Busted up bike

[kb]

Hi guys,

Just wanting to get people's opinions / experience on warranty claims on new bikes.

Was out on the bike today riding my spec stumpy ( for probably the 5 time since new in march 2012) and on landing a jump (small) the whole rear derailleur has snapped off from the fixing point, wound around a bit, smashed some spokes, bent the chain, wheel set bent and chipped the paint.

As i said the bike is just over 8 months old, ridden maybe 5-6 times, no crashes, and at my age I am no pinner.

Justifiably disappointed with what has happened but I am just wanting to know if anyone has had the same/similar experience and if it is worth taking back to the purchase shop to explore warranty claims on the broken bits?

Cheers

Kieran

 

[cameron_15]

Hmmmmm, It doesn't sound to good for you unfortunately

It sounds like the deraileur was eaten by the rear wheel and the hanger has snapped in the process (Which is supposed to happen, to protect your frame). Unfortunately this is a maintainence/setup issue and not a manufacturing defect (Which is what the warranty covers). Your deraileur hanger was likely bent from an earlier impact (Such as a crash or simply knocking the rear deraileur), moving the deraileur cage closer to the spokes. Upon landing the jump, the cage would have been flailing around and snagged on a spoke.

Best bet would be to take it back to the place of purchase and see what they can do for you. It sounds like your up for a new hanger (~$40 depending on manufacturer.), a few new spokes and a wheeltrue (~$35) and perhaps a new deraileur/gear service.

As you bought the bike new, they should help you out with the servicing costs but I very much doubt they'll replace the wheel/hanger/deraileur under warranty.

Best of luck!

 

[indica]

I did that to my Sanction recently, shortly after I did it to my Force.
That is not a warranty, but rather just unfortunate.

Sucks for sure.

 

[0psi]

Not a warranty ma man but if the bike shop assembled the bike for you and you took it in for a service when you were meant to etc. you may be able to get the shop to cover some of the costs. Parts break, it happens and is part of riding a mountain bike. If you want something more reliable buy a road bike.

 

[driftking]

I have to back everyone else up; this is a maintenance issue and will be up to you.
The only way you could get any compensation was If you got the bike serviced went straight out and it happened you may be able to claim the store was at fault due to poor servicing.

Can't do much about it unfortunately.

 

[MountGower]

Appologies. I clearly misread the original post. Please disregard this.

 

[0psi]

Broken 5 times in 6 rides.

Where'd ya get that from bro?

 

[MARKL]

Broken 5 times in 6 rides. This is definately not your fault. To suggest that this scenario is part of MTBing is, quite frankly, bullshit.

At this stage all anyone is going to be capable of, without seeing the bike, is a best guess. Mine is a chain that is too short, possibly caused by a derailleur cage that is too short.

Something abnormal is going on here, because the result is definately not normal. I'd be going somewhere else for a better idea of what's happening to the bike throughout it's suspension cycle in various gear combos, particularly combos that require a lot of chain.

Deflate the rear shock, select a big gear combo and cycle the rear suspension. You can do that yourself. What's going on?

Based on this logic he should sue the trailbuilders for leaving rock, sticks and other crap on the trail that may damage a mountain bike...that are also the more likely cause of the OP's issues.

Reality is, change gears at the wrong time, clip a rock or stick occasionally shit happens - in this case the hanger broke (supposed to) and minimised more damage to the frame. Unfortunately up for some dollars but a lot less than a frame.

 

[sedifus]

I'm with the first posters.

Sounds exactly like your lower limit screw was a little loose allowing your derailleur to move over the largest cog and into your spokes when you landed. When it snagged in the spokes it would have "snapped off from the fixing point, wound around a bit, smashed some spokes, bent the chain, wheel set bent and chipped the paint". When you landed, i'm not saying this specifically happened, rather that it's common, gravity would have pulled the derailleur down and through it's travel towards the wheel. If you have another bike have a play with that screw and move the derailleur by hand. You'll see that when the lower limit screw is quite loose it can move a bit far and even into the spokes. I personally lock out that top cog on my downhill bike because of the mad g's i pull to avoid this

 

[mik_git]

Deflate the rear shock, select a big gear combo and cycle the rear suspension. You can do that yourself. What's going on?

How's he going to do that with the mech and hanger bent to hell?

and he said it was tridden 5 times, not broken 5 times

 

[Loneryda]

I reckon your chain has come off the front chain ring leaving a big ol sag of chain that your rear knobs have picked up as the rear kept spinning(as you stopped pedaling to jump) I would most definately go see about warranty, at the very least your dealer should help you out of pure sympathy alone in some way, maybe parts @ cost or something, if he wants to look after his customers at all he'll help you out, no one who owns a shop would let a customer pay top dollar for that. If they're decent fellows.