The current closure of CSS Composites got here as a little bit of a shock to many, together with us. In actual fact, we had toured the manufacturing facility simply two months earlier than they introduced that they had been ceasing operations. In that announcement, it was additionally acknowledged that any beforehand submitted or future requests for service, restore, or alternative won’t be honored. Instantly, 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 accessible 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 supply guarantee assist for its present wheels made with CSS-made rims. That was improbable information, however what about everybody else?
Reynolds Steps In
Reynolds Biking has simply introduced that it’s stepping in to supply 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 had been broken in a crash, are out of guarantee, or they merely now not want to trip a product with no long-term assist. The objective is straightforward: to supply 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 free of charge, it’s providing a really beneficiant low cost to impacted riders, which is far, a lot better than nothing in any respect. And whereas that is definitely a great 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 immediately or by way of a certified 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 street, gravel, and mountain lineup — every constructed with the identical precision, efficiency, and lifelong assist that outline the Reynolds model.”
This sounds nearly 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 International 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 must be an analogous product? I.e, if I had a damaged gravel wheel, may I swap it for a Reynolds MTB wheel?
- JR: You’ll be able to swap for something you want/need…gravel, street, mtb.
- BR: Do the CSS wheels must be damaged to reap the benefits of this program? Or can they simply do it in the event that they wish to strive a Reynolds wheelset?
- JR: They will definitely go for an improve. It can require the present set to be despatched in however a stable low cost on even a non-broken pair of wheels is on the market.
- 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 worth have to be totally different per wheelset. Do you’ve at the very least a spread 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 may help remedy 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’ll belief.” -Todd Tanner, Director of Wheel Improvement.
Kudos to Reynolds for stepping as much as present assist for the entire riders impacted by the closure of CSS Composites. You’ll be able to be taught extra about Reynold’s wheel alternative program and discover a hyperlink to the Hayes Bicycle assist web page (the place you may submit a request) by clicking the hyperlink under.