Bit of a duff start with my new bike

[Mars]

Bought my new bike yesterday. Dead chuffed with it. I've been to many shops to test a number of similar bikes from some 9 or 10 manufacturers over the last 2 months. In the end I settled on the Whyte Portobello and bought it home yesterday ready for my Sunday Cycle Club.



All was going well until at about 22 miles when I thought the chain had fallen off. That would have been something of concern in itself on a new bike, especially as I was on the flat and wasn't changing gear at the time, but when I looked down I saw this:



... and this:



I'm new to modern bikes so I thought the frame had broken but on closer inspection (and after Googling a bit) it seems the hanger is a removeable item so shouldn't be too taxing for the bike shop to repair. It's marked the frame though, which I'm irked at. I don't know what to do about that though. Seems a tall order to expect a whole new frame for that, but it's brand new and I do like to **try** to look after my things.

Still, I'm not upset. These things happen. I'm dead pleased with the bike generally and I was much more able to keep up this week that in weeks gone. Modern gear sets are a marvel after my previous 1995 twist-grip setup.


Edited to add the right 2nd pic.

Edited by Mars on Sunday 17th October 16:19

[Mars]

I'm not going to dib the shop in because I genuinely believe they're a good shop and I experienced no issues with gear changing to that point. I suspect a manufacturing fault. Anyway, I'll drop it in to the shop tomorrow and see if they can have it ready for next Sunday.

[Mars]

byhff said:

very strange. Mech hangers are there to bend/reak if you smack the mech of a rock or suchlike. They shouldn't just fail in general use, especially on a hybrid?

Does point to incorrect setup or mech fault?

Could be a manufacturing fault. It hasn't received any knocks and I'm careful not to lean the bike against the gear mech (I'm tired of typing "derailleur" ).

Ah well, seeing as it isn't the frame (which was my first impression), I just hope it can be rectified quickly and doesn't fail again.

Love the bike apart from that. My first one with discs, modern gears and something under half a ton.

[Mars]

I'd just point to the fact that there's no other damage on the hanger whatsoever, or the derailleur.

[Mars]

Session said:

Something could have easily gone into the chain/spokes and cause that, like a stick or anything similar. Those parts simply don't break on their own whilst you are riding along.

And yet it did. In the 22 miles I rode it FROM NEW to the point it fell off, it suffered no external forces/interference.

[Mars]

Just dropped it into the shop. They were fabulous. No question at all about "liability" and upon closer inspection they determined the break has twi different colours in it, suggesting some casting issues.

They have also acknowledged the minor damage to the frame and are taking it all quite seriously, which was nice.

I'm hoping to hear back from them later today with an expectation regarding timescales.

[Mars]

Apparently my bike's ready for collection. I believe they will have installed a generic hanger, so it won't be colour coordinated. I'm not bothered by that as the derailleur is silver anyway.

The shop-guy reckons he knows the cause of the failure - he has found a piece of grit in the chain which he says will have stopped the chain moving through the derailleur, leading to it ripping off. Plausible, except I didn't feel any resistance at all prior to experiencing my "chain falling off" and then looking down to find the derailleur hanging by the chain-only. You'd feel it if you ripped a derailleur off in that circumstance, wouldn't you?

I wonder if this is all leading to my receiving an invoice for the work.

[Mars]

walm said:

The momentum of the bike can't have ripped it off since it has a free wheel on the rear sprockets.
i.e. without your legs driving the chain around it will simply stop.
So the only way a "ripping" force could have been applied is BY YOU.

I know, hemce my comment about my not having felt any resistance.

walm said:

For the sort of "piece of grit" he is talking about it would have to wedge firmly between the chain links in the time it takes for the link to move from the big chain ring back towards the derailleur. Then it would have to be so stuck that the teeth on the sprocket in the derailleur couldn't dislodge it.
Further, rather than the chain simply rolling AROUND the derailleur sprocket, somehow it would have to grab ahold of the chain and bring it to a complete halt.

All the while you notice nothing and are not applying any more pressure on the pedals than normal.

His story stinks.

Agreed. I'm not convinced at all.

walm said:

Imagine the flow of the chain over the derailleur cogs.
There is no reason why a totally gummed up chain link shouldn't just ride OVER the sprockets (rather than having the teeth sink in as normal).

Grit my ass.

Agreed. Even my relaying the fact that the chain was dragging along the ground when the derailleur fell off didn't put him off his theory.

[Mars]

I am extremely grateful to my LBS who has turned this around in a very short time, with no hassle to me.

They have replaced the hanger with one they had from another bike in the shop, so it matches the bike frame, and they acknowledge that the original hanger had a casting fault (even if the stone-in-the-chain triggered the failure. There's no need to argue there). And they have appealed to the distributor for some touch-up paint for the area "knocked" when the original hanger broke free.

Can't really complain about that, can I? I'm very happy to have it home. It's just a pity I have to work today or I'd be out there on it.

Fixed:




How it looks with 1Kg of saddlebag (I really ought to review whether I need all those bike tools but I love my gadgets):

[Mars]

shouldbworking said:

Unrelated but im glad that someone else has gears that arent absolutely spotlessly clean I thought I was the only one

Blimey, they've only done 22 miles from brand new. I do like to keep my bike clean but there's a limit.

[Mars]

Well, there may have been grit there, and it *could* have caused the hanger to rip off in theory although I suspect you'd need a reasonable amount of force to do so IF it didn't just roll through the derailleur mech anyway.


Loving the bike anyway. Got a 30+ miler planned for tomorrow. If you'd have asked me last year if I could ever do that, I'd have definitely said no.

We're planning a 130 miler over 3 days in May/June. At the moment it looks impossible to me but I'm going to continue riding throughout the winter and I'll see how much better I get.