So heres the story decided to take my biek out for a quick blast this afternoon instead of watching the football. It was booked into Halfords as the gears have been jumping and the forks seem kinda loose. Its a Gt aggressor xtc 1. So anyway I had done about 6 miles mainly through muddy woods and the chain snags . I take the back wheel of and try and clean the rear mech notice the chain is in a poor condition and one link looks damaged . Anyhow I put it back on as Im about 4 miles from home and its freezing , pedal about 10 feet and the mech hanger shears. The bike is about 5 months old and I have a service warranty type deal with Halfords . First question is this quite a common fault and what parts Im a liable to be billed for considering the bike not that old. Also my bike is well used but always given a good clean what kind of chain should I go for if getting a new one ?.

you will be billed

that is not a warrenty issue

you noted the problem and carried on ,

the part in question is designed to fail to save expensive parts

Trail rat is correct.A lot cheaper than a rear mech.

Fair enough I suppose its better it happened before I put the bike in as they might have just adjusted the gears and It could have happened on my next ride out possibly 20 miles from home.

It's a pain when the happens – sometimes the mech gets a bit bashed and sometimes it's a stiff link. HF should stock the replacement hanger. £15 sounds like a lot for bit of ally, but it's better than am irreparably bent frame.

BTW. Carry a spare
BTW. Consider singlespeeding 😉

As the other said regarding the hanger. As for chains, I'd go for a SRAM PC951 or 971 one as I like SRAM chains. It's personal preference, though there does seem to be a consensus that Shimano chains aren't that hot.

Stanfree – same happened to me (my bike was also about 5 months old) and it was covered by the warranty according to Evans. I was expecting a repair bill but they happily replaced the part and fixed it free of charge.

Sounds promising Cheers for the help folks.

wow evans covered the hanger?! thats a first. take your bike to another shop halfords mechanics cant put forks on pointing the right way……. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2009/11/flat_pack_bikes.html

link a little out of context but still good to watch.