[Closed] Bit of an accident.. Any advice?

Doubt there is much they will do. Mechs / chains can get tangled at any point and a badly timed pedal stroke can literally rip a mech clean off. I watched a mate do it a few weeks ago after a rocky descent. The chain had got caught without him knowing and first pedal stroke ripped the mech off at the hangar.

Shit happens but nobody is to blame.

You've got it the wrong way round.
The hanger did'nt break,causing the damage.
The hanger was broken as a result of the damage caused more than likely by the mech hitting the spokes because of said hanger being bent whilst being stored on the train.
Yep it's a pisser...but not BETD or Halfords fault.

Need to calm down before I go to Halfords tomorrow and tear them a new one.

Yep, you definitely need to calm down. Leave the poor Halfords fellas alone. They've done nothing wrong, you've just been unfortunate.

[url= http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/done-some-damage-to-the-bike-options ]This thread might help. [/url]

Could have been either way round in theory but my money is with rorscharch. Snapped hanger more likely a by product of train induced damage.

Wot they said

Need to calm down before I go to Halfords tomorrow and tear them a new one.

For what exactly?

Count yourself lucky. There's a bloke with a similar issue on another thread, and he lost FIVE spokes

What a coincidence. Someone else has a similar problem on the same day!!!
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/done-some-damage-to-the-bike-options
He sounds angry too.

[i]Fast forward a few months to this afternoon, im getting off the train, get on the bike and clunk!

The damage is:

Hangar snapped in half
About 4 spokes snapped when the mech fell into them so the wheel needs to be rebuilt on all new spokes as far as I'm concerned
The mech is trashed
The chain is warped and trashed
The rear gear cable and housing is trashed
[/i]

Yer, right... Just riding/walking along 😕

but not BETD or Halfords fault.

Yup suck it up buttercup.

If it has been fine for the last few months and now the mech has decided to have a meeting with he spokes then the chances are the derailleur has taken a knock or something has put to much force on it.

Rant over.. Need to calm down before I go to Halfords tomorrow and tear them a new one.

Did a Halfords employee give the bike a good kicking while you were on the train.?

Probably. It's how they get most of their business.

[img] [/img]

I posted on your other thread btw but I fail to see how you could possibly have any justification for threatening to [i]tear them a new one[/i] , I expect halfords response will not meet your expectations.

I suppose the hanger breakage could be down to a multiude of possibilities such as chain bounce down the cassette whilst on the train or just being damn unlucky/mechanically unsympathetic.

Nope stay angry absolutely they're fault.

(can we run a book on how long he stays in the store before someone in a uniform ushers him out?)

This thread could be a grower....

[img] [/img]

Misread 'grower' as something else....

Hasn't it done it's job perfectly? Stronger mech hanger = much more damage?

Misread 'grower' as something else....

Growler?

[img] ?v=1417897981[/img]

[img] [/img]

[img] ?resize=498%2C332[/img]

Errrr

Thanks for the opinions..

I was under the impression hangars were supposed to bend rather than shear off.

It literally occurred at about 3 mph when I got off a train.. I'm not an enduro red bull suicide rider by any means.. That's why I'm a bit miffed... I do bridal ways and country single track.

I was seathing earlier buy I'm a bit calmer now.. Any more opinions appreciated.

Are all those little lines from last time you bent it back straight? That's how mine looks after a trailside yank back inline...

Edit- as for options, most of my Deore kit is as a result of replacing stuff I broke. Cheap and it works. Probably go for the cheapest hanger though, well, I do go for the cheapest in the hope that it will break instead of anything else.

Any more opinions appreciated.

Yes - Halfords and BETD aren't at fault, the mech probably got knocked on the train and jammed in the wheel.

The circular /cyrical tooth marks on the hangar are from where the QR camps on.

@mattyfez no, the little fractures in the black coating around the outside where the QR doesn't clamp.

User error. You didnt do that damage ar 3mph after 3 pedal strokes.

It probably is possible to do that kind of damage after 3 pedal strokes while setting off, once the wheel is starting to spin there's enough leverage to pull off a mech and break the hanger, with the lever being the length of the spoke/radius of the wheel I guess.

That's exactly how it happened, there was some force on the cranks as I was setting off from a standing start pretty much..

But not massively so and I'm no Olympian either... I'm of the mind that this is poor quality hardware.

I'm of the mind that this is poor quality hardware.

Two months ago you were unsure of how to solve a simple drivetrain issue, which was compounded by worn out parts.
On the basis of this, and your two conflicting statements tonight about what happened, has led me to suspect you may not be the most experienced of cycle mechanics.
I am of the mind it is just one of those things, caused by your mech hitting the spokes or damage sustained from a prior incident.

Allow me to re frame the question then;

Should a mech hangar bend or snap?

Also, anyone know any good wheel builders in west yorks.. think I need one!

To answer your question : to save the frame it may ben OR snap, but it saves your frame. Perhaps not mech or spokes. The three times I have done it in 22 years of biking it has always bent the mech, twice taken out spokes and bent once.

That's the thing.. I'm wondering why it failed in the way it did and when it did.. it's not as if it was redbull rampage, I was cycling off from a train station.

Why, because something didn't move how it expected. If the mech was pushed over or bent onto the wheel the it will commit suicide to save your frame. For reference I don't think anyone snapped a hanger at rampage this year.

These things just happen

Earlier this year I witnessed a woman annihilate most of her drivetrain in 2 pedal revs when she pulled away from a junction in top gear and tried to downshift. It took me 10 minutes to split and untangle the chain it was so wrapped round everything. It had bent some of the teeth on the chainring, the mech had got dragged right up round the cassette.

That was two pedal revs at about 1mph on a road bike. You don't need to be some sort of Josh Bender character to break things you know.

Sounds like either the mech or shifters got knocked while on the train, you've tried to pedal off and the bike has tried to change gear. Really not the fault of Halfords or BETD.

The mech hanger is designed to fail to save your frame. It may bend, it may break but is should save your frame.
It's rather like a bumper on a car it is designed to fail to save more critical/expensive components. Also, like a bumper, they don't just bend or crack on their own. There needs to be some force applied like some ones briefcase swinging into it because some one else left their bike in the way on the train or shifters pushed while the bike is stationary.
Buy a new hanger, get the other damage fixed and move on without venting your spleen at some yoof in a fluffy dice emporium.

I do bridal ways and country single track.

You had my full support until you admitted being involved in weddings

Look at the broken-off faces of the two parts of the hanger and you'll see that it's made from a coarse crystalline alloy. This is deliberate and is to ensure that it snaps sacrificially. You can't straighten a bent hanger as it will work-harden and will soon snap. It's as others have writtten above; it's like the fuse in a circuit, a deliberate weak spot. Derailleur hangers are easily bent when the bike falls on its right side or gets pushed against another bike, as in a train for example.

You + bike are probably over 100kg, now imagine you are rolling at 3mph and get an assistant to stop the bike on the spot by ramming a stick into the rear wheel.

First off, the stick will be wrenched from his hands (broken hanger) then it will rotate round the wheel until it hits the chain stays (or the chain stops it (the mech)) and then it will break spokes until the bike stops.

Then you'll see why the damage can be so severe. Before replaceable hangers people would destroy frames doing this...

Should a mech hangar bend or snap?

Yes. It should bend or snap to protect the frame and mech. Whether it bends or snaps depends on the force.

What a mech hanger won't do is fall in half by itself, which I think is what you're asking.

Are you sure the mech hasn't taken a hit on the train? I've only had two mech into spoke incidents both were my fault. Mech hanger is designed to deform to save the frame.

How did you break the first one?

How did you break the first one?

Just riding along.

OP all the answers are above. This is no ones fault (though youn can check the hanger for straightness but few do!).

Hangers are easy to break (too easy imo but what choice do we have) especially given the high force we can put through cranks esp at low speeds. It's not about racing/enduro or whatever.

Also: no need to rebuild wheel and twisted chain links can be straightened easily.

Mech hangers only fail a couple of ways. Either they get pushed into the spokes by being pressed up against something or they get sucked into the spokes by incorrect rear mech adjustment. Neither are the suppliers fault. Only the second could be if they fitted it.

You just have to suck it up.

Lol at some of the replies heheh!

Thanks all.. I'll just have to get it fixed.. Guess I was venting a bit as I was a bit annoyed to say the least!

Fine example of the Dunning Kruger effect.

It sucks when this sort of thing happens but as has been said it's not the bike shop's or mech hanger company's fault, it's just one of those things. If something stop the chain running freely then the mech hanger gets ripped forward and will usually snap the mech hanger before bouncing into the rear wheel and trashing your spokes/wheel for good measure.

I had it happen to me on an almost brand new bike, not 100% sure what caused it but had just ridden through a bit of gravel so suspect a bit got stuck in the chain or something - luckily for me the mech bounced off the spokes and I stopped before it did any real damage.

Buy 2 mech hangers this time?!

I've got a hangar full of hangers if you want won.

You are right in that things don't just break for no reason. Carzy-legs is right, these things tend to happen just setting off within a pedal stroke or two. It could be that the chain jumped along the block when you got it off the train, something want 100% adjusted right, or something got knocked on the train. I guess the chain was trying to change sprocket when seeing off, which often doesn't work very well.
The hanger did it's job, and I've just had then snap rather than bend. If they're strong enough to bend, then there is a danger the force will break your frame also.

My chum broke his Foil chainstay when a bit of gravel jammed the derailleur and it then did a loop the loop round his cassette. Luckily he found out who supplied the gravel and was able to pursue them for the damage...

Luckily he found out who supplied the gravel and was able to pursue them for the damage...

Really 😕

No not really. Gotcha 😀 He did break his Foil tho.

As everybody has already said this is the hanger doing it's job and breaking to be honest I would be worried if it bent instead as that would involve transferring load to the frame it is supposed to be protecting.
My Santa Cruz original hangers did seem a little too keen to sacrifice themselves to the greater good but the aftermarket replacements seem to have a better lifespan without yet allowing damage to the frame.