DANGER: Trek multitrack 7300 (hybrid) aluminum bracket sheers off, rips apart entire rear end of bik



D

Dan

Guest
Hi,

Because this is a hybrid I'm not sure whether to place it in racing or
off-road. But here goes my story.

Saturday afternoon I was riding along a clean flat nature trail; no
sticks in the gears, no nothing. I was going at an even speed of
about 20-25mph in the next-highest gear when all of a sudden I hear a
*SNAP*, then something smashed into the rear spokes, causing an almost
instant stop. I was lucky I wasn't going downhill when this occurred,
or I would've flown over the handlebars.

It turns out that a small piece of the aluminum frame supporting the
gear shifter wore out due to metal fatigue. The shifter mechanism
ripped off the aluminum frame, got caught in the rear spokes, and
destroyed the entire rear end of the bike. Several spokes are broken
and/or bent. The shifter mechanism is bent in several places, the
shifter wire is shredded, and the front crank apparatus also has some
damage due to the sudden awkward pull on the chain.

I was not happy. I had to walk 8 miles home while contending with a
pair of minor stress fractures in the legs (I was biking because I
can't run for the moment). I've contacted the dealer but so far no
reply. This $420 bike is just barely over 2 years old, with less than
500 miles on it. I expected to get more than a dollar per mile for
this bike, and I'm really not happy with Trek's poor design of this
frame and model.

If the dealer or Trek will support the repair of this obvious
manufacturer's defect, I will keep you apprised.

Dan

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Dan wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Because this is a hybrid I'm not sure whether to place it in racing or
> off-road. But here goes my story.
>
> Saturday afternoon I was riding along a clean flat nature trail; no
> sticks in the gears, no nothing. I was going at an even speed of
> about 20-25mph in the next-highest gear when all of a sudden I hear a
> *SNAP*, then something smashed into the rear spokes, causing an almost
> instant stop. I was lucky I wasn't going downhill when this occurred,
> or I would've flown over the handlebars.
>
> It turns out that a small piece of the aluminum frame supporting the
> gear shifter wore out due to metal fatigue. The shifter mechanism
> ripped off the aluminum frame, got caught in the rear spokes, and
> destroyed the entire rear end of the bike. Several spokes are broken
> and/or bent. The shifter mechanism is bent in several places, the
> shifter wire is shredded, and the front crank apparatus also has some
> damage due to the sudden awkward pull on the chain.
>
> I was not happy. I had to walk 8 miles home while contending with a
> pair of minor stress fractures in the legs (I was biking because I
> can't run for the moment). I've contacted the dealer but so far no
> reply. This $420 bike is just barely over 2 years old, with less than
> 500 miles on it. I expected to get more than a dollar per mile for
> this bike, and I'm really not happy with Trek's poor design of this
> frame and model.
>
> If the dealer or Trek will support the repair of this obvious
> manufacturer's defect, I will keep you apprised.
>
> Dan
>


Dan,

Given that TREK uses CAD/CAM and extensive quality control to design its
bikes, the metal fatigue on the derailleur hanger was most likely due to
damage that occurred in shipping or when the 16 year old mechanic who
put the bike together at the shop you got it from took it for a spin and
mashed it against a curb or something (believe it or not teenagers who
make minimum wage do stupid stuff like that).

One of the most common things in a crash is for the derailluer hanger to
get bent. And the way most people "fix" it is to bend it back, not
realizing that doing so causes substantial yet invisible metal fatigue.

So calm down on the CONSUMER PRODUCT WARNING thing unless you know for a
fact that defect originated in the manufacturing process.

Thanks,

Magilla

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"Dan" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hi,
>
> Because this is a hybrid I'm not sure whether to place it in racing or
> off-road. But here goes my story.
>
> Saturday afternoon I was riding along a clean flat nature trail; no
> sticks in the gears, no nothing. I was going at an even speed of
> about 20-25mph in the next-highest gear when all of a sudden I hear a
> *SNAP*, then something smashed into the rear spokes, causing an almost
> instant stop. I was lucky I wasn't going downhill when this occurred,
> or I would've flown over the handlebars.
>
> It turns out that a small piece of the aluminum frame supporting the
> gear shifter wore out due to metal fatigue. The shifter mechanism
> ripped off the aluminum frame, got caught in the rear spokes, and
> destroyed the entire rear end of the bike. Several spokes are broken
> and/or bent. The shifter mechanism is bent in several places, the
> shifter wire is shredded, and the front crank apparatus also has some
> damage due to the sudden awkward pull on the chain.
>
> I was not happy. I had to walk 8 miles home while contending with a
> pair of minor stress fractures in the legs (I was biking because I
> can't run for the moment). I've contacted the dealer but so far no
> reply. This $420 bike is just barely over 2 years old, with less than
> 500 miles on it. I expected to get more than a dollar per mile for
> this bike, and I'm really not happy with Trek's poor design of this
> frame and model.
>
> If the dealer or Trek will support the repair of this obvious
> manufacturer's defect, I will keep you apprised.
>
> Dan
>

Thank God it wasn't a Bianchi.

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Dan wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Because this is a hybrid I'm not sure whether to place it in racing
or
> off-road. But here goes my story.
>
> Saturday afternoon I was riding along a clean flat nature trail; no
> sticks in the gears, no nothing. I was going at an even speed of
> about 20-25mph in the next-highest gear when all of a sudden I hear a
> *SNAP*, then something smashed into the rear spokes, causing an
almost
> instant stop. I was lucky I wasn't going downhill when this
occurred,
> or I would've flown over the handlebars.
>
> It turns out that a small piece of the aluminum frame supporting the
> gear shifter wore out due to metal fatigue. The shifter mechanism
> ripped off the aluminum frame, got caught in the rear spokes, and
> destroyed the entire rear end of the bike. Several spokes are broken
> and/or bent. The shifter mechanism is bent in several places, the
> shifter wire is shredded, and the front crank apparatus also has some
> damage due to the sudden awkward pull on the chain.
>
> I was not happy. I had to walk 8 miles home while contending with a
> pair of minor stress fractures in the legs (I was biking because I
> can't run for the moment). I've contacted the dealer but so far no
> reply. This $420 bike is just barely over 2 years old, with less
than
> 500 miles on it. I expected to get more than a dollar per mile for
> this bike, and I'm really not happy with Trek's poor design of this
> frame and model.
>
> If the dealer or Trek will support the repair of this obvious
> manufacturer's defect, I will keep you apprised.
>
> Dan
>
> --
> rec.bicycles.off-road is moderated by volunteers. To find help
solving
> posting problems, or contact the moderators, please see
http://rbor.org/
> Please read the charter before posting:
http://rbor.org/rbor_charter.txt

Your bike sounds like a prime candidate to become a singlespeed.

/s

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[email protected] wrote:
> Dan wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> Because this is a hybrid I'm not sure whether to place it in racing
>> or off-road. But here goes my story.
>>
>> Saturday afternoon I was riding along a clean flat nature trail; no
>> sticks in the gears, no nothing. I was going at an even speed of
>> about 20-25mph in the next-highest gear when all of a sudden I hear a
>> *SNAP*, then something smashed into the rear spokes, causing an
>> almost instant stop. I was lucky I wasn't going downhill when this
>> occurred, or I would've flown over the handlebars.
>>
>> It turns out that a small piece of the aluminum frame supporting the
>> gear shifter wore out due to metal fatigue. The shifter mechanism
>> ripped off the aluminum frame, got caught in the rear spokes, and
>> destroyed the entire rear end of the bike. Several spokes are broken
>> and/or bent. The shifter mechanism is bent in several places, the
>> shifter wire is shredded, and the front crank apparatus also has some
>> damage due to the sudden awkward pull on the chain.
>>
>> I was not happy. I had to walk 8 miles home while contending with a
>> pair of minor stress fractures in the legs (I was biking because I
>> can't run for the moment). I've contacted the dealer but so far no
>> reply. This $420 bike is just barely over 2 years old, with less
>> than 500 miles on it. I expected to get more than a dollar per mile
>> for this bike, and I'm really not happy with Trek's poor design of
>> this frame and model.
>>
>> If the dealer or Trek will support the repair of this obvious
>> manufacturer's defect, I will keep you apprised.
>>
>> Dan
>>
>> --
>> rec.bicycles.off-road is moderated by volunteers. To find help
>> solving posting problems, or contact the moderators, please see
>> http://rbor.org/ Please read the charter before posting:
> http://rbor.org/rbor_charter.txt
>
> Your bike sounds like a prime candidate to become a singlespeed.

LOL nice way to look at it...

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training


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On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 07:14:36 CST, "Phil, Squid-in-Training"
<[email protected]> may have said:

>[email protected] wrote:
>> Your bike sounds like a prime candidate to become a singlespeed.
>
>LOL nice way to look at it...

If half the right dropout is gone, it's not much of a candidate for
conversion until the dropout has been replaced. (Not to mention the
possible bent stays.)

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

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On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 07:14:36 CST, "Phil, Squid-in-Training"
<[email protected]> may have said:

>[email protected] wrote:
>> Your bike sounds like a prime candidate to become a singlespeed.
>
>LOL nice way to look at it...

If half the right dropout is gone, it's not much of a candidate for
conversion until the dropout has been replaced. (Not to mention the
possible bent stays.)

--
My email address is antispammed; pull WEEDS if replying via e-mail.
Typoes are not a bug, they're a feature.
Words processed in a facility that contains nuts.

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In rec.bicycles.racing [email protected] wrote:
> Dan wrote:

> <snip>

>> It turns out that a small piece of the aluminum frame supporting the
>> gear shifter wore out due to metal fatigue. The shifter mechanism
>> ripped off the aluminum frame, got caught in the rear spokes, and
>> destroyed the entire rear end of the bike. Several spokes are broken
>> and/or bent. The shifter mechanism is bent in several places, the
>> shifter wire is shredded, and the front crank apparatus also has some
>> damage due to the sudden awkward pull on the chain.

> I would be willing to bet that the manufacturer finds an excuse to not
> do anything, even if the dealer goes to bat for you. It doesn't matter
> what the actual cause of the failure was, it's whether or not they can
> find a way to not do anything, since it's your word against their's.

Look, it was his own damn fault. Frames don't fail that way without
some measure of operator error. He should suck it up and buy a new
bike or frame and not expect Trek to cover for his mistakes.

> You really want to avoid aluminum frames if at all possible, but you're
> not going to find many $420 bicycles with chromoloy steel frames! Metal
> fatigue is a huge problem with aluminum, and not just on bicycles. Of
> course most of the time you'll be just fine, but it's those
> catastrophic failures, that are much more likely to occur with
> aluminum, that are scary. The derailleur hanger can be subjected to a
> lot of stress, with not a lot of metal there.

This is flat out ********.

I've broken my share of bikes. The really hairy frame failures have
all involved steel. The only damage I've done to any of the aluminum
bikes I've owned was my own damn fault.

The time I ripped the down tube out of the lower head lug in a crit,
it was a steel frame. The time I had a chain stay come loose from
the bottom bracket shell, it was steel. The time I was wondering
what the !@#$% was up with my front brake and realized, once I had
stopped, that the fork leg was failing at the crown, it was steel.

And the time I crashed and whacked an aluminum derailleur hanger, I
fixed it with a cresent wrench and an alignment tool. If it would
have failed later I'd have sucked it up and bought a new frame
because it would have been my own damn fault.

Derailleur hangers do not see a lot of stress unless someone screws
up.

Bob Schwartz
[email protected]

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Werehatrack wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 07:14:36 CST, "Phil, Squid-in-Training"
> <[email protected]> may have said:
>
> >[email protected] wrote:
> >> Your bike sounds like a prime candidate to become a singlespeed.
> >
> >LOL nice way to look at it...
>
> If half the right dropout is gone, it's not much of a candidate for
> conversion until the dropout has been replaced. (Not to mention the
> possible bent stays.)
>
> --

I figured he snapped off part of the hanger. Half of the dropout would
be impressive.
Bent aluminum stays? Really? You think?
/s

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Bob Schwartz wrote:

> Look, it was his own damn fault. Frames don't fail that way without
> some measure of operator error.

If it was a replaceable, breakaway hanger, there was no frame failure,
the hanger broke away as it was designed to do. Unfortunately, after it
broke was when the real damage occurred, but you can't expect the
manufacturer to cover collateral damage like that.

> He should suck it up and buy a new
> bike or frame and not expect Trek to cover for his mistakes.

I agree that he will have to buy a new bike, and that it is
unreasonable for Trek to cover the damage, if in fact it was a
replaceable, breakaway hanger that broke off.

> This is flat out ********.
>
> I've broken my share of bikes. The really hairy frame failures have
> all involved steel. The only damage I've done to any of the aluminum
> bikes I've owned was my own damn fault.

Your personal experience is not proof of anything.

Aluminum is not designed to be stressed. The clever workaround is the
replaceable, breakaway, derailleur hanger, which is designed to prevent
frame damage. As the orignal poster found, things don't always fail in
the perfect manner. Aluminum has some good attributes, it's light and
it's cheap. But in some cases, it's better to have something bendable
than breakable.

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[email protected] wrote:
>
>
> Your personal experience is not proof of anything.
>
> Aluminum is not designed to be stressed. The clever workaround is the
> replaceable, breakaway, derailleur hanger, which is designed to
prevent
> frame damage. As the orignal poster found, things don't always fail
in
> the perfect manner. Aluminum has some good attributes, it's light and
> it's cheap. But in some cases, it's better to have something bendable
> than breakable.

:) "Aluminum is not designed to be stressed!" IOW, we should all
rush out and get good solid steel parts to replace our aluminum frames.
And aluminum cranks. And aluminum brakes. And aluminum derailleurs.
And handlebars. And stems. And rims. And hubs. And seatposts...

Sadly, I don't think your posts have anything to do with April First!


- Frank Krygowski

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Bob Schwartz wrote:
> Look, it was his own damn fault. Frames don't fail that way without
> some measure of operator error. He should suck it up and buy a new
> bike or frame and not expect Trek to cover for his mistakes.

Several years ago, while JRA, I ran over a stick (or perhaps, a vicious
and wily stick jumped up and attacked my innocent rear wheel). It lodged
into the wheel and ripped the derailleur out of the rear hanger, bent the
aluminum hanger, broke one spoke and bent a couple of others. I consider
that my own damn fault, not the manufacturer's.

Dan complained:
> I was not happy. I had to walk 8 miles home while contending
> with a pair of minor stress fractures in the legs

Poor baby. I took out my CPR-9, removed the broken derailleur, shortened
the chain to turn the bike into a single-speed, and did a rough true of
the wheel. Then I rode 10 miles home.


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On Sat, 2 Apr 2005 00:44:30 CST, [email protected] wrote:

>Don't made bikes made in asia if you care about safety. Buy
>cannondale or american made.

Who the **** added rbr to these posts and let the tech nuts loose? If
you're riding like a townie and the shifter breaks, you either need to
learn to shift or take the bike back to the shop when it starts to
make the funny grinding noises. If you claim to be able to do all that
and are riding hard, then you need to learn that **** happens and its
part of the game.

I had a really bad day once, making the mistake of riding the day
after high school graduation. Even with dodging and trying to look
ahead until I was blind, I managed to go through two spares and the
four patches I had. Hitched a ride home in the back of migrant
worker's pick-up truck. Didn't sue the bike shop for not telling me
tires get flats, didn't sue Budweiser for making cheap ass bottles and
didn't sue Cheng Shin for the tubes. I did give the migrant worker a
six pack in cans...

Curtis L. Russell
Odenton, MD (USA)
Just someone on two wheels...

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On Sat, 2 Apr 2005 00:44:30 CST, [email protected] wrote:

>Don't made bikes made in asia if you care about safety. Buy
>cannondale or american made.

I hate to tell you this, but I have been in a few Taiwan bicycle
factories where they asked me not to photograph the "American made"
frames they were building. More than 90% of the world's highest bike
technology comes from a small corridor in Taiwan, part of Taichung.

China is a different matter altogether.

Michael J. Klein [email protected]
Yangmei Jen (Hukou), Taoyuan Hsien, Taiwan, ROC
Please replace mousepotato with asiancastings
---------------------------------------------

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"Michael J. Klein" <[email protected]> wrote:

>On Sat, 2 Apr 2005 00:44:30 CST, [email protected] wrote:
>
>>Don't made bikes made in asia if you care about safety. Buy
>>cannondale or american made.
>
>I hate to tell you this, but I have been in a few Taiwan bicycle
>factories where they asked me not to photograph the "American made"
>frames they were building. More than 90% of the world's highest bike
>technology comes from a small corridor in Taiwan, part of Taichung.
>
>China is a different matter altogether.

Yes, in China, they don't want you to photograph the "Taiwan made"
bicycles. (I'm not kidding).

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $695 ti frame

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