JR35

Hey guys,

I've had my eye on a Colnago for a while and took a chance on a used V1-R from an overseas bike shop. It arrived nicely wrapped (IMO anyways), but the bike box was pretty beat up by UPS. When I removed the foam, I found what appears to be a crack in either the paint or the carbon fibre of the top tube (pictures below). I've tried the "tap test" using a quarter, and I can hear a dull thud when going right over the spot in question, but immediately beside it sounds pretty normal so I am hoping that it might just be the cracked paint which is creating that sound.

I have heard the horror stories of CF shattering / failing catastrophically, and am wondering whether this is safe to ride? Any thoughts / comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

p.s. the bike shop has been great to deal with and has already filed a warranty claim with UPS, so we will see where that leads...

Rage

Daaang. Sorry to see/hear.
Been screwed over by every shipper out there, including bike flights.
I hope they make good on that. My blood would be boiling...

Crankycrank

I always hate to make a diagnosis from a photo on the net but that looks bad. You might want to contact some Carbon Fiber repair shops for a repair estimate which may be worth it if UPS will reimburse you.

AngryFrankie

It take a lot to break a frame in that way. Unless it was poorly packed....I'd be suspicious of seller fraud.

easyupbug 

Wow, that does look serious, good luck you may need it, but I did have a good experience with Fedex. Initially they wanted things like repair estimates etc, but come though in the end with a full refund and shipping refund.

JR35

Thanks to everyone for their speedy replies, greatly appreciated.

TiHabanero

I have a customer with a carbon OCR, not exactly known for super lightweight frame, and a pole fell on the top tube in his garage. This impact crushed the area where the pole hit. Carbon is tough, but under certain circumstances it is not so tough, and impacts are one of those circumstances. Fortunately the repair is very straight forward and if a DIY person, cheap to do.

joesch

Yes and would expect that the shipping box shows damage to the structure in the area of that crack, the edges on both sides would probably be creased in such a box bend to brake that tube. The actual sales pictures for that bike should have shown that crack, ie would have been hard to hide?

coupster

It appears to me that the crack is on the underside of the top tube, therefore inside the main frame diamond. It would be almost impossible to exert enough force to cause that much damage from outside the box. It probably can be repaired. As joesch said that damage should have shown up in any advertising pictures. I'd call the seller for misrepresentation rather than the shipping co for mishandling. But put in a claim with both to be safe.

JR35

Thanks, again, to everyone for their responses. I may get my credit card company involved, which might help?

In terms of location, most of the damage appears to be on the side of the top tube, inside the main frame diamond. When packed, there was a piece of foam covering this area and, while it can easily stay in place on its own, it was also "pinched" to the top tube by the right drop bar during shipping (the bars had been "swung around", inside the main frame diamond). The crack is right at the location of where the drop bar would have sat during shipment.

For what it's worth, I looked closely at the foam piece and I think I can see that there is "damage" (i.e. more indentation and, it appears, not just from the drop bar) to the foam on one side and not the other. So I think I'm looking at UPS, or a very sophisticated fraud by the seller (but it appears to be a legit bike shop with physical location and no bad reviews online...).

Thanks again guys.

shelbyfv

I would send it back for a refund. Let the shop deal with UPS.