Beachgrad05

So last Sat I went to ride with my team for first time since motorcycle accident last October. Heard some weird ticking noise could not figure it out when stopped. Go to almost 6 miles and my rear derailleur hanger and dropout were broken when I'm guessing the derailleur grabbed a spoke when I shifted into one of my hill climbing gears.



Sent pic to Calfee.

Here is reply:

"We are very selective when choosing to perform repairs that involve integrated carbon dropouts. This is a rather sensitive area, under an enormous amount of stress and has to perform a specific (rear shifting and keeping wheel secure) function.

When dropouts have what I call catastrophic (missing chunks, sheared off areas etc.) type of damage is when we wave the surrender flag. I would say based on the photo that you fall into this category."

I may be replacing frame on the bike that replaced my first bike after a busted carbon chainstay on a 60 day old bike.

FBinNY 

Sorry for your bad breaks (pun not intended).

I don't know why a chainstay should break, but this 2nd break shouldn't have happened. The breakaway hanger should have prevented it, and sadly let you down.

I'll spare everybody the soapbox, and just wish you better luck the next time around.

Beachgrad05

For those around in 2012 they know the story. I was new to riding and I slipped going around a corner and the chain stay hit the curb and an angle. Delaminated the carbon in that area. It was maybe fixable but bike was 60 days old and repairing would have voided warranty on frame to my knowledge so I went with crash replacement option thru Trek.


This bike I will get some sort of discount if I have to obtain new frame or go entire bike route. Depends if I'd like to get all new parts and splurge. Still thinking.


I had a rear derailleur hanger replaced on one of my bikes last summer (think it was this one). Not sure if that was defective and it broke before it got tangled in spokes or what...but whatever happened to result in the damage ...it happened.

PatrickR400

That would indicate a badly adjusted rear derailleur. Did anyone play with the limits screws? When properly set, the limit screw prevent exactly this kind of scenario.

FBinNY 

IMO, and not meaning to offend, you're having too much bad luck. Stuff happens, but if lightening strikes the same place, we have consider that there may be a reason.

The crash doesn't count, but two broken hangers is too many, maybe you need a new mechanic, or maybe you're handling the bike roughly and bending the hanger inward one way or another.

ahultin

Hi @Beachgrad, I would agree with @FBinNY. This looks very similar to the location my fuji frame broker in 2012. It is possible the frame cracked (I rode mine @60 miles with the crack thinking I was having a wheel issue then a hub issue) which then eventually allowed the derailleur to go into the wheel due to its new found freedom. Since you have a relationship with the trek dealer, have you tried to take it to trek to see if they could get it covered?

NoGears

Can it be converted single speed or is the damage to severe to be safe? At least it wouldn't be a waste of a frame if you can.

Beachgrad05

Ok looking back this bike went in for tune up after AIDS/LIFECYCLE and was not ridden again until my recent short jaunts on river trail of less than 20 miles on flat road to see how I do post motorcycle accident riding outside.

The bike is not handled roughly and definitely not while it sat in my spare bedroom for months

I will speak to my shop about more details regarding what issue was last summer when they replaced original hanger.

Beachgrad05

Bike is AT my Trek shop where I bought bike and where I worked. They are checking with Trek now. I have was being proactive checking repair place

Beachgrad05

I'm wondering if crack was there hence issue last summer then this

CliffordK

There are other CF repair shops. exmechanic89 recently had some minor work done at Ruckus Composites.

You have to judge for yourself whether the frame is worth the repair. There are lots of good used frames for sale. The "repaired" frames that show up on E-Bay take a beating for price/value.

Jarrett2

That sucks, sorry to hear that.

Beachgrad05

I'm not sure I would want to buy a used / repaired frame. Just spoke to the shop and looks like Trek no longer does the repair. Calfee is the one place I'm familiar with and they won't touch it. So....


Thinking I may be in market. I will do some looking around. Trek is offering 20% off bike or frame if I choose that route.


Thankfully I have my Domane to ride in meantime while I think.


The Madone has almost 10K miles on it. I wonder also if when it was shipped to San Francisco for AIDS/Lifecycle last summer if it got "manhandled" as it was packed in a truck with other bikes and blankets used to protect. Who knows....it is what it is and I'm ok with it. Life happens.

Jarrett2

Maybe its time for a custom built bike? It's fun to work with a builder to put together your dream bike.

Black wallnut 

Sorry to read of this Beachgrad05!

indyfabz

Packing in a truck unboxed is a good way to bend a hanger and/or cage that could then cause you to shift into the spokes.

Beachgrad05

Agreed. It is what it is at this point. That is part of the risk with AIDS/Lifecycle if you don't have the means to ship and assemble bike yourself.

andr0id

I have such a great wife. She will bring the car with the bike rack so I never have to toss my bike in with the proles' beaters.

ClydeTim

I have a great wife too. She says, "your bike sounds funny, better check it before your rear drop out breaks."

CliffordK

Ouch,

I've been wanting to do a local 3 day bike "mini-tour".

But, they have it organized as:

• Round Trip
• One Way
• Round Trip

Which makes it almost impossible to self-support for the return trip on the second day (double century in the middle of the event would be tough).

If, on the other hand, they did it:

• Round Trip
• Round Trip
• One Way

Then I would just bail after the last segment and come back the next day for a 4 day ride. I even have a place to stay overnight.

Beachgrad05

If money was not an issue and time off from work as well... I would have considered driving up wth my bike and having my husband drive my vehicle home. But LA to SF is not a short drive. Figure gas costs as well as time off. The bike shipping provided by the ride was about $70. I used it both years and no issue first year. And honestly I cannot blame them for this either because I did not notice any issues when I inspected bike prior to ride.


It may have been a weak spot in frame or it got hit in a fall I took on drive side a few years ago and eventually led to failure?


I have not yet decided what I want to do. I need to chat with shop a bit. I can't really step to a new bikeor frame even w/o putting it on credit. And I'd prefer not to right now. I would like to find out if the 20% loyalty discount is a time limited offer.


I hope to have my motorcycle accident injury suit settled by end of year. Right now things are on hold until I finish my physical therapy which is ongoing at moment.

CliffordK

It seems to me that the manufactures need to improve the design of their rear dropouts and derailleur hanger s that the hanger goes rather than the frame. For example pre-scoring the hanger so that it has a fracture plane. Perhaps other changes. Maybe selling a "race hanger" designed not to fail except under extreme circumstances, and a "training hanger" that is designed to protect the bike.

Thus, I would argue with Trek that this is in fact a manufacturers defect, and should be treated as such.

Of course, if that fails, you need to decide:

• New, open market replacement
• New, crash discount replacement (also, does that require returning the frame? Consider the residual value of selling the frame).
• Used (e-bay, craigslist, trade-ins)
• Professional Repair. Talk to more CF repair companies. I mentioned above that it might be worth checking with Ruckus Composites.
• Home Kludge Job. Really, if you have time, and wish to put in the effort, you may be able to build your own dropout, especially if you have a good workshop.
• Get something really cheap to hold you over until you organize the funds to do a proper replacement.

I am often surprised at the value of some of the Tiagra based builds. Perhaps with 2016 closeouts, you could snag a new Tiagra CF bike for around $1000. Strip and sell the Tiagra and other parts you don't want, and build to suit. Then sell off your old frame. Do it right, and you could very well be out less that $500.

Beachgrad05

I don't have the energy to fight with Trek. I worked at the shop when they fought warranty of frame for the shop's owner's son. He eventually got them to concede and warranty his frame. I'd have to prove that it was the frame that was defective.


I thankfully have my Domane and will ride that. I just like having two bikes. The Emonda SL6 Pro is a sweet looking build up with full Ultegra and Vision carbon wheels for $700 more than the normal Emonda SL6. I rode the SL6 when I worked for them and it was a smooth stable ride.


But if I end up waiting and the loyalty discount is time limited, I may shop around to other brands. I like the Trek feature of the built in speed/cadence sensor (duo trap) for the clean look it provides rather than having something zip tied.


I may need to put components up for sale now that I have held onto. I have SRAM Apex complete drivetrain with less than 400 miles on it that were from first bike that I replaced. I have never managed to get a frame to build up new bike with those.


If I didn't have a bike to ride...I'd be all over that Emonda right now tho.

ahultin

Not sure if the available sizes would fit but: Trek Madone 4 Series Frameset - www.trekbicyclesuperstore.com

Beachgrad05

Darn! Too big for me! Otherwise NICE