The latest closure of CSS Composites got here as a little bit of a shock to many, together with us. Actually, we had toured the manufacturing unit simply two months earlier than they introduced that they have been ceasing operations. In that announcement, it was additionally said that any beforehand submitted or future requests for service, restore, or alternative is not going to be honored. Right away, the entire lifetime-warrantied FusionFiber rims manufactured by CSS Composites on wheelsets from Forge + Bond, Revel, Evil, and Chris King now not had lifetime warranties.
Since then, there has clearly been uncertainty relating to the choices out there for riders needing guarantee or crash replacements of CSS-made rims. Only a few days in the past, Revel — the primary to market with FusionFiber rims on its wheels — introduced that it had partnered with Business 9 to offer guarantee assist for its present wheels made with CSS-made rims. That was implausible information, however what about everybody else?
Reynolds Steps In
Reynolds Biking has simply introduced that it’s stepping in to offer an answer for riders left with out crash alternative or guarantee assist. “Efficient instantly, Reynolds is providing crash alternative pricing on full Reynolds wheelsets to any rider who owns wheels manufactured by CSS / Forge+Bond or the manufacturers that sourced rims from them. This supply applies whether or not the rider’s wheels have been broken in a crash, are out of guarantee, or they merely now not want to experience a product with no long-term assist. The aim is easy: to offer a path ahead for affected riders – one backed by a trusted model dedicated to long-term reliability and repair.”
So, whereas Reynolds isn’t changing CSS-made rims/wheels totally free, it’s providing a really beneficiant low cost to impacted riders, which is way, significantly better than nothing in any respect. And whereas that is definitely religion gesture, it’s additionally a good way for Reynolds to get extra riders on its wheels, which additionally occur to be fairly darn good, in our expertise.
Right here’s The way it Works:
“Eligible riders can contact Reynolds instantly or by a licensed seller to confirm their present wheels and entry particular crash alternative pricing on new Reynolds wheelsets. This contains any Reynolds full wheel system throughout the highway, gravel, and mountain lineup — every constructed with the identical precision, efficiency, and lifelong assist that outline the Reynolds model.”
This sounds virtually too good to be true, so we requested a couple of inquiries to get some clarification. Right here they’re with responses from Joshua Riddle, the World Advertising and marketing Director of the Hayes Bicycle Group (which owns Reynolds).
- BR: Can somebody with a CSS wheel swap it for any Reynolds wheel? Or does it should be an identical product? I.e, if I had a damaged gravel wheel, may I swap it for a Reynolds MTB wheel?
- JR: You possibly can swap for something you want/need…gravel, highway, mtb.
- BR: Do the CSS wheels should be damaged to benefit from this program? Or can they only do it in the event that they wish to attempt a Reynolds wheelset?
- JR: They’ll definitely go for an improve. It’s going to require the present set to be despatched in however a stable low cost on even a non-broken pair of wheels is accessible.
- BR: Is that this for single wheels or wheel units solely? Each?
- JR: Single or pairs, the entire above.
- BR: I’m assuming the crash alternative value have to be totally different per wheelset. Do you’ve got not less than a variety of pricing that we may present?
- JR: We apply the identical crash alternative low cost thresholds as we do with our Reynolds wheels; nothing totally different. North of 40% off MSRP, if I’m not mistaken.
“We didn’t create this downside, however we can assist resolve it. Reynolds has at all times stood behind its riders, and after we noticed the uncertainty dealing with homeowners of CSS-built wheels, we knew we may supply a good, good-faith resolution. Our precedence is to maintain riders rolling on wheels they will belief.” -Todd Tanner, Director of Wheel Growth.
Kudos to Reynolds for stepping as much as present assist for the entire riders impacted by the closure of CSS Composites. You possibly can be taught extra about Reynold’s wheel alternative program and discover a hyperlink to the Hayes Bicycle assist web page (the place you’ll be able to submit a request) by clicking the hyperlink under.