My chain slipped off and, after becoming twisted, snapped. It was pretty inoccuous and it seemed to give easily. Went to bike shop to borrow a chain tool and noticed that the mech was quite badly twisted too and the hanger was bent inwards.

Oh well, I thought. It’s an old mech and it’s a steel frame so I can bend the hanger back.

On re-examination when I got to work I saw that the bit between the chainstay and dropout on the drive side had snapped clean through!

I was surprised it seemed to happen so easily – no crashing or jumping or anything.

Anyway, it’s a Surly Crosscheck, about 3-4 years old. I have contacted Ison and they are looking into whether Surly will give me anything back. Not sure what they are like for warranties – anyone had any experience?

If they don’t – how practical is and how much for a re-weld?
Alternatively, anyone got any good ideas for a replacement? I’m torn between going a bit lighter eg- Uncle John, or a bit heavier – ideally a Singular Peregrine but maybe a bit expensive.

22 mile there and back road commute but would like something capable of tracks/light offroad too.

j

If they won’t replace it, any framebuilder will be able to repair ir pretty easily.
🙂

is it steel??

i had a similar incident took it to my local MOT garage

bish bash bosh cost me a fiver that was 2 years ago still going strong

Yeah if its steel, just find someone with a mig welder and reweld it back on. If you take the paint off the area that needs welding so there is about an inch of clean metal each side of the bit you want welded, then it will only take 2 minutes to weld and you should be able to get it done at any nice decent garage there and then.

I’d do it for free if your in gloucestershire, but my welds aren’t that pretty 🙁

Fatigue failure often symptomatic of hubs with bent axles.

Anyway, it’s a Surly Crosscheck, about 3-4 years old. I have contacted Ison and they are looking into whether Surly will give me anything back

Why?

Why?

Because TJ will convince him that things have to work for six years.

Brant – I ain’t ever said that. slag me for what I have said and done if you want – there is no shortage of targets 🙂 but its a bit poor to make up stuff that I haven’t said.

I ain’t said anything on this thread because that quite clearly is not a manufacturing fault.

Because TJ will convince him that things have to work for six years.

Hehe 🙂

Surly warranty is 3 years, but doesn’t really sound like a warranty issue anyway – they might be nice to you though. Should be relatively easily repaired though… excuse for a new colour at least 😉

I ain’t said anything on this thread because that quite clearly is not a manufacturing fault.

See you’re potentially wrong again 😉 . I remember a batch of Orbit frames from the late ’80’s that had a problem with dodgy dropouts that only showed up after a couple of years.

The break in the dropout could be unrelated to the mech hanger incident.

Though I think I might be being obtuse now.

Thanks for the tips so far.

I contacted Surly out of hope rather than expectation. I’m certainly not in a position to make any claims about whether it was faulty – though I would be surprised if the mech twisting was enough to snap the frame as the chain gave way very easily and the break isn’t in the same plane if that makes sense. The break is also displaced – ie the two halves don’t quite line up which might be indicative of something. Maybe that I should stop salad dodging!

I’ve got a picture if anyone’s interested, though nowhere to host it.

I’ve had a lot of good use and enjoyment out of the frame, so I won’t grumble too much. I certainly wouldn’t discourage anyone from getting one.

ta

mail me pic please – like to see broken things for investigations.

him@shedfire.com

Can you post it then please, for my own morbid curiosity.

What make chain was it? SRAM? Another debate but just curious.

That’s what hapens if you use chainsaw chains.

It was a KMC chain from Brant’s ex-employer. Recently fitted and I think it was a bit long, which may have contributed to it coming off in the first place.

My Kona Kilauea broke where the rh dropout joins the chainstay. Lots of konas of the same era failed in exactly the same way – there was clearly a design fault.

Mine actually broke when I tried to kick a bit of bush off the chainstay while moving and actually caught my heel in the wheel. I reckon it’s very likely that there already was a reasonable sized crack in the dropout when I did that and the sudden load was enough to break it through.

It’s quite possible that the same has happened though equally it may be totally unconnected. It’s unlikely though that there wasn’t already some sort of crack/damage to the dropout beforehand.

could the chain have come off because the chainstay had snapped and everything was bit wonky?

I just fitted a KMC chain to my 29er geez!

Here you go Lodger I think its easier to diagnose with the picture so I have hosted it. Thanks for sending it.

It looks just like wear and tear on a bike that looks like it does a lot of work, shame but it happens.

Welding…pah.
Bit of hubba-bubba will see that fixed. 😀

Looks to me like the diameter of the nut on the hub was larger than the flat area of the dropout. This could exert a twisting force on the dropout causing fatigue and failure in the same way brant suggested if the axle was bent.

I’m with brant – chain may have snapped because of that, i doubt it coaused it

why wouldnt it be a warranty replacement (as long as its still within warranty that it)

but if not, get it welded upm its only pig iron after all 🙂

UpQuickDownSlow… no it wouldnt, a bent spindle will force it side to side endlessly as the wheel rotates eventually causing it to fail, what your saying may be the case (difficult to tell from the image), but it would just force it one way then stay there.

Or do you mean that might have bent the spindle?

Ah, OK. Yes, I was thinking that the force clamping the wheel in place would bend the dropout in one direction and hold it there. So, yes, a different mechanism to a bent axle.

just a quick update for anybody who might be interested:

Surly have agreed to replace the frame!

Many thanks to Ison/Surly, excellent customer service!

j