to their bike overnight to do the swap. As we swapped forks we would send the recalled ones back to Cervelo and replenish our supply like a rotating system.
I could imagine other companies requiring the dealers to send in forks before a replacement was issued. Most customers were without their bike for only 24 hours vs. several weeks for the other method.
Yea THAT is how you handle warranties right there. It’s unreasonable to think everyone won’t have some kind of issue at some point in time…if it’s man made it’s open to break. How you go about rectifying said issues is what sets companies apart whether it be bikes, cars or blenders.
Purchased a 2008 TTX 9.5 left over for a great deal from the LBS over the winter. After 300 miles the bottom bracket cracked. Brought it to the LBS and the mechanic said…“hmmm, that looks bad”! He also said, “no worries, covered under lifetime warrenty”, no questions asked.
This is the good part… after a few days Trek responded with a 2010 TTX 9.9 (the top of the line frame!!!). I almost fell out of my seat when the LBS asked if this was ok :-).
I love Trek - but I have heard that Cervelo is also a great company.
I owned a 2003 Dual (when it “only” had a five year warranty). It cracked almost all the way around the seat tube in March of 2008. Despite being out of production and being beyond the point of warranty (for that model year – lifetime warranties didn’t apply to '03’s), they were willing to replace it with a new old stock Dual (an '05) they had, or give me a steep discount off a new frame. I got a P2C for a very, very good price.
Their warranty process was relatively painless, and only constrained by inventories, etc.
Wow- I must admit, I’ve been afraid to jump on the CF train because of failures like described above (even though I’m a pretty light guy, I do tend to be kinda rough on my toys), but if the company is willing to replace defects like that even after multiple years of use, I’d be a lot more comfortable dropping the money on it. Is this a common practice, or is it just with certain companies?
I’d be another to vouch for the Cervelo warranty. My 2006 P3C came with the clear-coat finish over the carbon. Paint on the top tube started to bubble and peel. I brought the bike into my LBS, they e-mailed photos off to Cervelo, and the response the next day was a 2008 P3 frame was being shipped out, including full warranty. No Charge (from Cervelo). Small fee from the LBS to swap all the components, but they let me watch / help to learn how to do it.
I had a 2004 Soloist that developed a hairline crack around the bottom bracket. The mechanic at the LBS noticed it…I wouldn’t have thought it was an issue, probably would have never noticed it, and honestly didn’t think anything would come of it. A week later I had a new frame for the cost of shipping. I won’t hesitate to buy another Cervelo when I decide i want a new bike.
The warranty on Cervelo frames are not transferable. That means if you buy one used you are no longer covered. Make sure you are aware of this before you pull the trigger on any used bikes.
A few questions maybe someone can answer. (2008 61cm Cervelo P2C)
Does Cervelo keep older frames in stock to replace any qualifying warranty claims? Reason I am asking is because the LBS said that the cracking paint where my seat post enters the frame is just paint and not the carbon frame.
Will Cervelo replace this with a 2008 or something newer? I probably will call but I am curious if anyone knows.
I was thinking about a new paint job because the cracks. Will this void the warranty?
I was thinking about converting to the Felt DA if I can find a 60cm frameset, but this might make me stick with Cervelo a little longer.