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Mech Hanger

Hi

Appreciate your thoughts on this...

My derailleur got caught in my back wheel. The mech hanger did NOT break.

The result is a cracked Carbon frame and ruined rear wheel plus I need a new chain and derailleur. Talked to my LBS who have talked to the manufacturer who say tough and offer me a crash replacement frame at a discount. I asked my LBS to talk to the manufacturer again (who offer a lifetime frame warranty) and am waiting to hear from them.

Should I expect the hanger to always fail? The derailleur sheared instead!

Cheers

Ian

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10 comments

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Ian Miles | 8 years ago
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Thanks all. I do look after my bikes and check them over EVERY time I ride incl the hanger. (The hanger on my Cervelo is very delicate).

I had something similar before on the same bike and the hanger sheared. On that occasion I had stupidly ridden through some mud and picked up a piece of glass which got in the mech and shattered (clean shards in the chain). My fault and my responsibility. But the hanger protected the frame.

My thinking is the hanger is frame specific and made (or at least provided) by the frame manufacturer. As it failed to act having being properly maintained I have a claim against them (maybe not under warranty, I accept).

Anyway it is certainly not straightforward. The good news is that without any admission of liability etc the manufacturer is replacing the frame (with a newer, better one) foc. LBS will rebuild foc. And I pay for cables, tape, chain, rear derailleur and wheel.

All in all and in the light of all the comments above I think I have come out of this very, very well. My wife and kids also have bikes by the same manufacturer and we are very good customers of the LBS - we take coffee / cake in most times we visit....

Cheers

Ian

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Goldfever4 | 8 years ago
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I had something vaguely similar in 2012. My 2-3 month old Bianchi's rear mech hangar failed and the mech ended up ripping several spokes out the back wheel. After some petitioning by my LBS the supplier paid for the bike repair, components and a new wheelset, after originally trying to blame me for badly adjusting the indexing (on a 2 month old bike!) and changing gear (nope).

The difference here is that I hadn't done as many miles as you had, I was within warranty and someone at Campag had heard of a similar problem before.

Frankly, for you I think that the component failed which caused the frame damage. I don't think that's a valid claim against the frame warranty, the damage to the frame was coincidental from another part failing. It may be down to the supplier of the component to give redress, but you rode 1,000 miles since the last service, let alone since new. How old is the bike / mech?

I'm no expert on how much faith you can put in the mech hangar to go pop in front of the mech itself, but I can confirm neither are good...

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glynr36 | 8 years ago
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Who is the frame manufacturer?
Life time warranty doesn't mean anything can happen and you get one for free, read the t&c's of it, crash replacement covers it.
Would you expect a replacement if you slid out in a corner and did the same?

After all the damage is not from a defect with a frame.
The mech hanger fail safe isn't a 100% method, sometimes (less often) the mech fails before the hanger does, it depends how the mech goes into the wheel, does the cage catch in a spoke and so on.
I don't even think you have a case with the LBS for setting it up, 1000 miles on is a decent distance, stuff stretches & wears/works loose, 100 miles in you might have a case to argue with them. But in 1000 miles, over some rough roads, the limit screws could move.

The onus is on you to check your bike over, no one else, giving your gears a once over every week saves trouble like this, learn from it.
I found out the slightly less hard way when my Chorus rear and chain went pop cause the limit screw had moved, set me back £220.

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wycombewheeler | 8 years ago
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My rear mech jammed on a carrier bag blown by wind. Mech hanger did break rear wheel took mech into seat stay. Result major damage to frame. Manufacturer response similar. The mech hanger breaking might not have made much difference.

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Ian Miles | 8 years ago
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The hanger is metallic and non-magnetic - aluminium / alloy I guess.

Set up by LBS about 2 months ago (I upgraded to 105). Done about 1,000 miles since with no problems. Had done 95 miles on the day. So I think it must have been set up OK. I don't know why it happened - bad gear change? something caught in the derailleur? I don't think I did anything. But I don't know.

My thinking is that the hanger should have failed regardless - and as it didn't I have a claim...

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harrybav replied to Ian Miles | 8 years ago
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I think my hanger isn't designed to shear, it's just replaceable in case it gets bent on the plane or in a crash etc. Steel bikes don't have replaceable hangers because you can bend steel back with less loss of strength.

My hanger bent once on hol, I had a spare, switched it in, happy ending.
The big mech bolt though has a narrow bit to make it shear. It's not infalliable of course. So your quibble isn't with the frame maker but the mech maker but it's not much of a case, same with the case against the installer seeing as you have traveled so far. So long as they fitted the proper big bolt and not a bodge, of course..

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crikey | 8 years ago
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Who set it up?
Why did the derailleur get caught in the rear spokes?

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Jeroen0110 | 8 years ago
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Argh who tuned the rear mech? If LBS I'd say you've got a case. If abuse on your part then... Tough...

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Ian Miles | 8 years ago
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not sure - I'll look tonight. How would that make a difference?

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MKultra | 8 years ago
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Was it steel or aluminium?

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