• This topic has 33 replies, 21 voices, and was last updated 12 years ago by Joe.
Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)
  • Advice Needed: Chain snaps after 20mins road riding and tears up frame
  • jaselowe
    Free Member

    Hey Guys,

    Just after a little advice and appreciate your time taken to read/write on this thread.

    Got a new bike on Saturday 16th April and brought it home. Only had a chance to ride it yesterday (19th April) where I took it to work three miles on the road – very flat, dry etc. bike seemed fine in the morning, apart from maybe some ‘tyre wobble’ described by the shop assistant.

    Just as I was setting off for the return journey, again by road, within about 100metres the chain snapped and shredded the frame/paintwork around the stays, underneath etc. I then had to push it home :S

    It was not under any stress or being gear-changed under any sort of load whatsoever. It certainly was not being ridden offroad or being flung around.

    The bike shop, who I don’t blame, have contacted the manufacturer who have straight up refused to take the matter any further and not even offered a replacement chain. I had asked for a replacement bike or a refurb job. They have tried to make out that it is some sort of wear and tear and even accused me of taking it offroad. The tyres are even spotless though…

    I don’t think I am being petty as the bike cost £1,100 and had been on the road for less than 20minutes before the fault occured.

    Where do I stand? Can I ask for a replacement? Any form of compensation? A refurb? I would of thought at least a replacement chain and a touch-up kit?!

    Many Thanks.

    clubber
    Free Member

    Don’t suppose you bought it on a credit card, did you?

    The onus is on them to prove that it was faulty at this stage. The manufacturer is irrelevant – you deal with the shop.

    Wear and tear in four days is irrelevant on a bike. Improper use would be justifiable but clearly doesn’t sound right here and using it offroad is clearly the purpose for which it should be fit for (assuming it’s an mtb)

    jaselowe
    Free Member

    Unfortunately it was not on a credit card. It was purchased via CycleScheme from a shop 1hour away from where I live.

    Should I push the shop a little harder? They seemed to have given up on the subject. They have offered to dispatch a new chain by post at some point but I tend to treat my bikes with a lot of respect and I am really frustrated about the meal it’s made of the frame. I could have bought a bike in the same condition on ebay second hand – and not had to puch it home!

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middling Edition

    Fresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...
    Latest Singletrack Videos
    clubber
    Free Member

    Oh, that’s trickier because you’re not actually the owner… I’d suggest talking to your cyclescheme provider too. Yes, you really should push the shop more though. Do they think it’s a reasonable position for the manufacturer to take?

    IMO you’re certainly entitled to a new chain. New frame? I’d tend to say not though that depends on just how bad the damage is – is it just some paint and you’re being a drama queen or has it really gouged it out, weakening it/shortening its life?

    anotherdeadhero
    Free Member

    Its for the shop to make good here. Sounds like they’re trying to duck their responsibilities, which is a shame. Don’t let them.

    njee20
    Free Member

    FWIW, when I worked in a shop we had a customer who bought a bike and the chain snapped on his first ride, similar situation, just one of those things. He brought it back, we offered him a new chain etc, but he wasn’t happy. After consultation with trading standards and that we were forced to give him his money back in full.

    I’d push this harder, but it’s with the shop, not the manufacturer.

    jaselowe
    Free Member

    Thanks for the advice guys.

    A little further pushing and I now have some options!

    1. Courier picks up bike and takes it back to manufacturer so that they can assess the problem. High chance I get a replacement chain and the bike comes back as is OR slim chance that they decide its a problem worthy of more of a fix. Likely to get scuffed in transit in more obvious places.

    2. £50 voucher for the inconvenience.

    I imagine I will go for the second option and get work to match a RAL colour and make me some touch up paint. Ali frame so shouldn’t prove difficult later on down the line…

    Probably am being a drama queen but i’m just seeing red with it being brand new and all 😀

    Joe
    Full Member

    I don’t really understand what has happened here. I have never in 6 years working in a bike shop seen a chain snap after 4 days without being forced/messed with . Can you give us some more information. Did the powerlink snap? Show us a picture and people will be able to give you a better idea of what happened.

    I always love the legal sounding advice on here as well. Clubber you get the award for stupidest advice of today

    The onus is on them to prove that it was faulty at this stage. The manufacturer is irrelevant – you deal with the shop.

    No it’s not! You say this without seeing the chain, or knowing the OP. What an absurd thing to say. Its like taking a car back to a car show room and saying ‘the doors fell off’… well if the car show room hasn’t seen new cars falling off its door for 40 odd years, they are always going to be slightly suspicious when you’re the first, ESPECIALLY when the item in question is a chain which is very susceptible to damage by new users.

    If i was the OP…take the bike back to the bike shop. Tell them if the manufacturer wants to take a look at it, then they can courier it from the LBS and go from there. No scuffs, no messing about.

    anotherdeadhero
    Free Member

    Clubber you get the award for stupidest advice of today … What an absurd thing to say

    😀

    *pulls up chair*

    This is going to be top drawer.

    njee20
    Free Member

    I have never in 6 years working in a bike shop seen a chain snap after 4 days without being forced/messed with

    I snapped a Dura Ace chain after 200 yards, not on the joining pin, broke a side plate in half. Sometimes things are faulty, because you’ve not seen it before doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

    Its like taking a car back to a car show room and saying ‘the doors fell off’… well if the car show room hasn’t seen new cars falling off its door for 40 odd years, they are always going to be slightly suspicious

    Not it’s not, being suspicious and flatly denying responsibility is not the same.

    TandemJeremy
    Free Member

    Joe – clubber is right. It is nothing to do with the manufacturer.

    Google sale of goods act.

    Personally I’d take the £50 unless the damage is in the metal of the frame. I would not return it to the manufacturer.

    akira
    Full Member

    The problem the shop has is sorting out the genuine faulty products from the user error problems.
    We had a guy whose headset was kaput, he had never touched it or done anything to it, except change hos stem, take the headset apart and forgot to put half of it back…….

    FunkyDunc
    Free Member

    Playing devils advocate a bit but:

    “It was not under any stress or being gear-changed under any sort of load whatsoever”

    I don’t understand how the frame managed to get mashed. I’ve made plent of nice gauges in frames when the chain has been under load and sucked up or, crap gear chaning has bounced the chain off. But I cant see how a chain would just snap under no load and take chunks out of a frame, the physics just dont stack up for that to happen.

    clubber
    Free Member

    Joe

    …Clubber you get the award for stupidest advice of today…

    Which bit? The bit about the shop which is correct since your contract is with them, not the manufacturer? If you bought a fridge from Comet and it broke after one day, would you return it to Comet or the fridge manufacturer? Comet may well talk to the manufacturer about it but you have no dealings with them regardless of how people like to make it sound. From a legal perspective of course…

    Or the bit about the onus being on them to prove it’s not faulty which is also correct?

    Proving goods are faulty
    If you bought the item within the last six months, it’s the trader’s responsibility to prove the item wasn’t faulty when you bought it.

    http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Consumerrights/Yourconsumerrightswhenbuyinggoodsandservices/DG_194650

    Bet you feel silly now 🙂

    Sanny
    Free Member

    Joe

    Ditto re TJ. From a contractual point of view, the contract is between the OP and the shop where the bike was purchased from.

    OP

    Would be good to see pics of the damaged chain. If you feel you want a new bike, push for it. If you hit a brick wall, consult your local Citizen’s Advice Bureau or Trading Standards who should help you get your money back and go to another shop. Was it the bike shop that accused you of taking it off road? Disappointing that their first response was they couldn’t help.

    Joe
    Full Member

    Playing devils advocate a bit but:

    “It was not under any stress or being gear-changed under any sort of load whatsoever”

    I don’t understand how the frame managed to get mashed. I’ve made plent of nice gauges in frames when the chain has been under load and sucked up or, crap gear chaning has bounced the chain off. But I cant see how a chain would just snap under no load and take chunks out of a frame, the physics just dont stack up for that to happen.

    So was I to be honest. But I agree with the above. Njee20 I agree with you also…strange things do happen, and it would be upto the shop to sort it out (and they should deal with the manufacturer directly).

    I just hate the blind consumer-championing mob which forms on here, when in my experience consumers often do stupido things.

    clubber
    Free Member

    Joe, I’ll take that as an apology 😉 And FWIW, having been a bike shop monkey too, I’ve seen plenty of JRAs (one of the best being the bike that had clearly been ridden hard into something (a car?) but apparently had just suddenly bent spontaneously – in fact he used the JRA phrase 🙂

    Doesn’t change the law though. It was still up to us to be able to prove that it wasn’t a faulty product – or at least, we’d have had to back it up if he’d taken us to court for it for which we’d have been able to show that this sort of damage took considerable force and couldn’t happen JRA.

    anotherdeadhero
    Free Member

    Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

    I wanted a fight 😡

    clubber
    Free Member

    Shut it you flat cap wearing muppet.

    anotherdeadhero
    Free Member

    no_eyed_deer
    Free Member

    I don’t understand how the frame managed to get mashed. I’ve made plent of nice gauges in frames when the chain has been under load and sucked up or, crap gear chaning has bounced the chain off. But I cant see how a chain would just snap under no load and take chunks out of a frame, the physics just dont stack up for that to happen

    I had had exactly the same thing happen to me. New 10 spd 105 chain on a new bike. Had odd some miss-shifts while pootling along for a few minutes, then…

    …the chain snapped under barely any load

    …the snapped link fouled the rear mech

    …the rear mech was drawn up and back in the direction of chain travel

    …the rear mech snapped off

    …chain and mech parts fouled rear stay and damaged paintwork

    All in the space of about 1/2 a second.

    It’s amazing relatively little force can actually do.

    john_l
    Free Member

    Wouldn’t it have been the shop that built the bike, including joining the chain? Guess it depends where it’s snapped.

    bassspine
    Free Member

    Wouldn’t it have been the shop that built the bike, including joining the chain? Guess it depends where it’s snapped.

    no. the chain is usually put on at the factory unless it’s a custom build

    Tiger6791
    Full Member

    I have never in 6 years working in a bike shop seen a chain snap after 4 days without being forced/messed with

    I put a new chain on my bike, Sram so all I did was shorten and join with powerlink snapped within 500 yards of the house and nowhere near the power link.

    It is possible these things can be defective from the factory.

    highclimber
    Free Member

    The onus is on them to prove that it was faulty at this stage

    I think you mean its up to them to prove it wasn’t faulty.

    Jujuuk68
    Free Member

    I bought a Raleigh Mtrax off ebay – but it was clearly some sort of “new old stock” as the tyres had no wear whatsoever and there were still paper tags in pristine condition attached to skewers.

    That chain failed in several spots over the first 20 miles of ownership.

    It was just faulty. Thats all.

    And for a brand new bike, if the description of the damage is not misleading by op, I’d demand a new frame, or it repaired at their expense to the condition it was in before the incident, which is what the law would state you were entitled to. Sod £50 and piss off which is the rpesent offer.

    I wouldnt send it back either to the manufacturer, without first getting a report on the chain and the condition/damage of the bike from someone who cannot be argued with, ie some sort of engineer.

    A court will take the engineers evidence over an unsupported allegation of “taking it off road” (given the bike is clean?) 100 times out of 100, and you should then request the cost of the engineers report too.

    Demand a new frame fromt he shop. If they refuse, ask where you can serve documents, and tell them you will issue court proceedings.

    If they dont pay, issue court proceedings in the small claims court.

    oldgit
    Free Member

    At the end of the day that just shouldn’t happen.
    The only new chains I’ve ever seen snap in nearly forty years of riding are Shimano and SRAMs connected with a chain tool and not the pin or speed-link.
    Could a shop make that mistake? I thought they came mostly assembled.

    Kuco
    Full Member

    I have never in 6 years working in a bike shop seen a chain snap after 4 days without being forced/messed with

    Had one go on first ride just as I was getting home, took the bike back to the shop and on closer inspection you could see the chain was going to go in another place, the side plate was starting to come away. Shop exchanged it with out quibble and apologised.

    Steve-Austin
    Free Member

    Return it, demand full refund as it was quite clearly not fit for purpose. If you were using it for normal cycling within an hour of (use) it and it breaks its not fit for purpose. imagine it was a kettle, and it broke after 3 boils, now for a start you would have no tea (eek!) but any reasonable person would expect it to last longer than that. i would expect a bike to last longer than 3 miles without breaking..

    If they refuse, contact trading standards, you will win

    jameso
    Full Member

    ok – from a manufacturer / distributor’s POV –

    a snapped chain on a new bike is rare. if the link plate has popped off the pin and the chain seperates, it’s a factory-fitted chain so it should be covered under the manufacturer’s warranty. if the chain / mech went into the spokes or got mangled by a bad shift, it MAY be a shop-set up issue.

    if there’s any sign you’ve tampered with the bike / gears it’ll weaken your case, but if you’ve not touched it, speak to the retailer. if they’re an authorised dealer this shouldn’t be an issue to get sorted.

    touch up and a new chain is bare miniumum, if it’s a genuine chain-fit error then it’s new frame / replace to as new state – i’d say. some may disagree.

    PS ‘fit for purpose’ isn’t the point here – it’s about set-up or build standard. if the set-up was correct i’m sure the bike was fit for purpose, there’s not much if any real junk in good shops these days!

    gee
    Free Member

    New out of the box chains snap from time to time. If you’ve worked in a shop and not seen this you haven’t worked in a shop long enough 😉 it’s why I never fit a new chain jus before a race without doing a good few miles on it first.

    The shop should change the chain, minimum. I’d probably have offered a £50 refund too if the damage is major. I’m amazed they haven’t just swapped the chain – either we don’t know the whole story or the shop is dreadful.

    GB

    Joe
    Full Member

    New out of the box chains snap from time to time. If you’ve worked in a shop and not seen this you haven’t worked in a shop long enough

    Sorry only for about 8 years.

    smell_it
    Free Member

    Joe – I think I would have probably let it go after a month…..

    Joe
    Full Member

    Argh! Was this a month ago? It came up on my funny feed thing. I feel like a cock end now.

Viewing 34 posts - 1 through 34 (of 34 total)

The topic ‘Advice Needed: Chain snaps after 20mins road riding and tears up frame’ is closed to new replies.