# R3- RS durability



## blw (Sep 10, 2004)

Sorry if this has been asked before. I did a search but didn't find anything. With some of the other carbon fiber bikes I have researched there have been concerns with cracks, or breaks. Especially with the thin seat stays on these bikes is there a concern with durability or any history of cracks or breaks? They seem to have great reviews, but those seat stays are thin.
Thanks


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## MG537 (Jul 25, 2006)

blw said:


> Sorry if this has been asked before. I did a search but didn't find anything. With some of the other carbon fiber bikes I have researched there have been concerns with cracks, or breaks. Especially with the thin seat stays on these bikes is there a concern with durability or any history of cracks or breaks? They seem to have great reviews, but those seat stays are thin.
> Thanks


I've had my R3 for 3 years and no problems whatsoever. At around 200 lbs I guess I'm above average for a cyclist. I cycle through crappy roads constantly. The bike is as responsive as the 1st day I rode it.
According to Cervelo's "propaganda" you could saw the seatstays in half and you'll still be able to ride your bike. I haven't tried that with my bike however and wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they have money to burn.


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## natedg200202 (Sep 2, 2008)

I wouldn't say there is anything inherent in the design of the Cervelo R3/RS series bikes that you need to worry about more than any other CF bike. The thin seatstays will be the least of your worries - I haven't heard of them failing, other than one or two bikes that were crashed. 

The bigger concern is cracks around the BB shell, which some have reported. I'm convinced most of these cases are cosmetic paint and bondo cracking and not an inherent structural problem. 

CF bikes, in general, have a very sudden mode of failure. Either they are working like new, or they are cracked and/or broken. If you hit something hard enough, regardless of the material, the frame will buckle. On Ti or steel, the frame may bend or a tube may buckle, but the frame may still be in one piece - even ridable. You could possibly repair that frame. Aluminum also will bend, crimp, or buckle, and may be in one piece as well. Not so much luck repairing Aluminum. CF on the other hand, tends to be more like an on/off switch. It stays pretty much perfect right up until it fails for good. 

Having said all that, I own an RS and am very thrilled and confident in it. 1,500 miles and no signs of trouble. The only possible problems I can see in my frame's future is if I crash it.


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## voodooguy (Aug 18, 2007)

I wrote Cervelo customer service and asked about my weight @ 260 - 265. The response: To begin to respond to your question I have borrowed from an article in the now inactive Q&A section of our website. I think you will like the answer.

"We do not have a weight limit for any of our frames, not even the superlight ones. The reason is that regardless of the weight, all our frames have to pass the same safety tests. We simply won't sacrifice that just to make a lighter frame. 
To give you an example, our superlight R3 has 30g of material in the frame that serves only one purpose, higher impact strength. No other frame has this, and even if we took that material out the frame it would still pass the same tests that its competitors do. But for us, those test levels aren't good enough so we put more material in it just to make it pass an even higher standard. This is something that you will never notice unless you really need it, and then you'll be glad we put it in. 
So you can see why we have so many engineers here, not only do we need to design ways to increase the impact strength (like the additional 30 grams) but we also have to design clever lay-ups that allow us to have the stiffest and lightest frames in the world despite starting with that 30 gram disadvantage."

He goes on to talk about making sure the wheels are such to handle the weight (32/32, for example).

My RS is in route as we speak...


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## skygodmatt (May 24, 2005)

You're cool...it ain't a Scott Addict.


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