Mountain Biking - Has this happened to anyone?

So im riding tonite testing out my new HID so I take a long route I have never taken and when the trail meets up with the familiar trail I ride I grind away for the last 100 or so feet of root, rock and rut in 2nd gear then BAM...it made a vrrrrrrr then a ting in less then a half rev and I clipped out and stopped thinking the chain fell off...and this is what I found...

DId I do something wrong? Would this be warranty? My bike has always shifted like a champ and never had any hiccups until this and I wasnt even shifting!!!!!

PS the light and motion arc HID is the SHIZ...

What you see is exactly how it was when it happened...I moved the cage a bit out of the spokes so I could roll it out of the trail to the road.

http://animalhousedesigns.net/fukedder/der1.jpg

http://animalhousedesigns.net/fukedder/der2.jpg


http://animalhousedesigns.net/fukedder/der3.jpg


http://animalhousedesigns.net/fukedder/der4.jpg

http://animalhousedesigns.net/fukedder/der5.jpg

http://animalhousedesigns.net/fukedder/der6.jpg

looks like you landed on the derailleur and bent it up a bit? I doubt that's covered by warranty.

looks like you landed on the derailleur and bent it up a bit? I doubt that's covered by warranty.

There was no crash involved...I was riding up a hill! and if you think thats bent a bit...I would hate to see what a lot is. The thing is completly twisted 180 degrees and its upside down!

I want to know why this happened so it never happens again...im pissed!

The chain caused it via the chain is too short.

haha, yes, that was a sarcastic "bent it up a bit".

I thought it could be that the chain was too short, but I'm under the impression his setup isn't new - correct me if I'm wrong. That seems to be the only answer though, if he didn't crash.

Did the derailleur get caught up in the spokes? It's kind of hard to tell from the pictures. If so, that might be it.

the chain is not too short...I can go big big without any problems and when this happened I was in 2nd gear so there was def no shortage of chain! Isnt if the chain is too short it would pull hte derailler forward not backwards...direction of chain.

I thought it might have got caught in the spokes since it was bumpy and spun back around but nothing like that has ever happened before...is that common?

I cant think of anything else but the derailler has to flex a shat load to get into the spokes. I was thinking my brute force may have tweaked the wheel off center as I pedaled and made it go closer to the derailler and then the derailler went into the spokes and spun around...

I know the front wheel flexes side to side about an inch (much better then the original wheels and these wheels are true as the day I bought them when put on a stand) when im out of the seat hammering but I never thought about the back and I wastn out of the seat hammering...I was sitting hammering.

the chain is not too short...I can go big big without any problems and when this happened I was in 2nd gear so there was def no shortage of chain! Isnt if the chain is too short it would pull hte derailler forward not backwards...direction of chain.

I thought it might have got caught in the spokes since it was bumpy and spun back around but nothing like that has ever happened before...is that common?

I cant think of anything else but the derailler has to flex a shat load to get into the spokes. I was thinking my brute force may have tweaked the wheel off center as I pedaled and made it go closer to the derailler and then the derailler went into the spokes and spun around...

I know the front wheel flexes side to side about an inch (much better then the original wheels and these wheels are true as the day I bought them when put on a stand) when im out of the seat hammering but I never thought about the back and I wastn out of the seat hammering...I was sitting hammering.

There would be broken spokes in that case. Come to think about it, a stiff link or a bent chain could have had a hand in this. I've never seen something like this happen before.

The loop looks to be a bit small, but that wouldn't have much effect unless you were shifting when it happened. Your deraillieur just simply gave up it's life, I have no idea how it happened now, never seen this happen before, time to replace and move on.

As a matter of fact it happened to 2 of my friends. One just this past weekend. Don't know what caused it, they were just riding along then all of a sudden bam, that's all she wrote. The only thing that I can think of is that they had cheap-ass bikes. Who knows...

yer if it is a manufacturor problem it will have warranty...How long have u used this bike for?

I did this twice, both time a stick flew up and got caught in the wheel long enough to fubar the RD. Both times the deraulier hanger snapped.

I did this twice, both time a stick flew up and got caught in the wheel long enough to fubar the RD. Both times the deraulier hanger snapped.

Yep. I was just going to say the same thing.

Sticks and stones can break your bike (but names can never hurt you!) :p

yer if it is a manufacturor problem it will have warranty...How long have u used this bike for?

My bike is roughly 4 months old with 450 miles on it...

Sucks it happened and there is no way to keep it from happening in the future...this is the first tral ride ive ever had that bummed me out.

So do I go with another XT as it has worked flawless up until this or go with a SRAM X9?

So do I go with another XT as it has worked flawless up until this or go with a SRAM X9?

I've got a friend with a habit of landing on his derailleurs :rolleyes: who's got a full XT outfit, except he always goes for the cheapest RD he can find. I know for a fact you can get alivio for $6 off ebay :)

the diff between higher end and low end deraillers performance wise is rediculous...im not donw grading thats for sure!

I tune my bike which is full XT every 8-10 rides or so and it shifts incredible...I tune my ol ladies bike which is all deore...every ride and she complains about 8 miles in about out of tune deraillers.

I tune both bikes the exact same way so the only variables are riders and component level...I will probably be riding her bike tonite since mine probably wont be fixed and that will narrow it down to 1 variable...component level and I guarantee thats why they come out of tune.

Unless you want to change your shifters you are going to need to stick with Shimano.

As for the derailleur I had that happen once as well. My front tire kicked up a small stick that managed to wedge it's self between my derailleur and the ground. Had I not stopped imediately I would have never seen the stick.

I doubt that you are going to convince a shop to warranty this one. This is just part of the risk you take riding a bike off road. It's a risk I'm willing to take though. :D

So do I go with another XT as it has worked flawless up until this or go with a SRAM X9?

If you get the X.9, you need a different shifter. But if the XT is working for you, stay with it...unless you want to try something different. My LX rear derailleur was working great on my bike but I put it on another bike and replaced it with X.9 rear derailleur and shifters...I am extremely happy with it. Once I got the tune down, I haven't had to touch it since.

There would be broken spokes in that case. Come to think about it, a stiff link or a bent chain could have had a hand in this. I've never seen something like this happen before.

This has happened to me and mine was caused by a couple of stiff links that got locked into a U position mid pedal. Completely destroyed everything.

My bike is roughly 4 months old with 450 miles on it...

Sucks it happened and there is no way to keep it from happening in the future...this is the first tral ride ive ever had that bummed me out.


That sucks. I feel for you. Don't feel too bad. I did it once 10 miles out on my brand new XTR wheel set. It was the first ride on the wheel set. I had to rebuild the entire wheel. The little stick cost me about $400.

Kritter - it's sounding like the chain caused this from the assessments above. How old was the chain (age, mileage)? How often do you clean and lube it?

Providing the info will help others avoid the same type of damage.

Thanks

Kritter - it's sounding like the chain caused this from the assessments above. How old was the chain (age, mileage)? How often do you clean and lube it?

Providing the info will help others avoid the same type of damage.

Thanks

Bike is cleaned and lubed every ride...chain was fairly new.

A buddy of mine had this happen to him while racing..started out as an out of whack der hangar the he just tuned the derailler around instead of straightening the hanger then he was climbing a steep rutted hill, the wheel went to one side and it ate the derailler with the spokes...

It sucks it happend, I will have the bike back on Friday and the hsop owner gave me a kona coiler to ride until then.

Please excuse my ignorance....I have Deore on my bike, just as your wife does. May I ask, why are you tuning her bike EVERY ride? Am I not doing something I should? :eek: Granted, my bike has not a problem shifting yet, but, is there a base for how often it is to be tuned? I brought in to my LBS for it's first adjustment (after purchase) and he said it was okay and didn't need to tune it. But should I now? Or soon?.............. :o

Please excuse my ignorance....I have Deore on my bike, just as your wife does. May I ask, why are you tuning her bike EVERY ride? Am I not doing something I should? :eek: Granted, my bike has not a problem shifting yet, but, is there a base for how often it is to be tuned? I brought in to my LBS for it's first adjustment (after purchase) and he said it was okay and didn't need to tune it. But should I now? Or soon?.............. :o

If it is shifting without any problems, it doesn't need to be adjusted. Tuning Deore level components after every ride sounds excessive. My wife's Kona Lana'i has a cheap Shimano Altus rear derailleur...she occasionally rides with me on some of the XC trails around our place and I rarely have to give it any attention.

Never in all of my time on a mountain bike have I ever seen a derrailer look like that. I have no idea how that happened, but I'll shoot a guess at you.....wait....nevermind....I have NO idea at all...but thats just amazing how F.U.B.A.R.ed it got. I guess it just was crappy, and broke.

this is off topic but is that this (http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/WH707A22-Shimano+Xt+Discsingletrack+Wheelset.aspx) wheelset? and are those juicy fives. because im getting that same combo 4 christmas just wonder how are they? do they stay true?(i dirt jump)

I haven't tuned my rear derailleur in 8 months. It's still good. It's also an alivio.

Unless you want to change your shifters you are going to need to stick with Shimano.

As for the derailleur I had that happen once as well. My front tire kicked up a small stick that managed to wedge it's self between my derailleur and the ground. Had I not stopped imediately I would have never seen the stick.

I doubt that you are going to convince a shop to warranty this one. This is just part of the risk you take riding a bike off road. It's a risk I'm willing to take though. :D

You learn the feeling.

I've snapped 3 derailleur hangers this year. Luckily, the local guy hooks me up for $10 a piece.

Anytime I feel that "weird friction" back their I stop and check for anything in the mechanism. It can be sticks or a stop limit screw a little too far out combined with a little lean and looseness in the cones.

This guy looks as if the spoke caught the lower pully. You can tell buy the way the inner/lower tip of the cage is bent. Too little chain simply results in a system that feels "jammed".

...I moved the cage a bit out of the spokes so I could roll it out of the trail to the road.

at this point, it's pretty hard to tell exactly what happened, but i'd say 90% of the bikes that come into my shop looking like that got that way because the hanger was bent and the rider didn't realise it and shifted into the spokes. check the drive-side spokes for any gouges. if you're going slow enough, you won't actually get any cut spokes, it'll just go "clunk clunk clunk" until the inner pulley cage bends enough to get caught on a spoke, and then around she goes.

you can sort of see where the pulley cage might've gotten caught. the cage near the top pulley is bent waaay inward. that's probably where it hooked into the spokes.

or, the low limit screw was misadjusted and the chain went behind the cassette, which would explain the "vrrrrrrr" sound. that would've sucked up enough chain to pull the RD into the spokes as well. you should check the spokes behind the cassette for gouges. any damaged spokes will need to be replaced.

If it is shifting without any problems, it doesn't need to be adjusted. Tuning Deore level components after every ride sounds excessive. My wife's Kona Lana'i has a cheap Shimano Altus rear derailleur...she occasionally rides with me on some of the XC trails around our place and I rarely have to give it any attention.

Whoa, okay, thanks! I thought I was NOT doing something here.......(whew! :o )

"May I ask, why are you tuning her bike EVERY ride? Am I not doing something I should? Granted, my bike has not a problem shifting yet, but, is there a base for how often it is to be tuned?"

It starts to skip, auto shift, not index correctly , etc... I dont know why. I have never had a problem tuning any deraillers. It works great on the stand and around the block when I test ride it after I tune, but then we hit the trails and BAM...shes whining about it doing everything it should not be doing so I ride next to her to make sure shes not just whining because the trail sucks and low and behold...she has reason to complain. On a side note she shifts like an animal at all the wrong times so that may have a lot of reason why it gets beat up so fast.

I am going to purchase the park derailler hanger tool and check to see if hers is out of whack as I have no clue why it is so easy to knock out of tune...

I rode a Coiler tonite and last nite that was loaned to me from the LBS owner while my bike is being fixed and it has low level components on it and the rear der is an LX and shifted great but the front was a deore and it was figgity...but the bike is loaned out often and I am not sure how often it is tuned.

"May I ask, why are you tuning her bike EVERY ride? Am I not doing something I should? Granted, my bike has not a problem shifting yet, but, is there a base for how often it is to be tuned?"

It starts to skip, auto shift, not index correctly , etc... I dont know why. I have never had a problem tuning any deraillers. It works great on the stand and around the block when I test ride it after I tune, but then we hit the trails and BAM...shes whining about it doing everything it should not be doing so I ride next to her to make sure shes not just whining because the trail sucks and low and behold...she has reason to complain. On a side note she shifts like an animal at all the wrong times so that may have a lot of reason why it gets beat up so fast.

I am going to purchase the park derailler hanger tool and check to see if hers is out of whack as I have no clue why it is so easy to knock out of tune...

I rode a Coiler tonite and last nite that was loaned to me from the LBS owner while my bike is being fixed and it has low level components on it and the rear der is an LX and shifted great but the front was a deore and it was figgity...but the bike is loaned out often and I am not sure how often it is tuned.




I don't care what kind of RD you have, it shouldn't need adjusting every ride. How old are the cables?

this is off topic but is that this (http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/WH707A22-Shimano+Xt+Discsingletrack+Wheelset.aspx) wheelset? and are those juicy fives. because im getting that same combo 4 christmas just wonder how are they? do they stay true?(i dirt jump)

The wheels are XT RhinoLite XL's ...Sun SUV wheels on XT hubs is what they are and I havent trued them yet.

The brakes are hayes FX9

kritter - check the cable housing on your wife's bike. I had a similar problem this past weekend and it was caused by the housing having some rust in it. This would not allow the cable to move freely causing some ghost shifting. It only costs about $5 - $10 to buy new housing and cable to replace it. It also helps if you use brake housing rather than shifter cable housing. It is a little wider and allows the cable to run smoother.

On a side note, this reminded me of why I like sealed cable systems so much. :)

I've never had it happen to me, but I have seen it happen to someone. Stick in the spokes = torn up derailleur and wheel.
I guess if your derailleur hit something and was bent into the wheel the same thing would happen.

Got her back with a fresh RD, BB and spoke tightening. They split the cost on the BB as it should have been under warranty so I dont know if I made out on that or not.

Gettin geared up to go right now...YAHOOOOOOO

W.T.F. ????