Super Charger gx pannier rack paint problem

[mountaindweller]

For all those folks who own or are contemplating purchasing a R&M supercharger for touring , take note that you will need to protect the rear pannier rack if using pannier bags , the paint easily rubs off , i use Ortlieb carriers and they have worn the pain off , my bike is approx 7 months old , with one long trip i have contacted R&M , providing them with pictures and have received this reply ...

Thank you very much for the forwarded pictures.
The damage is, as described by you before, most probably caused by the friction of bike bags.
As we are aware that this can happen under certain circumstances, we included a recommendation, in our bike instruction manual, to secure the contact points with tuffcoat foil.
To prevent further damage, we are happy to provide you tuffcoat foil. This would however need to be delivered to a Riese & Müller specialist of your choice, as we only deliver to our contract partners.

We would also like to advise you to contact your local Riese& Müller bike dealership yourself. There they might be able to cover up some of the patches with finish.
It would be nonetheless, most important to again cover the contact points with foil, after any kind of repairs has been done.

I do have a a great dealer , however they are non to keen on a touch up job , and are working on a better solution , i did point out to R&M that they need to validate their paint , pointing out that i used Tubus racks on my old bikes and the paint never rubbed off and with a tape job, how would my very expensive Supercharger bike look as a great advertisement...say no more

 

[dblhelix]

For all those folks who own or are contemplating purchasing a R&M supercharger for touring , take note that you will need to protect the rear pannier rack if using pannier bags , the paint easily rubs off , i use Ortlieb carriers and they have worn the pain off , my bike is approx 7 months old , with one long trip i have contacted R&M , providing them with pictures and have received this reply ...

Thank you very much for the forwarded pictures.
The damage is, as described by you before, most probably caused by the friction of bike bags.
As we are aware that this can happen under certain circumstances, we included a recommendation, in our bike instruction manual, to secure the contact points with tuffcoat foil.
To prevent further damage, we are happy to provide you tuffcoat foil. This would however need to be delivered to a Riese & Müller specialist of your choice, as we only deliver to our contract partners.

We would also like to advise you to contact your local Riese& Müller bike dealership yourself. There they might be able to cover up some of the patches with finish.
It would be nonetheless, most important to again cover the contact points with foil, after any kind of repairs has been done.

I do have a a great dealer , however they are non to keen on a touch up job , and are working on a better solution , i did point out to R&M that they need to validate their paint , pointing out that i used Tubus racks on my old bikes and the paint never rubbed off and with a tape job, how would my very expensive Supercharger bike look as a great advertisement...say no more

Why are the dealers not mentioning this “tuffcoat foil,” especially since they are the only ones R&M will deal with?

Why isn’t it applied in the first place?

It’s not just the Supercharger model, btw.

My impression of R&M is that they dump everything off on the dealers, which, tbh, is a turn-off. Even marketing and advertising!

 

[mountaindweller]

Why are the dealers not mentioning this “tuffcoat foil,” especially since they are the only ones R&M will deal with?

Why isn’t it applied in the first place?

It’s not just the Supercharger model, btw.

My impression of R&M is that they dump everything off on the dealers, which, tbh, is a turn-off. Even marketing and advertising!

Sure, good points i, went very heavy on them, and told them my bike is a mess , you should not have to add something on to a bike to protect it from not working , the bike was specially designed for touring , the rack is for panniers etc , makes no sense , my dealer is working on it and this will not be the last word ?

 

[Molly45]

To be fair, what did you think would happen? It's paint, if something constantly rubs against it, it's gonna wear off.

 

[dblhelix]

Sure, good points i, went very heavy on them, and told them my bike is a mess , you should not have to add something on to a bike to protect it from not working , the bike was specially designed for touring , the rack is for panniers etc , makes no sense , my dealer is working on it and this will not be the last word ?

To be fair, what did you think would happen? It's paint, if something constantly rubs against it, it's gonna wear off.

The OP mentions Tubus rear racks as a point of comparison. This is a high-quality rack, but I’ve purchased lesser racks that fare better than R&M’s rack. Sure it’s paint, but it’s also about the finish quality level. I would note that there are other issues. The down tube on the Nevo is boxy with a seam down the side. The paint is wearing on the seam, and the friction in this case is due to air molecules. The paint on the seat tube is extremely soft and (presumably) road pebbles have left it pock-marked down to bare metal.

I am not comparing the finish and appearance to a brand new R&M, but to another bike I used for 2(!) similar trips of similar duration. Somehow, the finish on a $1500 Bianchi is sealed far better as compared to this premium bike.

It’d be one thing if I could just swap out the rack, but the mount points don’t look standard to me. It’s a long-standing point of discussion here that some of us would prefer to fit our own racks. Standard Ortlieb panniers fit only by removal of the protective clips!

I’ll also mention that my dealer specifically prepped the bike for touring, and I started the tour by leaving the bike shop. Clearly they were unaware of R&M’s warnings buried in the manual of what I would describe as excessive wear.

 

[mountaindweller]

To be fair, what did you think would happen? It's paint, if something constantly rubs against it, it's gonna wear off.

Their is paint , and then their is R&M paint which is a matt finish , thin , and inferior , my point being its not tough enough, the rack is a mess , i have toured for years with Tubus racks no significant paint issues , my original post is a warning to ta

The OP mentions Tubus rear racks as a point of comparison. This is a high-quality rack, but I’ve purchased lesser racks that fare better than R&M’s rack. Sure it’s paint, but it’s also about the finish quality level. I would note that there are other issues. The down tube on the Nevo is boxy with a seam down the side. The paint is wearing on the seam, and the friction in this case is due to air molecules. The paint on the seat tube is extremely soft and (presumably) road pebbles have left it pock-marked down to bare metal.

I am not comparing the finish and appearance to a brand new R&M, but to another bike I used for 2(!) similar trips of similar duration. Somehow, the finish on a $1500 Bianchi is sealed far better as compared to this premium bike.

It’d be one thing if I could just swap out the rack, but the mount points don’t look standard to me. It’s a long-standing point of discussion here that some of us would prefer to fit our own racks. Standard Ortlieb panniers fit only by removal of the protective clips!

I’ll also mention that my dealer specifically prepped the bike for touring, and I started the tour by leaving the bike shop. Clearly they were unaware of R&M’s warnings buried in the manual of what I would describe as excessive wear.

The OP mentions Tubus rear racks as a point of comparison. This is a high-quality rack, but I’ve purchased lesser racks that fare better than R&M’s rack. Sure it’s paint, but it’s also about the finish quality level. I would note that there are other issues. The down tube on the Nevo is boxy with a seam down the side. The paint is wearing on the seam, and the friction in this case is due to air molecules. The paint on the seat tube is extremely soft and (presumably) road pebbles have left it pock-marked down to bare metal.

I am not comparing the finish and appearance to a brand new R&M, but to another bike I used for 2(!) similar trips of similar duration. Somehow, the finish on a $1500 Bianchi is sealed far better as compared to this premium bike.

It’d be one thing if I could just swap out the rack, but the mount points don’t look standard to me. It’s a long-standing point of discussion here that some of us would prefer to fit our own racks. Standard Ortlieb panniers fit only by removal of the protective clips!

I’ll also mention that my dealer specifically prepped the bike for touring, and I started the tour by leaving the bike shop. Clearly they were unaware of R&M’s warnings buried in the manual of what I would describe as excessive wear.

Some excellent constructive ! points you mentioned , folks simply do not comprehend how easy that paint rubbed off and after one trip , the idea of protecting all the contact points would require a fair amount of protection , my dealer is on the ball , the idea of touching the paint up from R&M is ?? as for the tuffcoat foil , again ?

 

[rich c]

My impression of R&M is that they dump everything off on the dealers, which, tbh, is a turn-off. Even marketing and advertising!

That's the way a dealer network is supposed to work. Why have a dealer network at all if corporate is supposed to handle every little complaint like paint rubbing off? Do you contact corporate headquarters when you have an issue with your car?
As far as the paint. I have no idea what tuffcoat foil is. If I have a wear point, I use thick mylar tape. It's clear and invisible when you get a couple feet away.

 

[mountaindweller]

That's the way a dealer network is supposed to work. Why have a dealer network at all if corporate is supposed to handle every little complaint like paint rubbing off? Do you contact corporate headquarters when you have an issue with your car?
As far as the paint. I have no idea what tuffcoat foil is. If I have a wear point, I use thick mylar tape. It's clear and invisible when you get a couple feet away.

Please note that corporate should get constructive feedback , to validate and make improvements, note my bike is the 2019 supercharger top spec , they made significant changes to the new 2020 version based on feedback , my dealer WAS the first port of call

 

[dblhelix]

That's the way a dealer network is supposed to work. Why have a dealer network at all if corporate is supposed to handle every little complaint like paint rubbing off? Do you contact corporate headquarters when you have an issue with your car?
As far as the paint. I have no idea what tuffcoat foil is. If I have a wear point, I use thick mylar tape. It's clear and invisible when you get a couple feet away.

Respectfully disagree. Marketing and advertising is the purview of corporate.

Second, only R&M can supply these racks or address QC issues, frame and rack. If R&M doesn’t hear about quality control issues from people who actually own their bikes, then what? If you offer a product at a premium price, high expectations are the norm.

As I said, I’d love to swap the rack with a quality rack of my choosing. I’d prefer not to pay for a sub-optimal solution that needs to be taped up. I’m not dead sure, but I suspect the shape of the tubing (rectangular vs rounder) contributes to movement along the top rail, that in turn causes the lower plastic retaining clip to move about more than normal on other racks.

And yes, my dealer was the first (and second) port of call as well. Just a few weeks ago I was told I should apply touch-up paint fwiw.

 

[rich c]

Let me clarify. The dealer should be the only link between the consumer and corporate. Of course corporate must be informed about consumer issues. I thought the conversation was that corporate should be directly connected to customers and handle each customer’s issues directly. Maybe I was confused.

 

[HariSeldon]

From my industrial engineering perspective, we would send fabricated jobs out for powder coat painting and the resultant finish was very tough and hard wearing, chipped surfaces don’t peel. Conventional spray paint is never great in my experience for wear and tear.

An option on a rack that has deteriorated would be to take it off and have it painted yourself... clearly one would hope the paint finish was tough enough to start with and no doubt R&M will take feedback on for the future.

 

[dblhelix]

Let me clarify. The dealer should be the only link between the consumer and corporate. Of course corporate must be informed about consumer issues. I thought the conversation was that corporate should be directly connected to customers and handle each customer’s issues directly. Maybe I was confused.

Thanks. I think it perfectly appropriate for owners to contact the mothership if discussions at the dealer level are not productive. In turn, the bike manufacturer recognizes that if consumer concerns are creeping up to their level, perhaps a second look at QC is warranted.

For the full-suspension bikes, the rack is integrated with the frame but for us (Charger and Nevo), the racks are screwed in. My preference would be standard mount points to fit our own racks. The comparisons we are making is not with brand new bikes, but racks we’ve owned in the past. The R&M racks are specific to companies like Mik who sells accessories that appear to mostly fit the platform whereas the Ortlieb bags fit, but not well. My personal opinion is that the excessive damage is due to too much bag movement.

I’m leaving it as-is. I get asked about the bike multiple times a day. I’m in at least 15-20 states/yr. I purchased framesaver tape before first tour but the area most affected in the past has been the underside of the downtube which now has the rubber battery cover. What has taken me by surprise is the seat tube and the early signs of paint wear along the seams of the down tube. Kona bikes, for a while at least, had a reputation for poor paint jobs/finish. Even my Kona dealer LBS warned me ahead of time a few years ago when I was considering a Kona bike. Not all bike finishes are the same.

 

[dblhelix]

From my industrial engineering perspective, we would send fabricated jobs out for powder coat painting and the resultant finish was very tough and hard wearing, chipped surfaces don’t peel. Conventional spray paint is never great in my experience for wear and tear.

An option on a rack that has deteriorated would be to take it off and have it painted yourself... clearly one would hope the paint finish was tough enough to start with and no doubt R&M will take feedback on for the future.

I 100% agree with everything you say here.

I considered pulling off the rack to have it painted myself. I decided against it because of the wear I’m seeing elsewhere. I’m not a paint/finish expert so all I ca say is that it seems a bit soft on the seat tube and a bit weak on the downtube as well. I can also say that this was not the case with my 2017 Charger frame. In fact, the only damage to the paint occurred when someone came flying down the Manhattan Bridge on his bike and plowed right into me.

 

[dblhelix]

Here is a picture of the paint coming off at the downtube seam at the side. The bike is just under 6mos old and has barely been taken out since September.

 

[mountaindweller]

To follow up on my thread, R&M sent my dealer some Tuffcoat foil patches , like you have to heat it up , and rap the pannier rack points that come into contact with your panniers, excellent stuff , and does not look unsightly , note i use Ortlieb panniers, and had to remove the spacers from the support clips to be able to fit on the square top part of the rack ,which added to movement , resulting in wear on the paint, note that was canvas and plastic on matt paint ! .The new 2020 R&M supercharger pannier rack appears to be more rounded ? and one hopes the paint job is a lot more tougher .