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 bull****.

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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