TiHabanero

A friend of mine had to wait 6 months for a warranty claim on his Ducati. A $20,000 motorcycle and could not ride it all summer long. Italianos are a PIA to deal with. They don't understand the service market here in the US.

How about chain length? A former boss of mine had too short a chain on his custom carbon wiz bang bike and in the big ring he shifted to a lower gear (larger cog) and snapped the chain stay in nearly the same spot as this Colnago. The seat stay didn't crack, but that does not mean it cannot happen. For sure this should be checked out.

Futago

Interesting that you mention that. As I was going up the hill, I first took it easy and shifted the big ring to the smaller one. I shifted the rear derailleur to a smaller gear and proceeded to steadily climb in a seating position. This was all fine. Further up the hill, I decided to shift one or two gears down and get out of the saddle for a change of position. I did about three crank rotations and then the frame broke.

What was strange to me before this, was that if the frame had a bad crack, it would've maybe flexed and cause some brake rub on the wheels. I would've been able to feel that and possibly hear it. Either I was too focused on the road ahead to notice or the steady increase of power during the climb caused a small crack to suddenly spread further. Thus, resulting in the frame suddenly braking. Additionally, I'm not a heavy rider. I weigh about 75kg (165lbs) at 188cm (6'2) tall.

CliffordK

Thanks for answering the question of weight. Light but tall.

As far as a "rental", the shop should comp the price of the rental if they were going that way.

If you had some indication that the warranty was going through, you could probably find a 60cm bike, perhaps even in vintage steel that would get you by for a time. Uhhh... Don't get hooked!!!

Oh, 60cm in a land of short people???? That could be an issue.

Anyway, glance around the used market. It is possible that the larger sized bikes would just get stuck in a market that nobody really wants them.

Your bike shop might even know of some used bikes that might fit, or know someone who would.

I've heard that Colnago can be glacial... so don't get your hopes up to get the new frame and have it built up by next weekend. But, maybe at least get an answer and ETA.

avole

Maybe it is different in the US, but, as far as I can see, not only was the bike under warranty but also not fit for purpose. Colnago must replace it. The notion of 'rental' is out of the question. Giving you another bike to ride while they ship a replacement is fine, but charging for it?

Can you not find a good lawyer to poke both the shop and the company into action?

CliffordK

What would the Lawyer's retainer be on a $2000 bike? $500? And, more if it takes more than a couple of letters?

It is a good threat, but not necessarily a good thing unless there is no other alternative. And, it is quite possible that if Colnago and the LBS cave too quickly (deal may already be in progress), you won't be reimbursed for the retainer cost.

A loaner bike or bike frame would be nice.

WizardOfBoz

I'd start a new thread: New Colnago Frame Collapsed in Normal Use: Warranty Not Honored. The headline for this thread is too mild.

The first post should be "I was riding my three month-old Colnago RS. Stood up to climb. The frame collapsed. Pics below. Colnago claims that the bike was involved in a collision or was hit hard by something. It wasn't. They are refusing to honor their warranty". And give your story.

You could get a T-shirt printed, both sides, with "Local Bikes Inc./Colnago don't honor warranties!" and wear it to the shop for discussions. Especially good if the LBS is sponsoring a ride soon - wear it to the ride and discuss the warranty issue with them there, with a crowd of fellow riders hanging around. Any place you can find that allows reviews of this bike, log in, and give your true story. "I bought this bike. The frame failed catastrophically after three months normal use. Colnago refused to honor their warranty. I went out and bought a *Trek*. No failure so far!" (substitute the brand you buy for Trek). Generally, though, make sure that they know you're not going away and that you are going to continue to call attention to their failure to stand behind their product, for years to come. Make it clear you'll be posting dozens of posts about this, all over different bike forums, and that you'll be discussing this with folks on group rides and such.

It's probably not worth hiring an attorney, but if you have an attorney friend that can write them a letter insisting that they honor their warranty, and pointing to your new thread (or this one), it might get a little more attention. IF your state has a consumer protection agency of some sort, you could escalate this to that office.

Any forum members going into a Colnago shop and wishing to help Futago might respond to the LBS's sales pitch with "Not interested in Colnago - I hear that their frames break in normal use and they don't honor their warranty". About twenty guys do this, and I suspect that Colnago might be more interested in standing behind their product. Geez, you spend a couple thousand bucks on a bike and it breaks spontaneously and they don't warranty the frame?

As an aside, I have a carbon Trek, and I really like the ride, but I know that there's been a lot of heated discussion about carbon vs steel. It strikes me that if you've significant means and can afford to replace a frame if it breaks, CF is a great material. If a frame going south will put you in tough financial shape, the reliability of steel is pretty compelling. Especially if the manufacturer does not honor their warranty, like Colnago.

trailangel

I ask again.

DaveSSS 

No way would a frame ever break in multiple locations from normal use. That frame got crushed somehow.

CliffordK

Part of the strength of the classic double triangle form of bicycles is that any insult requires two tubes to break or bend, especially if one doesn't stop immediately.

But, yes, crushing the rear triangle would put substantially more stress on both joints than normal vertical supporting of a rider.

The stressed joint might not be immediately obvious to the rider, and could result in the double break showing up at a later time.
@trailangel, good point about returning to the train trip. Packed in a box? Carried on fully assembled? Kept in the OP's care vs being "checked"?

indyfabz

I'm still not buying this, but I did have a PITA dealing with a Colnago warranty claim (cracked Dream Plus) in the U.S. back in 2001. There was only one U.S. distributor of their frames. It took forever to get a replacement in the popular color scheme I originally purchased. The distributor did loan me a used Master Light while I was waiting for the replacement frame, and the LBS that I bought the frame from switched over the parts and then switched them back for free.

CliffordK

This wasn't a crash. The crankset would have offered a significant amount of protection to the chainstay.

This was presumably a stress fracture from some earlier insult that showed up while the OP was riding, and it is unclear when, how, or under who's care that earlier stress fracture showed up.

It is hard to say how common it is. There are reports of it happening. But, many of the insults to the frames are severe enough that they would have left metal frames bent, dented, misaligned, broken, etc.

In fact, perhaps the fault of Carbon Fiber is that it will often spring back to shape leaving severe stress unseen, while a metal frame would be dented or bent, showing obvious damage.

DaveSSS 

As I noted, my LOOK 585 was in a bike/car accident that bent both wheels, broke the right shifter body and tore the saddle, but left the frame and carbon bars unscathed. My LOOK KG461 bounced off the side of a car that made a right turn in front of me and didn't get damaged. I have no concerns about riding carbon frames. I've owned 3 LOOKS, 3 Colnagos and one Cervelo carbon frame. No problems with any of them.

TiHabanero

Since the bike was transported by train at some point in time, it is possible the frame received the initial damage on that train. Damage does not necessarily show up at the time it occurred, but can show up days months or years later. I know of two such incidents.

Futago

Local government trains in Japan don't have a special baggage area. They don't even have a special car for bicycles. When I did transport my bike, I placed it in the last car. There is a large area with the least amount of people. I place the bike out of the way and stood beside it. Nobody ever bumped or got close to the bike. If the bike received some kind of impact that could damage the frame in such a way during its first out of two (second time was when I returned the bike) train rides, then I'm sure some kind of external damage would've appeared and I, Colnago and the LBS would've noticed it.

If this was my fault, then I would've accepted it, but I couldn't figure out in any situation how I could've damaged the frame so severely. Colnago and the LBS also concluded from their analysis that the damage must've occurred during transportation, but the bike shows no evidence of me mishandling it.

trailangel

Rules the train out. Could have happened shipping from Factory to LBS.... like somebody dropped something on the shipping box.

Futago

My previous email to the LBS may have seemed a bit strong, but I felt I had to place some fire under them to speed up the process.

Late last night I received an email from my LBS. The news from my LBS and Colnago seems good. My LBS contacted me to let me know that Colnago Japan is in contact with the branch office in Italy and have requested them to check stock and give them a delivery date for the frame. Colnago Japan mentioned they are promptly pushing the branch in Italy to give them an answer as soon as possible.

Hopefully, I'll receive a follow-up email soon. Here's to hoping for further good news.

Futago

Makes the most sense to me that an impact occurred during shipment from the Factory to LBS. Colnago argued that a dent or damage would've appeared on the box. Colnago asked the LBS if there was any damage on the box when they received it, and if there was, the LBS should've sent the box back.

To me, this seemed silly for Colnago to ask the LBS. I bought a 2017 year model on discount so I assume that the bike had been on display in the shop for a while before I bought it. The box was probably already thrown away with any "proof" of box damage with it.

The LBS argued with Colnago that their mechanics didn't recall seeing any damage to the box and that everything appeared 100%. Of course, the LBS would say this to Colnago. They don't want the blame. And then again... it's a box. Boxes dent easily since they're just made from cardboard.

50PlusCycling

Unacceptable. But unfortunately, being in Japan, and having bought your bike here is not a good thing. Customer service is good here, but that is generally before the sale. Japan does not have the same consumer protection laws which are common in other developed countries. Product liability and negligence lawsuits are rarely filed, and even more rarely won. I advise you or anyone else to always make large purchases with a good credit card which offers increased warranty protection, this has saved me a lot of trouble and expense in the past.

Had this happened in America, you would be well on your way to getting a new bike. Had you been hurt or killed when the frame failed, lawyers would be lining up to take your case. Had you been hurt or killed in Japan, you would find it very hard to find a lawyer to do more than charge you 20,000 yen to listen to your complaint, and then tell you that you would be unlikely to win any lawsuit.

But luckily the internet is a good way to make the public aware of defective products and poor customer service. How Colnago deals with this situation will make a difference to some people who are shopping for a bike. I have read enough already to know that I won't buy a new Colnago. You should let the shop and Colnago know that you are sharing your correspondence with other cyclists, and their actions will be read about and remembered by a great many potential customers.

JasonD67

I'll be buying a new bike in the not to distant future. Colnago definitely is (was?) on my list of bikes. Threads like these are VERY interesting to me...

Futago

I have very good news to report.

Colnago will be sending me a new frame! They asked if a black frame will be okay with me. The matt black frame colour was not sold in Japan, so my LBS wanted to know if I'm okay with that. The frame will be sent from a different country hence the different colour and I'll be notified as soon as they know the date of arrival.

I'm still waiting for confirmation with regards to when I'll receive the new frame, but just very happy that Colnago is doing the right thing and big thumbs up to my LBS for assisting me! They pulled through in the end.

Thanks to the forum members here for the support! I'll be keeping you in the loop when I receive the new frame and post pics (if you want to see?) of the new beauty which I'll be pairing with some new matt black coloured 50mm carbon wheels.

trailangel

Nice!

tagaproject6

That's good news!

CliffordK

Excellent...

Now, try to keep it under 5000 watts on those hill climbs!!!

cyclintom

I really don't know how to respond about C40's. Some of them appear to be bulldozers while others have failed for no apparent reasons. I got rid of my C40 but I really think that the failure I showed was due to UV degradation. And the one I sold had no clear coat over the bare CF. The C40's I've had didn't have a particularly good ride and the CLX I presently have even with hard clinchers rides great. Though due to the way Colnago reacts to failures I would probably avoid them in the future. Trek and Specialized I used to avoid because they were so common and I like to be different but these are companies with the best engineering staff of all bicycle manufacturers so they are probably the best to go to these days.

tagaproject6

The main word there being "probably". IME, that would be a hard "NO". They probably have one of the best litigation staff.