Rear deraileur entered wheel

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Hi all,

Disaster struck on my way home from work today , the rear deraileur has broke away (hanger snapped) and ended up in my rear wheel. The chain has also snapped. I was coming up to a set of lights and changing down gears, preparing to stop when it happened. I just heard a loud bang and the bike jammed up. I was going slow so lucky in that sense. Only 1 spoke damaged that I can see.

I bought the bike about the end of November, so it's still under warranty. Just wondering if it would cover the deraileurs.

It wouldn't strike me as something that's normal and I have not experience this before with past bikes. Any idea what might have happened?

Limestone1

Would you have changed down into the lowest gear on the rear cassette ? If so then the limit setting on the lowest gear wasn't in the right place and didn't prevent the derailleur clipping the wheel - the hangar is designed to snap and the derailleur will hang free. Is it definitely damaged ?
This happened me a few months ago and the hangar was the only damage - granted I was traveling very slowly up Ballaghbeama so I was able to stop straight away. If you broke a spoke and snapped the chain then you obviously didn't !

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Yea I changed down to the lowest to prepare for a start on green light. The spoke bent, but didn't snap, the chain did though. When the hanger broke, the chain must have caught up and the momentum snapped it. I wasn't going fast at all. If I was, there would have been a lot more damange. Not sure if the deraileur is damaged itself, it looks to be ok.

Mycroft H

Odd for a bike that's only a few months old. You didn't bend the hanger in a bike rack or something? Common enough and once you shift high, the wheel eats it.

BrianHenryIE

I leaned my bike against a fence one day and it fell on its side. The next day the derailleur hit the spokes. So, if your recently let your bike drop, that could've caused it.

blamester

It's unusual to break a chain. If the wheel is not buckled that should be o.k. The derailleur maybe o.k you won't know till everything else is sorted.Bring it back to the shop see what they say. But if it was shifting o.k before , you may have bent the hangar and didn'f realise it.

Wishbone Ash

Antonio Numerous Spitball wrote: »

...I bought the bike about the end of November, so it's still under warranty. Just wondering if it would cover the deraileurs....

Did you remove the 'pie dish'? (i.e. the clear plastic plate which is usually fitted between the cassette and spokes to prevent the RD contacting the spokes). Most of us immediately remove it but I'm thinking it may be highlighted when making warranty claims.

At least you were going slowly. It happened to me when mashing up a steep incline. Made shite of the RD and the spokes.

fat bloke

As above, a little fall or knock putting the bike into the car could have knocked derailleur out of line and then it's just a time bomb waiting for the next you change into the closest sprocket to the wheel.
Happened to me and made sh1t of the frame cos the hanger didn't do its job and break!

Can't expect bike shop to cover it. Unless it was your first time ever in first gear since buying the bike...

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

I hadn't made any adjustments to the bike at all. I looked at another racer thinking that the pie dish would probably have saved me some bother, not knowing fully what it was.

The bike is stored indoors all the time, it hasn't fallen or received any knocks and I haven't put it in a bike rack or car. I would say there's about 200-250KM on the bike as I wasn't out for about 2-3 weeks over Xmas. I will bring it back to the bike shop and see what they say. I imagine there was a fault somewhere with the deraileur. I would expect the shop to fix it under warranty, if not it's not too expensive.

I just hope there's no damage to the frame/wheel which I have not seen.

GTDolanator

Antonio Numerous Spitball wrote: »

I hadn't made any adjustments to the bike at all. I looked at another racer thinking that the pie dish would probably have saved me some bother, not knowing fully what it was.

The bike is stored indoors all the time, it hasn't fallen or received any knocks and I haven't put it in a bike rack or car. I would say there's about 200-250KM on the bike as I wasn't out for about 2-3 weeks over Xmas. I will bring it back to the bike shop and see what they say. I imagine there was a fault somewhere with the deraileur. I would expect the shop to fix it under warranty, if not it's not too expensive.

I just hope there's no damage to the frame/wheel which I have not seen.

I really cannot see the shop repairing this free of charge,all it takes is the slightest bend of the hanger and it will go,will be very hard to prove otherwise.Have you used the lowest gear before?

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

GTDolanator wrote: »

I really cannot see the shop repairing this free of charge,all it takes is the slightest bend of the hanger and it will go,will be very hard to prove otherwise.Have you used the lowest gear before?

There was no knocks on it at all, unless the wind bent it. I don't believe I used the lowest gear before. It's possible it was defected before, or during the installation it wasn't put on proparly. I would still expect a warranty repair.

darkvalley

I had a similar experience last year. Bought a new Cube Peleton Race and after about 250km the rear deraileur hanger broke with the deraileur ending up in the back wheel. Took it back to the shop and they replaced the hanger and the deraileur immediately with no issue at all. Frame and wheels were fine. At the time LBS said it was just one of those things

DirkVoodoo

Antonio Numerous Spitball wrote: »

There was no knocks on it at all, unless the wind bent it. I don't believe I used the lowest gear before. It's possible it was defected before, or during the installation it wasn't put on proparly. I would still expect a warranty repair.

It's not a derailleur defect. It's either a bent hanger (you or the shop) or your limits weren't setup properly (shop).

It would be very difficult to say who is to blame and it will depend on the shop's customer service. A decent one will take the blame and do a repair, a difficult one will argue the issue at length and will lead to extreme frustration.

I'd aim for a compromise, stating all of the above. If you come across as reasonable and not looking to blame the shop when you can't be certain who is at fault, they may very well do a repair at a nominal cost.

Having said all that, at least now you know to always check the derailleur limits on a new bike!

Macy0161

Got knocked off/ took a minor tumble on Tuesday - bike seemed fine, I'm ok, but hadn't even thought of checking this! Or in general - given it's in and out of the car, stored beside the kids bikes, in a bike rack at work. Another thing on the checking list I guess!

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

It's not a derailleur defect. It's either a bent hanger (you or the shop) or your limits weren't setup properly (shop).

It would be very difficult to say who is to blame and it will depend on the shop's customer service. A decent one will take the blame and do a repair, a difficult one will argue the issue at length and will lead to extreme frustration.

I'd aim for a compromise, stating all of the above. If you come across as reasonable and not looking to blame the shop when you can't be certain who is at fault, they may very well do a repair at a nominal cost.

Having said all that, at least now you know to always check the derailleur limits on a new bike!

Sorry, I call the entire mechanism a deraileur (hanger + derailleur), I know these parts are different now :P

I called the bike shop who said there wouldn't be a fault in the hanger as they are machined. They will have a look at the bike and see what they can do and will keep costs to a minimum. I orinigally said I didn't mind as it shouldn't be too expensive, but I also don't want to be taken for a fool and footing the bill for somebody elses errors. LBS is out to make money, and I am out to save some :P

I had suggested the above but they came accross as a little defensive. They explained that everything leaves the shop in proper order (on day one I had to tighten the front derailleur as the cable slipped through the tightening nut). We shall see what happens.

fat bloke

Macy0161 wrote: »

hadn't even thought of checking this! Or in general

You'd often see it on sportives, lads churning up hills in first gear and you can hear the "ping ping ping ping" of the spokes gently caressing the derailleur. An oblivious mere nanometre away from a crunchy armageddon :eek:

eeeee

That's why my pie plates stay on, Just.In.Case. Looks be damned!

I think they look really cool actually. I am singlehandedly trying to bring pie plates back. Anyone with me???!


*tumbleweed*

m5ex9oqjawdg2i

Just a quick update.

I paid for parts which came to under 50, but now the free hub is damaged. LBS trying to get that on warranty. Not going to have the bike for a couple of weeks at least which is a pain in the ass. Not entirely happy about the situation. I just hope that once this part is fixed I don't have any other issues in the near future.

On a brighter note, I purchased a pair of Shimano 105 pedals (2015 model) and a pair of shoes. First time clipped in, it's going to be strange.