I bought this frame in Aug 2009. today after clearing it, there was a paint crack around the BB about 3-4cm. Would this be covered under warranty or just wear and tear(only done 850miles). I also have a P3 frame, paint work on that frame is great.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47308809@N05/tags/frame/

 

it not a great pic, its on none drive side of frame. and crack runs from 11 o'clock to 3-4 o'clock and about 5-7mm from BB cup

 Can you post pictures of the crack?

I've seen a crack like this on an R3 before. It's probably just the paint/laquer cracking (as there's a lot of stress/flex around the BB on all bikes) and could be nothing to worry about but I wouldn't take a chance as it could be the carbon/bb shell breaking. If you're the original owner of the bike I'm sure Cervelo will cover it under warrenty either way.

I wonder if Cervelo adds a flex additive to the paint/clearcoat. In one of my first jobs I used to spray paint. We added a flex additive to the paint so it wouldn't crack if the painted part were to flex. The additive is also added to the paint on body colored car bumpers.

getting the run around.  Well posted frame back to shop, which in turn post back to UK distributor which in turn have now posted back to cervelo. alot of people on this forum have had good reports about good after sales service but ; ; not me. this bike has done more mles in post than i have done on it.

I had the same problem as you: Crack on BB area. UK distributor (Madison) took 1,5 month to replace with the new on. Very bad service... I do not know why they take so much time. I red on this forum that in America and Canada they have better service!

There are multiple threads on this. You might want to do a forum search. In fact, one of the last statements on the matter was by Gerard Vroomen, himself. (http://forums.cervelo.com/forums/p/5892/41871.aspx#41871). In a nutshell, the story is that this is somehow related to the filler used at the bottom bracket housing, and is cosmetic only, and being more obvious on the white frames. But there have been several warranty replacements documented in the forum. It also seems apparent, from statements on the forum, that when there is a significant delay in resolving the issue, it is usually attributed to the dealer or distributer, rather than Cervelo itself. Cervelo seems to do their part of the transaction fairly quickly once it is in the proper hands. Good luck, man.

thanks for replys. i also forgot to put that when bit were taken off frame, there was a bigger crack and more apart on drive side.  looks like needing a new frame for training camp(can't go on winter bike).

Simon, I have never known Cervelo request a frame to be sent back to them. The process normally goes like this- You bring frame to shop, We send pic of damage to Madision or just send the frame to them in MK. They send either our pic or their pic to Cervelo. If Cervelo agree with the warrenty (which I belive they will in your case, infact I can't emphasize how good they normally are) then the shop will get a credit sent to their account from Madison. They can then give/order you a new frame. You really shouldn't get this hassle. Let me know how you get on. Mark

When this transaction starts getting screwed up like this, some have had better luck contacting Cervelo Customer Service directly, so that Cervelo can call the shop or distributor and "pull" the necessary information in, rather than waiting for it to get "pushed" to them. My understanding is that Cervelo will eventually want the defective frame back, but only after the replacement frame has been delivered to your location. They will work off of photos, and don't need to see the actual frame to approve the replacement.

Getting the run around again. it got to the point that i was on phone to the bike shop, the bike shop was on phone to madison and madison was on pc or phone to cervelo.  cervelo oked a new frame on feb 25th, its now march 4th and the bike shop have not had bike from madison. madison will not talk to me and bike shop is getting pissed i'm phoning 2-3 times a week. i now got 4 days before off on training camp and got no bike(apart from winter trek 1000).  maybe cervelo should do some control on making frames. when we pay £2200 for frame(when you can get full bike for that price) it should not break or take so long to a get replacement.!!!!!!

 Madison are F***ing useless in my experience.

 I completly agree with you @wilwil