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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