Cervelo RS 2009: crack in the bottom bracket

yaya
yaya Posts: 411
edited July 2013 in Workshop
I was cleaning my bike today when I spotted this rather worrying crack around the Left BB cup

It is hard to tell whether this is just in the paint or in the carbon construction although its shape tells me that this might be a deep one and could point to the BB core moving inside the shell

It was not there a week ago and I have not noticed any odd sounds or flex as yet...

Has anyone had something similar with their RS frame and if so how did you go about sorting it out? I'm in the UK and the frame AFAIK is out of warranty. I've also posted it on Cervelo's user forum

Thanks!

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Comments

  • owenlars
    owenlars Posts: 719
    I would get your LBS to have a look.
  • Mccaria
    Mccaria Posts: 869
    http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/p/4221 ... aspx#28668

    http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/t/4742 ... ageIndex=1

    Look familiar ?
  • yaya
    yaya Posts: 411
    Mccaria wrote:
    http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/p/4221/28668.aspx#28668

    http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/t/4742 ... ageIndex=1

    Look familiar ?

    OUCH!

    Has anyone in the UK had any success with a non-warranty repair through a Cervelo dealer or through Madisson?
  • ellj22
    ellj22 Posts: 122
    From what I remember this was a common problem with 2009 R3's and RS's. It was the first year they painted over the outside of the Ali BB insert. In most cases its was nothing more than the paint cracking from the Ali insert and carbon tube flexing different amounts. But personally I would get it checked out in case it is cracked by a local Cervelo dealer. If your the original owner they should help sort it on warranty (which is lifetime for the original owner). If not then I'd get a carbon repair specialist to take a look at it, they will remove the paint in that area and be able to identify any damage.

    Best of luck.
  • yaya
    yaya Posts: 411
    Right so as things stand the only option is to send the frame to a repair shop and hope that they can fix it...

    Cervelo, as well as their UK distributors and dealers are not interested in helping anyone if they are not the 1st owners (in which case they just replace the frame under warranty). I am not looking for a free warranty repair but the only thing they do is referring me to a 3rd party shop (they all point to the same one BTW). I would have considered buying a replacement frame but this was not even offered

    Anyone here wants to buy a cracked, low mileage, 2nd hand 2009 Black RS? Apart from the crack it is in a very good condition...

    PM me if you're interested. I'll throw in a Garmin-Sharp Castelli long sleeve jersey...
  • declan1
    declan1 Posts: 2,470
    yaya wrote:
    Right so as things stand the only option is to send the frame to a repair shop and hope that they can fix it...

    Cervelo, as well as their UK distributors and dealers are not interested in helping anyone if they are not the 1st owners (in which case they just replace the frame under warranty). I am not looking for a free warranty repair but the only thing they do is referring me to a 3rd party shop (they all point to the same one BTW). I would have considered buying a replacement frame but this was not even offered

    Anyone here wants to buy a cracked, low mileage, 2nd hand 2009 Black RS? Apart from the crack it is in a very good condition...

    PM me if you're interested. I'll throw in a Garmin-Sharp Castelli long sleeve jersey...

    Those cracks mean the frame is basically worthless. It'll cost thousands to repair. I'll give you £20 for it if you want!

    Road - Dolan Preffisio
    MTB - On-One Inbred

    I have no idea what's going on here.
  • yaya
    yaya Posts: 411
    Sent the frame off to http://www.carboncyclerepairs.co.uk/index.html yesterday.
    Last weekend I took it for a spin and noticed a creaking noise coming from the BB
    After taking it apart I saw that there's a smaller crack on the drive side, so it looks like the alloy insert is starting to come away. Let see what they say...

    In the meantime I've picked up a 2010 Defy Advanced 1 frame from another forum member which looks mint and in the colours I like; just transferred everything over. Only needed new inner cables and a slightly longer outer for the rear brake (had some lying around).

    1.5hrs ride this evening and I think this one is a keeper! Smooth solid and comfortable and it climbs well although a smidgen slower on acceleration and it is a few grams heavier (haven't weighed it yet). I must say that the build quality and finish look like a step up from the RS
  • yaya
    yaya Posts: 411
    A month later and 200 quid lighter and the frame has now been repaired and is listed on eBay as it would have been a shame to chuck it and someone else can have a very nice bike built up with great savings. The repair looks good and was done professionally with the only telling sign being some paint that was left on the alloy insert around the BB cups

    I may re-visit Cervelo in the future as I loved the ride and handling of the RS. Hopefully they can improve their build quality and quality control...

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