Frame Warranty Issue
 

So my buddy, who was hit by a car last year, used all his money from his settlement to purchase a very nice 2010 frame and have it built up by a local shop with all Super Record components and Fulcrum 2-Way Fit wheels.

On his second ride out this year, as he is still a little nervous about riding on the road, the rear derailleur hanger snaps in half after about 2 miles. The derailleur ends up scratching the heck out of the frame.

The frame manufacturers response is for him to pay $750 to get the frame replaced!!! He had about 5 miles total miles on the bike. The bike has been hanging in his garage all winter. WTH?!

Wow - what manufacturer? Did he buy it from the shop that built it?

It's hard to say who is at fault without more information. A derailleur hanger is not a complicated piece, and it does not have any moving parts. (Remember, I'm referring to the hanger, not the actual derailleur.) If the hanger snapped because the derailleur was adjusted incorrectly, allowing it to shift in to the spokes, and consequently shearing off and damaging the frame, then that was an error in the build rather than a defect in materials or in the frame.

If it was purchased as a frame and built up, as it sounds like it was, the frame manufacturer should not be expected to warranty frame damage caused by other manufacturer's parts, or the way a shop assembled the bike. In general, I would say that in those cases, the responsibility would be with the parts manufacturer and the shop, respectively.

+1 wouldn't think the frame manufacturer should be liable for others faulty parts or assembly.

I don't think he really cares who fixes the issue, as long as it gets fixed and he doesn't have to shell out more money. I think the shop went to the frame manufacturer first because the hanger is part of the frame and the frame got pretty scratched up.

That's probably true. It's the classic "it's not MY fault" mentality. Maybe it is his fault, maybe it's someone else's fault, maybe it's just bad luck. However, trying to get someone to pay, who may not be actually responsible for the damage, is simply barking up the wrong tree. The frame manufacturer is not always culpable.

Maybe the derailleur was adjusted poorly when the shop assembled the bike? Maybe someone was careless when loading the bike in to the car, and they bent the derailleur hanger? Maybe a stick was kicked up in to the rear derailleur while he was riding, and things got jammed up? Maybe there truly was a manufacturing defect in the derailleur hanger, and there was a void or impurity in the metal that resulted in a weak spot? With the information provided, it's hard to determine what really happened.

Every derailleur hanger that I've seen is simply a piece of solid metal that gets bolted to the frame. Unless he can prove that the metal used to manufacture the hanger was weaker than specified by the frame manufacturer's standards, the chances of the hanger itself being defective are virtually nil.

Which is more probable: a piece of solid metal with no moving parts sheered off because it wasn't strong enough to handle the demands of a rider out for his 5th mile of the season, or a new bike had a slightly misadjusted rear derailleur? (By the way, that is not meant as sarcasm; please don't take it that way.)

If anything, it sounds like the manufacturer is cutting him a break by charging less than the MSRP for the new frame, whether that is through a crash replacement program, or as a good will gesture.

I hope your friend has a full recovery from his accident, and that he's able to enjoy a lot of riding this season!

We call them JRA's. As in Just Riding Along. As in "I was just riding along and..."

The rest of the information you posted is spot on.

Sometimes stuff breaks. What's interesting is I've read several stories about hangers breaking, and in all the years I've been riding bikes, that's never happened to me. Even in my racing years where I'd put in 30,000 miles a year, not once.

Anyway, it sucks when stuff breaks, but it's not always "I want a freebie I am not paying..."

Folks seem to be much more lenient when it comes to bikes and warranty issues. If you bought a car and put five miles on it and the door handle came off in your hand, would you just say "Oh well stuff breaks"? No you wouldn't. I don't understand why this is any different? The dude spent $5,000+ on a bike and on his second freaking ride it broke. Now you can believe what you want, but I can guarantee you he had nothing to do with it. I don't see anything wrong with the him wanting it fixed and for free. I see nothing wrong with expecting a frame/part manufacturer or shop owner to stand behind their products/workmanship!

It's just my opinion, but either the part was defective (doubtful) or something wasn't assembled correctly (likely). I bought my Orca and had it built up at the same shop this winter. I convinced another friend to upgrade his bike to SRAM Red, and yet another friend to buy a new frame there as well. If the shop doesn't make it right, I will not buy another thing from them.

As others have said it is almost certainly not a defective frame. I would bet money that it was a poor job building up the bike by the shop.

I agree. And at this point, I think my buddy would be happy if the shop just replaced the hanger and gave him back his scratched up bike. :(

regarding the handle...I bought a car once and when driving it off the lot, it was raining, the windshield wipers did not work. I brought it back (I had not even left the lot) and they fixed it. However, if I had done something to them, I would not expect a freebie.

My point is that, given your explanation, it appears to me that you think this is cut and dried, only two rides, make it right. The shop has the right to determine why it broke. For all you know he had it in the garage and banged it with his car. When you are actually in this business you develop a bit of a jaundiced viewpoint because no matter what, everyone wants free stuff and nothing is ever their fault. In this case, it may not be, but the repair and manufacturing people get the opportunity to figure it out. This is a bit more than a derailleur hanger. The frame's involved.

:rolleyes:

Common sense would tell you that a person that just spent $6000+ in your bike shop does not just want free stuff. And I agree let them figure it out, and then do the right thing.

Honestly, I've been back into biking for 3 years now, and I've found bike shop folks to be pretty much on par with used car salesmen. :D

It does not take much to bend a hanger...

At a crit race had my bike leaning up against a pole....It was windy that day....See where this is going :)

Bike fell over...Damn! No real visible damage...

Started to ride around to do my warm-up and shifting was fubar'd in the middle of the cassette....Took it over to the local shop and they quickly aligned it before te race started...

Now I knew immediately that it was the hanger that was causing the shifting problems, but someone with less experience may not have realized this and started fiddling with the barrel adjusters. Of course this would make things worse...Or maybe they would just race with it as is and then risk some mis-shifting that could cause issues...

Not saying that this is what happened to your buddy, but just showing that stuff does happen that cause issues on a bike that should not be the responsibility of the frame manufacturer or shop...

Oh yea, another example and this one was my fault!

Same bike, about a week earlier...I noticed some knocking sounds on the bike as I was riding and attributed it to my new bottle cages and the bottles seeming to be a bit loose...Upon closer inspection I found that it was my headset that was loose...I had recently adjusted the stem position and I guess I had not set the pre-tension correctly. I fixed it all up and everything is good now, but what if I had kept riding like that because I knew no better...Did damage to the head tube...Would it be the manufacturer's fault...

Like I said, stuff happens...And I'm sure the LBS hears it all :)

A car handle is treated as part of a conceptual integrated whole car, if you will. It's not as if the frame/chasis arrives at the dealer, who then bolts on components like door handles. From a legal standpoint, the car/bicycle warranty is different.

Now, that being said, the hangar is a grey area. It could have been attached to the frame from the factory, even though it is a bolt on piece of metal. BUT, as has been stated, can one prove the hangar was faulty...or was there bad derailer installation?

I've seen three broken hangars in my time cycling, which is somewhat less that RW. One was when a guy crashed in a crit. The second one was when I was riding along with a friend, and a plastic grocery bag blowing across the road contacted his chain and got sucked up into his derailer, snapping the hangar. (Which, incidentally, is why separate/replaceable derailer hangars were made). The third was a guy pedaling uphill at RAGBRAI...it was a cheapo big box store bike, but he actually was just pedaling along when it snapped. Weirdest thing.

I am sure the bike shop has heard it all. But I'm also 110% confident that if my buddy had done anything to the bike, he would just pay the money and be done with it. Sadly, it looks like he may just cave to the man and do that anyway so he can get his bike back before half the summer is gone.

Well, my buddy contacted the frame manufacturer directly. He's going to pay the $750 for a replacement and they are going to evaluate the frame with the broken hanger. If they determine it was the frame, they will reimburse him. In the end I guess it's working out and even if they don't reimburse him, he seems happy cause he's getting a color he really wants. :)

Just seems weird that it took him calling the manufacturer directly, instead of the shop.

SO the manufacturer appears to be reasonable. What frame is it?

Orbea Orca. He also informed me that he had a good talk with the shop and everything is cool. So it looks like it all worked out!

Good to hear, Snapperhead.

Well, it took a while, and things didn't really work out the way he'd hoped. Orbea did not find that the hanger was faulty, therefore they would not replace the frame. My buddy wasn't going to pay an additional $750 after already spending $6000+. Orbea sent the frame back to the shop. The shop did give him the new hanger at cost, so he got back the original scratched up frame. In addition to that, they managed to add an additional scratch to the frame when removing the bottom bracket. I doubt any of us will be doing much business with this shop ever again. :mad: