I purchased a new 2006 Soloist Carbon in November. I have only 350 miles on the bike.

The bike was in my garage and a wind gust knocked over the SLC, and it fell on the tripod legs of my bike workstand. Eventhough the pedals and handlebars took alot of the blow, it left a crack in the top tube.

I did not know if the crack was only superficial or more serious requiring a warranty replacement, so
I sent digital photos of top tube Cervelo Customer Service to make an assessment. Upon viewing the photo, Cervelo recommend that I bring the SLC to my local Cervelo dealer for a crash replacement deal on a frame set. Cervelo said it does not qualify as a warranty because the damage is not a result of manufacturing or design error.

I strongly differ with Cervelo's assessment, since the bike only tipped over (with very little force, as it was not hit and did NOT have any weight on the bike) , a very common occurance that it should be engineered for and thus a serious manufacturing or design flaw. This would be the equivalent of a brand new automobile being totaled and have to be replaced after being hit be a shopping cart in a parking lot, and manufacturer claiming that there was no engineering flaw. Products have to work in the real world and not just under ideal conditions. I understand that products cannot be designed to withstand everything, but a bike tipping over would have to be well inside adverse engineering parameters. If this is not a condition that Cervelo SLCs are designed to withstand, I would question whether it is a viable retail product.

The crash replacement deal would cost me $2080 plus my damaged frame.

I have since had a local expert inspect the frame, and his conclusion was that it is a crack in the clearcoat, not the carbon, so the frame is structurally sound. I have also ridden the bike, coasting down a rough chip-seal road at 40+ mph with no vibrations or noises.

So, luckily I have avoided disaster, but Cervelo's position still was that if a SLC falling over caused a crack in the carbon, that it would NOT be covered by the Lifetime Warranty. As Cervelo Customer Service said, "it is impossible to design a bike frame that performs at the level of the SLC and is impervious to all impact damage".

Am I being unreasonable? Shouldn't a crack (if structural) caused by a brand new bike falling over be covered by a Lifetime Warranty?

1...duct tape it

2...ride

They want 2 grand and the old frame? Lousy deal. You could buy one hell of a replacement frame for that money, and keep the one you have.

Sounds like it did indeed survive this real-world event.

?

Seems lame to me.

As things get uber light, there are tradeoffs. My wife's Cdale was done in by a tip into the christmas tree stand.

Seems like it has. But if the carbon was indeed cracked, the Lifetime Warranty would be worthless and I would up a creek.

Was it covered by warranty?

I realize this is somewhat different, but if you crashed, would you expect a replacement if it cracked?

How do they know you're not trying to pull a fast one?

I think you'll find warranties clearly state "defects in materials or workmanship". They are not insurance policies. As to the unfortunate OP, these things happen. They always have, and they always will. They used to result in a scratch or insignificant ding, but with CF, all bets are off. I've stated many times that CF can't take these kinds of minor insults that any other material normally used in bike making would laugh at. It just sucks for the OP that he gets to be the one to prove it.

As far as a manufacturing flaw, get real. If the frame weighed more because it was designed to survive all foreseeable "minor" impacts without damage, nobody would buy it! CF is strong in certain directions but weak in others. It is ironic that many are afraid of steel because they think it will rust, but my bet is this sort of accidental damage has claimed more CF bikes than rust has steel bikes in the last 10 years. Unfortunate, but part of the compromise. Ultralight almost always equals ultrafragile.

FWIW, you can generally get a full replacement coverage rider on your home/renters insurance for your bikes for a couple of bucks a month....

This is from Cervelo's website:

". . .Cervélo does not warrant against damage or failure of Cervélo bicycle frames caused by accident, misuse, abuse or neglect. Any modification of the frame or its components shall void this warranty.

. . ."

Even companies like Trek and Cannondale say their warranties don't cover accidents. I don't think that Cervelo was unfair in their assessment of the situation - it was clearly an accident. I'm glad that your bike is still rideable, though.

My impression from fellow cyclists is that other manufacturer typically replace frames that are several years old and broken during racing crashes.

If it was in a crash, it would be unlikely to have an impact in the middle of the top tube, as my legs would be between the top tube and the impact. Also, I sent a photo showing the complete side shot with no other damage.

I don't disagree, just wondering your perspective. ALthough, I've never heard of a company warranting a frame involved in a race crash.

Nope, althoughtheyworked with us on the price of a replacement frame.

Wow, please tell me that it happenned to be in the room rather than "I just gave it to her for christmas when it died having never been ridden'?

I have had the exacte opposite with cervelo. My bike flew off the roof of my car while I was driving at about 80 mph. The frame got a dent in it. Cervelo offered to replace the frame for $200. It is a soloist team.

If there's a company that replaces crashed frames for free I'd be really surprised.

This is definitely one of the "buyer beware" things about CF. It makes some sweet frames, but you do need to be careful with them.

this isn't a warranty issue.
it's a crash. minus the speed and skin shredding.

Not saying that never happens but it sure would be the exception and not the rule. Carbon is very strong when pushed and pulled within its designed parameters but it does not take well to impacts that push or squeeze the tube like falling sideways on a blunt object. Take your top tube between your thumb and fingers and give it a squeeze. I bet you can squeeze the tube enough to deform it. Sounds like the bike took the blow just fine and it also sounds like Cervelo stood behind there replacement policy as it is stated. Believe me, I am no fan of Cervelo's warranty dept having had a problem with them before but in this case it sounds like they were proper.

This is, unfortuantely, not atypical of Cervelo based on numerous other posts I've seen. Most of the other situations involve delaminations or cracks in the stays. Cervelo seems to play real hard ball on any type of warranty claim. I'd love to have a Carbon Soloist but I keeping seeing situations like yours. God forbid I should have a "real" crash - the bike would be totalled. You can be sure that CSC doesn't have to worry about this problem. I'll stick to my old fashioned converted beer can bike for the time being.

This is kind of like saying I ran into a telephone pole and ruined my new car and the manufacturer would not give me a new car even though it was under warranty.

When I called to the dealer I purchased it from, the person on the phone told me the Giant gave him a free warranty replacement on a 3 year old frame that was crashed during a race.

Have to side with Cervelo here. Warranties don't cover the bike falling over. It's a multi-thousand dollar bike; You should probably be more careful...

Then he either lied or he gets free frames all the time. Cervelo or anyone else isn't about to give out frames to everyone careless enough to let their $5000+ bike fall over. IMO it is crazy to think they would give you a free frame and IMO knocking...what $1200? off the price of the frame is a good deal. We are talking about a $3200 frame here...sure you can get another nice frame for $2k but it wont be any stronger and would no doubt also break if you dropped it onto your workstand in the same manner.

Now here is your other option. Calfee will repair your frame...it will cost you but it will probably be less than $2k. And if you want the bike to be stronger than the original they can do that too...but keep in mind the weight is going to go up.

https://www.calfeedesign.com/howtosendrepair.htm

What reaction did you originally think you would find from us? Did you think/hope that as fellow bike owners we would be sympathetic to your unfortunate ACCIDENT? Maybe some people would, but personally I subscribe to very few forms of entitlement, this situation not being one of them, of course.
Were I Cervelo I'd certainly go tell you to pound sand.
This MIGHT qualify as a homeowners claim, maybe, but you'd probably have to do some lying to accomplish even that. On the bright side, your deductable is probably faaarrrrrr less than the price of a shiny new frame.
I broke a carbon frame once, and I took responsibility for it, and reluctantly dragged out my checkbook and bought a new one. If you can afford a Soloist Carbon, you SHOULD be able to afford another one.

I'm gonna have to agree with Cervelo on this one. No doubt I'd want a new frame too but I'd still be wrong in expecting to get one. I might take them up on the offer if they let you keep the old one.