Tiagra Brake Caliper Fault

DazB12

After recently purchasing my new bike Felt Z85 I was quite happy with the set up and ride until the front caliper decided to dismount itself from the bike and completely obliterated the front wheel and carbon forks. Doing 20 mph at the time I managed to stay on.

I was slightly unhappy to say the least as I have checked the bike over before and after every ride and in particular before the last ride.

Obviously Felt are refusing to honour the warranty due to the fact that a Shimano part caused the damage, Shimano have offered to supply a new caliper!!! But not having a front wheel to attach it to this has not gone down well.

Has anyone else had any issues with this model? Does anyone know of any reported defects? There is no way that this has become loose in the 7 miles that I had ridden as the bike store are suggesting.

keef66

So has the caliper left it's mounting bolt behind in the fork crown, or has the tubular nut securing it come undone or broken permitting the caliper to escape with it's mounting bolt?

I only check the tightness of caliper mountings when I first attach them; hardly ever thereafter. Never had one drop off a bike.

keef66

Reading your post again it sounds like new bike / ridden 7 miles / caliper came off. If that's the sequence of events it sounds like it wasn't properly attached at the time you bought it, so the shop should be taking responsibility.

If the alternator fails on my car, Audi aren't going to turn round and say it's nothing to do with us, go talk to Bosch...

kajjal

You bought the bike from the shop and it is not reasonable to expect a new bike to destroy the front wheel and fork within a short distance. Under the sale of goods act the store have to repair, replace the bike or refund you. The bike shops policies or manufacturers warranties do not over rule UK law. Just make sure you are calm and fair but firm when dealing with this. That assumes you haven't been riding 100 miles a day or on very rough roads etc.

keef66

And if I appear to be taking an unusual interest in your plight, it's because my son recently bought a Felt F95. I'll be having a quick look at the brake mounting nuts tonight. Although his has Sora kit with some felt branded calipers, he's recently discovered Strava so if he did come a cropper it could be nasty :shock:

DazB12

The bolt to the caliper is missing so I can only see that it has either failed or undone itself. I have ridden about 150 miles on the bike since purchasing it but as I said have checked it over every ride before and after. I had ridden 7 miles on the day it happened.

DazB12

Kajjal wrote:

You bought the bike from the shop and it is not reasonable to expect a new bike to destroy the front wheel and fork within a short distance. Under the sale of goods act the store have to repair, replace the bike or refund you. The bike shops policies or manufacturers warranties do not over rule UK law. Just make sure you are calm and fair but firm when dealing with this. That assumes you haven't been riding 100 miles a day or on very rough roads etc.

The guy dealing is speaking with the manager tomorrow to try and rectify the situation. :? We shall see.

wishitwasallflat

DazB12 wrote:

The bolt to the caliper is missing so I can only see that it has either failed or undone itself. I have ridden about 150 miles on the bike since purchasing it but as I said have checked it over every ride before and after. I had ridden 7 miles on the day it happened.

Obvious conclusion is that it wasn't tightened properly when the bike was assembled - shop is liable and should repair or replace. If they claim brake was assembled by manufacturer makes no difference to your rights they are liable. If they want they can launch a claim with the manufacturer to recover their costs but that's not to do with you under UK sales law. As said be calm, clear and precise about what you want them to do. If you don't get joy dealing with the staff there are plenty consumer advise websites to guide you on how to progress the claim.

desweller

A mate of mine once failed to tighten his front caliper. Amusingly (well, for us), the first he knew about it was when he grabbed a load of front brake, the wheel fired it out of the fork and it swung round the bars and punched him in the face.