Warranty cover on derailleur and hanger?

flopstocks
flopstocks Posts: 110
edited October 2015 in Road beginners
Over the weekend the rear hanger snapped and damaged the rear derailleur on my SRAM rival 22 Planet X.

Not sure why this happened, but I have 4 months warranty left. Planet want the back to inspect, am I likely to get anywhere with this, or do you think it would be a waste of time sending it back?

Comments

  • laurentian
    laurentian Posts: 2,558
    Its broken, it's under warranty and the supplier has asked for it back to inspect it. They aren't likely to honour any warranty if they can't see the thing for themselves and so, yes, send it to them - doesn't look like you've got much to lose by doing so . . .
    Wilier Izoard XP
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    The difficulty will be determining what happened in what order.

    a) Did the derailleur hanger just snap because it was defective and hence launch the rear mech into the wheel?
    Or

    b) had the limit screws been adjusted, or the bike been dropped or struck by something, bending the hanger so that when selecting the lowest gear the mech made contact with the spokes, ripping it off and breaking the hanger (which is designed as a sacrificial part in order to protect the frame)

    I'm guessing they will think b) unless you can convince them otherwise
  • Response from Planet X

    'Good Afternoon Stephen,

    Your bike has been inspected by one of our mechanics. You have said previously that the bike has caused you no problems up until this incident.

    Can I ask what the service history is for this bike? It would be helpful to know this to understand where the problem could have arisen.'


    Just wondering how you guys think I should reply, I never had the bike serviced and never had any problems before the incident.
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    So presumably you've had the bike for 8 months and all was well - and one day the mech goes into the wheel ?

    Weird.

    Did something get caught in the chain ? Had the bike fallen over and the rear mech been knocked at all ? It doesnt take much to bend it slightly.

    A hanger is designed to break to save the frame. They dont cost much. PX should stock spares.

    Sounds like your mech was damaged before anyway - what are you saying the damage is ?

    Personally I dont see that PX are at fault here if the bike was fine for 8 months ?

    Just buy the hanger (and a spare) and see what you can do about the mech.
  • Response from Planet X:

    'Thanks very much for this.

    I have had a look into this and the replacement parts would be chargeable, however we will not make any charges for labour.

    The bike was purchased in December 2014 / January 2015, with the 400 miles of usage over 9 months equates to about 45 miles a month which is very light usage, however in the nine month period there is a lot of opportunity for passive damage, such as light knocks or incorrect storage, to occur. Based on this we have made a decision to charge for the replacement parts, however we will waive the labour charges.

    x1 Pro carbon rear mech' hanger £19.99
    x1 SRAM Rival rear mech' £35.99
    x1 Chain (SRAM PC 1130) £19.99
    X1 Vision Team 30 rear drive side spoke £0.99
    TOTAL - £76.96

    Please let me know how you would like to proceed. '


    Do you guys think this is fair?
  • Bobbinogs
    Bobbinogs Posts: 4,841
    Sounds reasonable to me. As they say, it could have been anything that caused the problem over a 9 month period and an inadvertent knock is right up there on the list of probables. Component failure is unlikely but possible...although it cannot be proved one way or another.
  • grenw
    grenw Posts: 804
    Seems very fair to me. I've got 4 bikes in the garage, road and mtb, all 4 have needed a new mech hanger in the last 3 years or so. All 4 have been through no fault of the bike.

    Sometimes they go with the slightest knock but that's how they are meant to work. Luckily none have caused any more damage despite one being caused by a damaged chain being caught in the mech cage and just ripping the lot off the frame.
  • fenix
    fenix Posts: 5,437
    I'd say that sounds about right. I'd keep the chain and rear mech for parts though - I doubt much is wrong with a 400m chain and the rear mech might just need a bit of bending straight ?

    Blimey GrenW - I've had bikes for decades now and none have ever broken a mech hanger. Both MTB racing and road use too.
  • apreading
    apreading Posts: 4,535
    It probably doesnt need a chain unless it got bent, although bike shops often replace them automatically.

    The rear mech is often OK too but we cant comment without seeing it or you describing any damage - thats the whole point of having hangers that break relatively easily.

    I would certainly ask for the old parts as potential spare parts for later. All of the prices seem reasonable.

    I would go for it.
  • grenw
    grenw Posts: 804

    Blimey GrenW - I've had bikes for decades now and none have ever broken a mech hanger. Both MTB racing and road use too.

    That's between me and the wife so we are both unlucky!!

    1 mtb slipped from under me at 2mph...onto the wrong side
    1 mtb had a chain stuck in the mech cage and ripped the hanger in half
    1 road bike had someone fall on the back wheel
    1 road bike suffered when I had an 'early clipped in moment'

    Only 1 has broken and we had to singlespeed home. The rest bent and 2 of them bent back and the ride carried on - another 20 off ride miles on one and 50 more on road rides on another.

    I carry spares now.
  • Hope you get this sorted quickly.

    Interesting thread as my brothers new ribble Gran fondo suffered a hanger fail on his second ride out, its currently back with ribble. Frame is damaged too and he's worried ribble will say user error.
  • Response from Planet X

    'Good Afternoon Stephen,

    Your bike has been inspected by one of our mechanics. You have said previously that the bike has caused you no problems up until this incident.

    Can I ask what the service history is for this bike? It would be helpful to know this to understand where the problem could have arisen.'


    Just wondering how you guys think I should reply, I never had the bike serviced and never had any problems before the incident.

    Well you could tell them the truth - or - you could lie. Are you an honest person or a liar, or does it depend on what strangers on the web tell you to do?
  • Also be aware, as much as your contact details aren't directly linked to this thread, posting the exact responses on here will be easy to find. Sometimes employees from firms frequent these forums, so let's just hope they don't pick up on this.
  • I had a mech hanger go on me (PX XLS as well) when I was being a little rough taking the rear wheel off one time.

    You can stress the hanger by manually moving the derailleur. I just learnt to be carefull, and buy 2 spares, as this was the day before a big sportive, and the only place to get these spares is PX.
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    I'd be scrupulously honest with them about the service history (lack of). 400 miles is bugger all; my bikes go thousands between services. They do have a point though about 9 months being plenty of time to acquire passive damage / an accidental knock, so I think their offer is fair.

    If you don't want to stump up the £77 you appear to have the option of a DIY repair and you can source the rear mech and chain cheaper elsewhere, eg Ribble have them for £28.50 and £14.45 respectively.