I fitted some brand new disc brakes to my bike and they failed when I was descending a hill. I had to eject before hitting a steel gate. Seeing as I fitted them am I liable ? Or is it down to the manufacturer? I sustained injuries and bike damage . Cheers in advance.

Both of them!? How?

What failed.

Unless you’ve got proof of ‘professional fitting’ I don’t see you’d have any comeback unless something actually broke on the brakes.
Why did they fail/what was the cause?

Depends on how they failed. And what the fitting involved.

If you opened the system to the air and potentially lost fluid then I’d say it’s probably your fault. Many brakes instruction advise fitting by qualified mechanics.

If you could elaborate on your experience we would be better equipped to judge.

I fitted some brand new disc brakes to my bike and they failed when I was descending a hill.

pads bedded in according to manufacturers instructions?

new disks?

hoses shortened?

bled?

Mode of failure?

what did you fit?

calipers? pads? discs? everything?

Brand new brakes. Fitted as per instructions. Cycling before the crash the brakes were working. Then as I was coming down a hill I lost all braking power, not the cable but at the caliper. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a bedding in issue as I’d srill have some pressure behind the pad. It was the caliper that failed.

New everything. Discs , pads, cables, cable outers etc

cable operated?

when you say the caliper failed – what evidence do you have from it on inspection?

What do you mean by failed? It just fell apart in to loads of bits?

The pad came out? The hose leaked fluid? The retaining bolts snapped?

and both front and rear brakes failed at the same time and in the same way?

Mechanical disk brakes then? Were they cheap and NOS???

TRP Recalls Spyre and Spyre SLC Mechanical Disc Brake Calipers

still don’t understand ‘how’ it failed. OK, lost all power but what went wrong to cause that* and why do you say it was at the caliper

(eg, cable slipped through retaining bolt; pads lost all backing material….. could be many things. Just saying they lost power doesn’t necessarily indicate failure, just that they’re shit brakes which is another thing entirely)

[fast edit having seen they’re mechanical brakes now)

Can’t tell from the info you’ve given how or why they failed.

If it was in any way connected to how you fitted them then it’s entirely your fault.

If the brake fell apart in a way that was unconnected to your installation then you will have a case against the retailer or manufacturer.

New brakes? Did they work after the crash? User error? (If they were new to you perhaps you were not applying enough power to slow you down enough)

What make and model were the brakes.

If hydraulic did you have to disconnect the hoses (either for left/right lever swap or cable routing).

cable outers etc

Ah missed this. Bolts not done tight enough, so the levers just pulled to the bar?

Or didn’t actually adjust the pads so even at full on they were no where near contacting the disc 😆

Bolts not done tight enough, so the levers just pulled to the bar?

that was my first thought. First proper yank on the levers and the cables pull out the calipers…

Yeah – they do that.

The Shimano mechanical road calipers were also recalled in 2013 for a “balls falling out” issue, is this the case?

Thanks guys .I thought I’d be able to explain this but I’m going to leave it. Should have spoken to a legal bod in the first place.

Eh ?

Go on just explain it, or post a pic?

Op being particularly vague with info
OP not giving any specs or name of brakes
OP not even giving a ‘reason for the failure’ despite being competant enough to fit them

My bet is that if they are cable operated brakes and fresh on the bike the cable hadnt been seated into the cable stops properly and maybe slotted in properly with the extra pressure of emergency braking. This would result in no brakes on cable discs. Possibly talking out of backside but the only other things that could happen are badly fitted pads, cable clamp not tight or a breakage in the caliper/lever.

It worries me that someone who fitted his own brakes cant write a simple reason for them failing without peeps having to ask loads of questions

BTW – welcome to the rest of the forum.

I thought I’d be able to explain this but I’m going to leave it. Should have spoken to a legal bod in the first place.

Before you speak to a lawyer try and work out what you want to say: ‘they failed’ is not going to be the basis of a succesful claim.

All people on here have asked for is a bit of detail or at least a make and model, if you can’t provide either under some fairly patient questioning you won’t get far with a claim.

Both of them failing seems very unfortunate.

What brakes are they?

Looking at earlhickey’s posting history, (classifieds only) the brakes will appear on the classifieds very soon 😀

The ‘spirit’ of our forum is one where users can turn their old, surplus or unwanted kit into extra cash to enable them to buy new bits to help them get out and continue riding. The Classified Forum is not a place where users can earn a living or supplement their income by buying and selling parts. users who exploit our forum in this way will be considered to be trading.

Welcome to the real forum earlhickey

Unless you can prove the brakes were fitted properly and failed before the crash (rather than broke during it) then I suspect it’s going to be difficult to claim successfully.

A lawyer’s a great idea, you can pay thousands to talk to someone who doesn’t know what you’re talking about, whilst here you can talk to people who do, and it’s free.

I can’t imagine a court would ask any questions about the spontaneous failure, so go right ahead!

If the op was competent to fit them, he would know what ‘failed’, and probably even know what brake they are 😆 but heck, where there’s blame there’s a claim!! These are fine times we are living in……

if OP can’t convince a random group of internet sexpests.. i mean experts.. there no chance of getting it past a judge with the manufacturer on the other side..

and both front and rear brakes failed at the same time and in the same way?

Should have spoken to a legal bod mechanic in the first place.

Sorry OP but you just haven’t given anywhere near enough info, even basic stuff like make and model of brake might help! any pics of them fitted, pics after ‘failure’ and you will at some point need to explain ‘failure’ more succinctly if this is going to go anywhere, legal or otherwise.

OP has scurried back to the familiarity of the classifieds I feel…

OP has scurried back to the familiarity of the classifieds I feel…

And, based on their inability to describe some basic parts, I’ll be avoiding them like the plague 🙄

Seeing as I fitted them am I liable ? Or is it down to the manufacturer?

earlhickey

or Option C – ‘Karma’

🙂

Should have spoken to a legal bod in the first place.

Which would cost you £500 ? No win no fee guys won’t touch this as DIY fit.

Seems highly unlikely to me a manufacturing defect would affect both front and rear at the same time.

I had to eject before hitting a steel gate.

Your bike has an ejector seat!!!!?

Your bike has an ejector seat!!!!?

Probably an incorrectly fitted dropper post.