kleng

I think that will only get bigger in time, with all the flex going through the bottom bracket, small cracks would appear. Is that the outer surface of the bearing race you can see or is that the carbon layer ?

hueyhoolihan

i think i would inspect the inside edge of the crank arm for matching marks, because the damage is severe enough to require something getting between the crank arm and the BB to gouge it like that, if i'm seeing what i think i'm seeing. if there are no matching marks on the inside of the crank arm i would think that it most likely occurred during assembly. at least that's the point i would argue...

link0

You should properly focus the camera before shooting. The pictures are ridiculously blurry.

Buzzatronic

Yep that's one of the first things I checked. Inside of the crank arm is clean with no damage.

I bought this bike from a LBS that has two locations and one is closed on the weekend which is where I bough it. I took it to the location that is open on the weekend and they were somewhat clueless (they are in ski mode). They did claim that the bottom bracket is assembled in the frame from the factory so the person who built the bike wouldn't have done this during installation of the BB. Considering how clueless they seemed about bikes in general, I'll disregard their comment and take it to the shop that is open tomorrow and see what they say.

hueyhoolihan

having no reason to doubt you, i think you could make a good case that it happened before you rode it. making the LBS or the factory liable. get ready for the finger pointing, while you anxiously await the outcome... good luck.

RobertL

If they say it's alright and it may be, I'd be sure to get a signed and dated work order explaining your concerns so if it fails at a later point you have some proof of it being a factory defect.

Campag4life

As posited, they scratched it pressing in the BB which is likely PF30 or BB30.
Hey if they can get you to buy it that way and you accept it then they are happy.
Go there and request a replacement. They will likely give you grief about it but tell them you won't accept it.
If you put it on your credit card, leave the bike there and stop payment if they don't replace it.

merlinextraligh

ftfy

Buzzatronic

I heard back from Cannondale support and they basically said sorry nothing we can do, talk to the dealer. This is a bit of a letdown for sure. I've heard great things about Cannondale support but so far this doesn't feel great.

Took it to the shop this morning and the mechanic agreed with the running consensus that this damage was from the BB pressing which is done before they get the bike. He said he didn't notice it because during the build, he spends the vast majority of his time on the drive side of the bike which makes sense.

He took some pictures and is going to talk to their Cannondale rep to see what can be done. He mentioned a possible epoxy solution which if that's the route I have to go, I won't be very pleased with since it looks clearly that i was sold a damaged bike from the start.

freedomrider1

Make them make it right.

roadwarrior

We actually have a book of excuses. So if your mechanic leaves for a minute, he's looking up the proper excuse.

Either that or he's telling his fellow mechanics he's got a live one out there.

Good freaking grief...

roadwarrior

And using the shop to be your go-between is the proper thing to do. A Cannondale person is not going to take your word for it. "Sure, we'll just send you a new bike."

In ALL cases of potential warranty you go to a shop and they get with the rep and then it moves on from there. They get calls all day long from "experts" who want new bikes.

And it's obvious many do not know how this works, but most bikes are pretty much assembled anymore. The work to install those parts would have been done at the factory, not at the shop. We pull all that apart and reinstall it, but my guess is that shop does not do that.

Buzzatronic

That's fair, I'll hold off judgement until this gets sorted. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the great customer service reputation for Cannondale holds true in this case since it's one of the reasons I bought this bike over the Trek and Specialized.

shoemakerpom

How this works is you have to go thru the dealer since Cannondale doesn't deal direct. You are under 30 days so Cannondale will warranty the frame only and the shop will swap the components over unless the shop owner has the exact same bike on the floor and is willing to swap and save you the hassle. You have to stand your ground but be nice. The scratch is clearly from somebody tapping the lip of the bearing race in and if you wait they will say you did it as an excuse not to warranty the frame. My friend had his 2012 Madone crack a week after he bought it at the headtube and he stood his ground since it was under 30 days and said he wants a whole new bike and Trek gave him a whole new bike.
But not after the shop wanted to just swap the components. That's what I would do especially if your not sure of the mechanics abilities at your local shop.

eja_ bottecchia

OP, sorry to read about your travails.

There are a few things that feel worse than plunking down your hard earned cash and not getting what you thought you were paying for. Worse than that, is having to deal with an LBS that was initially happy to sell you the product but then is not being as supportive as you had hoped they would be. In this sense, buying from a chain bike store is more satisfying in that they would take the bike back, no excuses, no questions.

Eventually, your bike will get lots of nicks and scratches...but at least those are nicks and scratches that YOU put there.

Let us know how this is finally resolved.

Slackerprince

I can't believe that shop is closed on weekends. How do they stay in business?

S

Bob Dopolina 

+1.

And just to add to this further, most brands design and oversee production but bike assembly is handled by a separate assembly factory. The assembly factory may also be the ones painting the frames. So, chances are the damage was done at a Taiwan assembly factory, the bike was boxed, shipped to a distributor, then to a dealer and finally to you.

Buzzatronic

Their shop is in a mini mall type thing that's only open to employees of the company I work for and no one works on weekends.

Slackerprince

Sweet gig.
Sorry for your troubles.
I had the same problem with a Trek Madone and took it back.
Good luck.

S

kleng

I wonder who would have pressed in the bottom bracket, can't see the Cannondale factory making this sort of mistake.

DXchulo

Read post #42

Buzzatronic

Got an update today from the bike shop. Basically Cannondale said that from the pictures it doesn't look like a problem but we could send the frame to them to have them inspect/scan it and if there is damage they'd repair it. I called bull**** on that since it's clear that I was sold damaged goods out of the box (even according to the shop mechanic that put the bike together). I said I'm not interested in a repair to damage Cannondale caused, I'm interested in a the bike I'm paying $2K for not being damaged before it leaves the factory. Bike shop said they'd talk to Cannondale again and see what they say. They said if they do send out a new part, it'll likely just be the frame and we'd have to go through the hassle of disassembling and rebuilding the bike around the new frame which I imagine they aren't too excited about since it's lost labor for them as well.

So far I'm not very impressed with Cannondale's support or the bike shop's execution on this matter. Unless things turn around in the next few days, I can safely say they've both lost a customer.

TyLerDuRDeN_187

I would find a new LBS if they dont fix it. I guess I'm lucky, if i would OF walked in with this problem my lbs would OF had a new bike for me asap. The LBS should get you a new bike/frame, what ever as fast as they can, then they should deal with cannondale. I bet they end up taking care of you and fixing it but they should OF done it right away. Good luck with it. My bad for the grammers, me sa hopes some ones with a life is out there on the intersweb can check it for me.

cthenn

Massive sweeping generalization statement as follows: Most LBS' suck.

They probably "installed" the press fit BB by banging it in with a crescent wrench or something and dinged the hell out of your BB shell. That's what my untrained eye focusing on a very blurry picture over the internet tells me.

rpenmanparker 

It isn't "should of" and "would of". It's should HAVE and would HAVE. Once is a typo. Three times is...well, never mind. No good can come of this. Please take no offense. It's my hang up. I just can't understand such trite grammatical errors. My bad.