# What do you think about the Cervelo finish ?



## nicensleazy (Aug 3, 2008)

????????


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## skritikos (Aug 10, 2005)

In my mind, Cervelo means physics, strength, not artistic performance and looks. They built excellent performance frames encapsulated in a normal look.

Do you have any complaints about the tubes smoothness or paint quality?


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## Getoutandride (Sep 1, 2008)

Cervelos simply arent designed to have a perfect paint job, I believe they hold a hidden beauty, when you look at a SLC you can see the engineering not only in its profile but through the black 'tint' over the carbon, the red is a solid colour whilst the black allows the carbon to show through


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## otoman (Mar 8, 2004)

My '09 R3 is fine. No problems with the finish. Plus, if you actually ride the darn things, the finish tends to get a little rough around the edges on any bike.


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## STARNUT (Jun 19, 2005)

You want art, buy a painting. You want a fast bike, buy an S2. You're not going to buy a Cervelo because the paint is flawless.......... The "money you pay" argument is trite and is not applied universally. For the "money you pay", a Colnago should have better performance than a Cervelo.

The boys from Toronto say you're lucky it has paint on it. The "graphics" department consists of an exchange intern with an exacto knife.

Starnut


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## nicensleazy (Aug 3, 2008)

????????????


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## Gimme Shoulder (Feb 10, 2004)

Depends on precisely what you're talking about.

If you're talking about the quality of the decal and paint application such as paint bubbles, ripples, skips, mis-spellings, etc, then yeah, one should expect top notch. And with Cervelo you don't always get it. My RS is perfect, but some have reported not so perfect. Whether the incidences of finishing issues is more or less than other high end brands, I don't know. But really if you walk out of a bike store with a bad paint job, you've got nobody to blame but yourself. I know I inspected mine top to bottom before writing the check. Now for the mail order guys, that's tougher. Now your talking about a decision to keep or send back for an exchange. Very tough if you've already waited weeks or months to get it. Best advise there is to try and prevent the problem by talking with the store's customer service, and tell them what you're expecting, and confirm return policies in the case that it isn't what you get.

If you're talking about colors, paint schemes, and graphics. Then what you see is what you get. Frankly, the beauty of a Cervelo is in the elegance and inteligence of the design, and in the way it performs. Some don't see it that way. But I, for one like "simple".

P.S. With regard to quality of finish, I'm certain that Cervelo's units sold have increased dramatically in the past few years. Perfect conditions for quality control issues to rise and reach the user. I'm equally certain that Cervelo is aware of this and is getting a handle on it. With regard to colors and paint schemes, as Cervelos reach the podium more and more on the world stage, Cervelo may become more "aware" of the graphics side. Hope not though.


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## skritikos (Aug 10, 2005)

Gimme Shoulder said:


> ......With regard to colors and paint schemes, as Cervelos reach the podium more and more on the world stage, Cervelo may become more "aware" of the graphics side. *Hope not though.*



+1


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## jpdigital (Dec 1, 2006)

Interesting topic. I just had my S1 built. As far as the color scheme, I love it--- elegant simplicity. The clearcoat is just fine w/ no bubbles etc... But as for the little details in the actual paint itself, yeah, there are some imperfections (nothing to be seen from a distance, but when you're washing it and looking for attention to detail, it's not 100% there). But as was said earlier and can't be stated enough: YOU DON'T BUY A CERVELO BECAUSE OF IT'S PERFECT PAINT, YOU BUY IT BECAUSE OF IT'S ENGINEERING PEDIGREE. I can't speak for the carbon models, but my aluminium steed is UNLIKE ANY ALUMINIUM BIKE I've ever been on!!! Plus I heard the kids in the neighborhood say how my bike "looks fast" (BTW that's a direct quote)---and that means the paint is doing it's job, right??


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## nicensleazy (Aug 3, 2008)

????????????????????


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## jpdigital (Dec 1, 2006)

I tend to agree w/ you on that one, nicensleazy. If your gonna drop that kinda quid on a frame, you SHOULD expect more in terms of finish. Personally there's no way in heaven or on earth I can sneak that much money out of my bank account w/o my wife noticing, so I don't see myself having that delimma any time soon. There's SHOULD be some point where a rediculous amount of money inherantly buys you an impeccable finish. Also I generally have a utilitarian viewpoint where the function is part of the beauty of the form FWIW.


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## nicensleazy (Aug 3, 2008)

???????????????


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## Thom_y (Jan 19, 2007)

STARNUT said:


> You want art, buy a painting. ...
> The boys from Toronto say you're lucky it has paint on it. The "graphics" department consists of an exchange intern with an exacto knife.
> 
> Starnut


In this economy, perhaps many of us consumers are going to require both. Technology and art. 

<br>
Perhaps this summer I will regret it, but I decided to replace my crashed up 2007 Red/Carbon R3 (with horrible finish) with a classy looking 2009 Cunego Cento Uno, instead of an S3 or another R3. Not that I'm a huge Cunego fan, but I am a sucker for white/black bikes and I wanted a change from my R3 as I had it for 2 years. The paint jobs of the new Cervelos could not hold a candle to the Pinarello and Wiliers I looked at. 
<br>We will have to see how it rides/performs compared to my R3 though.


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## STARNUT (Jun 19, 2005)

If I hear the "economy" BS argument again I'm going to pull my damn hair out. Downturns don't mean you should get more for your money or less for your money. The value of a $ is still a $ (in the US anyway). The "economy" has, unequivocally, no bearing on the paint being used by Cervelo or anyone else. Even if your argument were to hold true, people should be demanding the performance of a Cervelo from every other manufacturer. No one's whining about that...............

The/A Depression does not justify a change in consumer preferences among like priced items in a market place. It does, however, justify a change in spending habits. All told, in an inflationary economy the argument would still be made that Cervelo should have better paint quality. You're going to buy one, or you're not.............. the economy be damned.

A downturn in the economy does not mean that manufacturers and venders are going to give stuff away just to make a sale. The businesses that do well, will always do well. Hell, even if they we're going stuff away at cost, the implicit assumption here is that the workforce is the same size and has same amount of disposable income it did 18 months ago. I could mark stuff down to cost but if no one has money or is not willing to spend it, it dosen't matter.......... Thus the reason the tax cuts are a stupid idea.............. decrease on $0 is still 0, but I digress...........

On another note, That Cento Uno is the real deal. That is one of the 3 stocks bike I'd buy if I actually had to pay for it. Those things are awesome................... you will not be dissapointed in the performance or anything else. The guys at the Wilier NA are great as well. They are Italians that can actually organize a pillow fight and do things right the first time.

Starnut


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## Americano (Dec 20, 2001)

*Form follows function w/Cervelo*

I have to admit, that I was a little peeved about the finish of my RS at first. There was some unevenness in the downtube near the water bottle bosses. The clearcoat itself doesn't appear to be all too robust, and there were some small scratches down to the primer on the bottom of one of the chainstays. The scratches probably happened during packaging or shipping.

But I have to say that I just LOVE MY RS, the way it rides is simply better than I ever expected to experience on a bike of my own.

My last bike was a steel framed Cinelli and it had gorgeous paint. I don't doubt for a second that a Willier (maybe the prettiest bikes made) or Pinarello will be painted and finished in a superior way to a Cervelo. If there's one thing the Italians know well it is aesthetics (they're not too shabby in the engineering department either from what I understand). Even so, if I were to loose my RS and had to buy another bike tomorrow, I'd still more than likely consider Cervelo before any other manufacturer.


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## bikemech (Sep 15, 2004)

*I think the bicycle is the perfect example of fashion and function...*

Well, I just had to chime in on this lil' ol chat we've got going here about Cervelo's and how they are "finished". I'm of the opinion that a bicycle needs to "speak" to you. For me, that means when I look at my bicycle I say "hi beautiful"... I've always thought of Cervelo as an engineering firm that just happens to design really functional bicycle frames. I know this, Cervelo does care how their frames look, can anyone disagree that "Cervelo" frames are the easiest to identify in a race or on the road? Do you think that is by accident? :idea: I think if we're patient in time Cervelo's will be "finished" as well as others... However, I don't think the "others" will catch up to the performance of a Cervelo  I guess I'll just keeping buying Cervelo's and be patient :thumbsup:


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## Comer (Jan 13, 2009)

I have an S3 (limited edition), RS and an SLC, the finish of each is okay, but the frame overall is a great frame IMO. I like my Cervelo's, but I like other bikes too. If I were just looking for a bike with a nice finish I'd probably go with the Trek where you can have it custom painted. I saw a guy that purchased one a couple of weeks ago, it was the prettiest paint job I've ever seen on a bike, including Italian bikes.


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## cpark (Oct 13, 2004)

I don't own one but I test rode a SLC - SL before settling on a Time.
IMO, the finish is descent (acceptable) but not great.
However, I thought it rode exceptionally well.


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