On the ride on Saturday a rear non driveside spoke snapped where it enters the hub body, at the time it went I was only really half pedalling along a straight as I was waiting for my mate to catch up. Took it back to the shop to see if it was warrantyable as they’d only done 700km in 10 rides and the bike was only 9 months old (I’d been using the cross bike and mtb over winter). The shop seemed surprised I’d asked as spokes are wear and tear apparently.

They’re stock giant p-sl1 wheels with straight pull radials on the NDS. Heard of a few letting go like that, and the shop replaced my mates for the same thing.

AIBU asking if it’s a warranty repair, and if it’s not a warranty should I just ask them to order in a single spoke and fix it myself? Although they were happy to look at a loose headset which keeps slowly slacking off tension under for free under warranty.

I’m not surprised they were surprised at you asking that.

Maybe if the rim crumpled as you rode it away from the shop otherwise….

If there was no obvious damage to the spoke or wheel otherwise I would expect it to be covered under warranty. Spokes simply should not fail in that way.

I’d expect any decent shop to fix that foc

No damage or abuse, 700 road kms. I’d assumed that wear and tear was moving items, so cables, chains, cassettes, chairing, tyres, brakepads and bearings. If I’d dropped it or crashed it then that’s different but a spoke shouldn’t just let go especially on the road where it’s getting a relatively easy life.

The rim wont crumple, it’s hugely overbuilt so Giant can get away with a stupid low spoke design that makes it really hard to true when a spoke let’s go.

This is exactly why I now have some proper wheels on my bike – Ultegra on Open Pros.

In answer to the original question, I think the timeframe and distance are beyond what I would consider reasonable to expect a warranty replacement. I think it would be reasonable to ask the shop to repair it – one spoke and a few minutes labour won’t hurt too much – but it’ll depend on how much of a value they put on aftercare for customers. I think its possible for them to wash their hands of the problem as really they have no idea how many miles you’ve actually done, over what terrain etc.

My experience of lesser spoked wheels is that once 1 goes, they all start going. If it was me I’d repair them and sell them on to pay for some other wheels.

It’s always a bit of a “piece of string” question. If it had happened within a week, then yeah, probably would be covered.
After 700km though, probably not.

Sometimes spokes snap. I blew two in one go on my MTB last weekend. Shit happens sometimes, unfortunately.

Strictly speaking consumer law says the onus is on the customer after 6 months to prove goods are faulty, as 6 months is considered more than reasonable for any original fault to develop

However, i’d expect any decent shop to repair this FOC as a goodwill gesture, and their mechanic to retension the wheel checking with spoke tension gauge as machine built wheels common to production bikes are notorious for wildly varying spoke tension 😉

You’ve done well to only snap one spoke on those wheels in that time scale.
A good friend of mine has snapped five so far in 1000 miles & still be refused a replaced wheel!

The bit that’s galling is that it’s only had 3 months riding as it’s been tucked up over winter. Can’t say I’m impressed with the wheels though whatever happens. My hopes on my mtb and the on ones on the cross bike have had 3-4 times the distance and getting on 10 times the riding time for the hopes, been bashed down alps and had rims dinged but needed nothing more than a quick tweak to keep them true. And hope have given me 4 spare spokes with the wheelset.

Cheap Giant wheels/Hopes = Apples/Pears.

They should fix that under warranty those. Some entry level road bikes have poor wheels.

Yeah I know but they’re supposed to be dt internals and they’re selling them for £250 the pair so they’re not completely shonky and more than my on ones on the cross bike cost.

It’s a £2K bike so not really entry level, they’re still gash though.

Spokes snap, especially at the bend. 700km is pushing their generosity. If you’re a frequent flyer at the shop then I’d expect a freebie, if not then you are relying on their goodwill.

Strip tyre and tube off and take it in during a quiet period. A spoke shouldn’t cost more than £2 and fitting it no more than 5 minutes including a re-tension. Take some beer in and you’ll be golden.

wear and tear, same as you wouldn’t expect warranty if your pads wore out after 3 weeks use.

Pads and bearings wear out because they are rubbing against stuff. Spokes shouldn’t be. A properly built wheelset should last a lot more than 6 months of riding without breaking a spoke. 700km is “pushing their generosity”? some folk do more than that in one trip.

There’s no bend for it to snap at, it’s straight pull, but if a fixed non moving part is wear and tear then the same could apply to a frame tube too. 700km is 3 months summer use for me and I’d probably be looking at the same again on the other 2 bikes in the same period so it’s hardly heavy use.

You have had it 9 months. It’s not like a car recording is mileage as it goes which is probably why you don’t get “2 years or 5,000 miles” warranties on bikes. (prepares to be proved wrong) So I can see why they might say no and goodwill, well if you don’t get it from them, you don’t return it with more business I guess?

The months Cycling Plus say of the new Giant wheels. ‘ They have now fixed the issues with spokes breaking on these wheels’ So get a copy of the mag, take it in the shop and show that they are a defect, which is known. Spokes should ‘easily’ last the life of a road wheel, regardless of what people say, unless they break through potholes etc.

Tracker they don’t but the bike has a warranty that it’s inside but apparently the spokes don’t count as they’re wear and tear. I was more surprised that they’re considered wear and tear items seeing as they don’t move or have any obvious wearing contact. It’s also just a bit arbitrary that they have done my mates for exactly the same reason but mine were assumed not.