New Colnago C-RS frame broke during hill climbing.
 

Dear forum members,

I'm new to this forum. Hope this post is in the correct space.

Almost 3 months ago I purchased a Colnago C-RS. I've been loving the ride and this past Saturday I decided to go hill climbing. As I stood up to put power down, the right side stays collapsed and the chain pulled my wheel into the frame. The bike immediately came to a halt.

I live in Japan and the roads are generally quite good. This bike is my treasure and I make sure it's well taken care of. As I'm sometimes quite busy and I've recently been out of the country, I have maybe managed to do less than 1000km. This incident is quite shocking to me. On Sunday I took the bike back to the shop I purchased it from and we'll see what happens from there.

In addition to returning my bike to the shop, I also emailed Colnago Japan. I received a quick response from them. In short, they said they're concerned about my safety and if I was injured and would contact the bicycle shop as soon as possible to discuss the matter. They infromed me to please wait for the shop ro contact me about the situation. Currently I'm still waiting.

At the moment I'm wondering how fellow Colnago owners here have experienced customer service and if you've had any similar instances, how is their warranty system?

If anyone else has advice about this matter, I am open to it. I saved a lot of money to purchase the bike and this is really disappointing to me. I don't know how the frame could break so easily. So glad I wasn't going downhill. Such a failure could've been catastrophic.

With advice like that, I think I would be contacting that shop pretty darn quick.

Ideally I would. What I failed to mention is that my Japanese language ability over a phone is still very poor and the shop doesn't have an email address. They did tell me they'll send an email to me on Monday so we can communicate more efectively. I'm giving the shop a chance to respond first and I'll make further communicative plans if needed.

Pics of the broken bike?

I will post photo's as soon as I can. This forum states that I need more than 10 posts before I can upload any photos or URL's

I assume the bike was purchased new? You did say "shop I purchased from", just checking.

Good luck.

Yes. I bought it brand new from the shop.

If it is still the Japan I remember, they would apologize profusely and give you a new bike without involving Colnago because the bike shop will deal with them instead of the cutomer.

Are you alright? Did you get hurt?

You didn't shift your RD into your spokes, did you? That wouldn't make sense given your description of "I stood up"

You need to get to 10 posts so we can see some pictures. :)

Sorry to hear about your C-RS. I've had mine since April, 2017 and have 13,584 miles on it (according to my ride records). Never had a problem with the bike (even after a few crashes) so I've never needed to contact support. I also have a 2012 Colnago ACE that I purchased new and it has 45,689 miles on it and it still looks in mint condition. I do know someone that had a CX-3 where the dropout came loose in the fork and the fork was replaced without a problem. This was a few years ago but I don't think their warranty policy has changed much since then. Hope you get the frame replaced with no problems and that you weren't injured during the incident.

No I didn't. It was in the moment as I shifted to smaller gears and got out of the saddle.

Yes! Soon I'll have those 10 posts :lol:

This is very likely to have been damaged in shipping. It is very difficult to see damage on a CF frame. I was so anti-carbon fiber after having three forks fail that I went back to steel. CF can give you a weight reduction but it isn't nearly as much as you would want or think. But after more investigation I have found VERY few cases of frames failing for no reasons. There are some but the reasons without scientific analysis cannot be readily identified. So I decided to give carbon fiber another try but the workmanship on the Taiwanese Colonagos isn't the best in the world. Given the choice with my new viewpoint I would NOT buy another Colnago. There are all sorts of carbon fiber frames out there with lifetime warranties. I would not probably look a great deal closer at Specialized. They have REALLY done their engineering.

My friend had his Colnago C40 break the steering tube off for no discernable reason. Colnago Italy gave him a brush-off with the comment that their warranties are only for 2 years.

In one rather funny case a frame was shown with the downtube broken out of the frame. This was treated as if it had broken apart as he rode down the street. When I email him his comment was "the car barely hit me".

I think that your CR-S is made in Taiwan like my CLX 3.0. I would just bug the hell out of the dealer because Colnago DOES have a 2 year warranty. But being in Japan I would expect that Colnago Japan to be far more responsive than Colnago Italy.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...b076cd9b39.jpg

This broke THROUGH the lugs and this bike was ALWAYS babied.

:popcorn

That is still the Japan of today. I'm confident someone will go above and beyond to make it right for him at minimal stress to him. :thumb:

Sorry to hear, OP. Can't wait to see pictures of your bike (I know you guys get different paint jobs than the US), and I am also a C-RS owner who so far has had no problems. Yours seems to be the first I've heard of that broke.

On a couple of rides before the incident. I remember hearing some kind of knocking/ stress sound when going over a bump. At the time I forgot about it as I couldn't see any cracks.

There might as well have been a hidden crack somewhere. I've registered my C-RS with Colnago and received a 3-year warranty. If my frame had to break after three years, it wouldn't bother me so much, but just crazy that it happened under 3 months. As I'm going about my day, just waiting for news from Colnago is haunting me... I'm quite worried that Colnago will devise some kind of silly excuse and brush me off.

Seeing that C40 broken like that is painful.

I wouldn't worry about Colnago Italy. If you bought it from a real shop they are responsible for the warrantee. If they will not replace it but rather return your money look into the S-works Specialized or the top end Treks. I believe that they both had lifetime warrantees which I'm sure that you'd prefer. A friend of mine had his Gary Fisher or something start cracking - Trek honored that lifetime warranty because they had bought the company. Two weeks after the new bike was delivered it developed a crack at the connection between the seat tube and the down tube at the bottom bracket. I advised my friend to have it replace again and again Trek didn't have any problems doing so. Their newer construction methods make that sort of failure unlikely. And the second frame crack did not grow and the rider is quite heavy and powerful.

Customer service is still great in Japan. Most of the time it amazes me. Sometimes it can also be so systematic in its approach that it can be very confusing for foreigners and in their kind approach they may go above and beyond for the customer. It may however, further complicate things. Although at the end of the day I always appreciate it so much.

I also noticed that this forum limits me to 5 posts every 24 hours. I will eventually get some photos on here. Sorry for the wait :backpedal:

If they'll give me my money back or offer a different brand, then I'll also be very happy. The shop doesn't sell Trek, but they have plenty of other brands including Specialized, Cannondale and Pinarello. I'll definitely look into Specialized then.

Before the incident I also received a special 50% points back coupon from the shop. I've sent a couple of customers their way, so I guess they sent me something in return... Here's hoping they give me refund, so I can use that coupon :lol:

Luckily I didn't get hurt. It was a steep climb. Somehow after the bike halted, I managed to maintain balance until I was able to un-clip my shoes. Afterwards I kept wondering what would've happened if the frame broke when going downhill after the climb. Considering some traffic and some slight rain on that day, it could've ended really bad for me. Luckily it didn't :thumb:

Yes. It's carbon fibre :innocent:

#10 ... Can you edit your post... or do we have to wait until tomorrow?

So far my old Colnago C40 is holding together. :) I've been putting on quite a few miles. :)

Perhaps it is time for the OP to try the Colnago EPS (Extreme Power System)???

Not exactly.

The issue is that newbies can't exactly post links. Although, there are ways to obfuscate links.

Hopefully the OP has his post minimum resolved today.

Up until then, you were proud of the famous maker's name, and how light it was..

Right?

I think there are different models.

@cyclintom posted a vintage lugged C40 from an acquaintance.

The C40/C50/C60 and related frames all have a distinct lug pattern, and are made in Italy.

The Colnago C-RS that the OP has is an "entry level" bike. I don't see confirmation of where it is made, but likely China or Taiwan.

The C-RS appears to have a monocoque construction, although as we all know that usually means molded main components that are epoxied together, not too different from the lugs, but with feathered joints.