Originally Posted by
meditationride
hey everyone, good discussion and opinions. it's good to reassess through the process.
regarding speculation that I'm looking for a freebie; it would not be of sound decision to attempt that while there is no stock of anything available. cycling is a part therapeutic activity for me and this is a hassle and waste of time. Best warranty is one that's not needed. It developed a raised vertical crack in the inside aspect of the fork within two seasons of riding. Point I was trying to make is that these companies need to operate at a higher standard and be accountable to their warranty policy vs skirting away with a non-equivalent replacement and attempting to justify their actions by positioning themselves as good will.
Take my experience as you will. This was purchase as a complete bike and was never taken apart. If I were to make a wild speculation, I would suspect the cause is the incorrect torquing of bolts where the disc brake calipers attach to the fork. The crack overlaps that area very neatly.
I've moved on with the help of some suggestions here, will get it replaced, sell second hand, and look for something with higher reliability.
From what I have read here it sounds like they were quite accountable and offered you a replacement fork. If your fork is cracked and they offered a replacement that sounds like you got what you want! I know if that had happened to me I would have been happy. The reason they said good will rather than yeah it is a warranty is probably because the fork damage is not one of manufacturer error but user error and they were nice enough to say hey we are going to help you out. A lot of manufacturers are doing that because they actually care about their customers, they could have said not covered at all we can't send you anything, but they didn't and that is pretty nice of them. Regarding the difference in fork who knows and who cares, these days if you can get a working part you are lucky, who knows if it is an actual downgrade and without the info from Cervelo it is tough to tell. A different serial number means absolutely nothing other than it is a different serial number. If it were the same serial number I would be worried. If the part number had changed I wouldn't worry too much as they do change over time on some stuff and as long as it is similar enough and compatible it is a win win. They cannot stock every part for every bike forever to fulfill warranty but if they can get customers satisfied that is a good thing.
If the fork cracked after 2 seasons of riding and you believe it was improperly torqued bolts than I would not consider that warranty. If it cracked after a month of owning it then yeah maybe but who knows how you are riding and caring for the bike if at all. Bikes are not build it and your done, you still have to do upkeep and maintenance and especially with brake bolts but really any bolts you should check torque and regrease or anti seize or thread lock as needed.
In terms of those who are worried about this fork, I wouldn't worry too much, just make sure everything is properly installed with all the needed greases and compounds and torqued to spec and check it once and while. If you are a bigger rider or harder on equipment do it more often and if not at least do it once a year which you would want to do with any bike. It is a good thing to tune up a bike every year and replace any worn out parts and if you are a heavy sweater replace that bar tape even if it is black because it is not about looks but about safety the tape soaks the corrosive sweat and you cannot see the bars underneath but for sure the corrosive sweat isn't helping things.