Trek warranty, bike store responsibility, or suck it up

[Unsytherhino]

I bought a Trek 1.2 in April, seemed a decent entry level road bike, it had good reviews. Last week I was coming to the end of a ride, I was going fairly slow, shifting down the gears, when the real derailleur got caught in the spokes, it was stuck and I was unable to remove it, I carried the bike home (fortunately I was just around the corner) and had another look at it, still couldn't move the derailleur out of the spokes and I didn't want to try forcing it and cause more damage, I noticed that the frame had bent and cracked where it holds the rear wheel.

I took it to the store I bought it from, one of their mechanics took a look and said "if it was a horse, he'd take it around the back and shoot it", he told me that he have his boss take a look at it and they would see it Trek would cover it with their warranty. Trek warranty folks said the damage was not covered by warranty, but they would offer me a replacement bike with a 20% discount ($800 inc tax), I was not impressed by this, I asked the mechanic about the limit screws on the derailleur and why they didn't prevent this, he said that all bikes are checked before they leave the store, but the hanger could get bent easily, I mentioned that I was very careful storing the bike and had only been out on it about 4-5 times, he said there was no way of knowing now if the hanger was bent and repeated that all bikes sold are inspected before leaving the store, effectively saying it's my word against the stores and they're not going to accept responsibility, but he was sympathetic with my situation and would talk to the store owner, the owner said that they would give the replacement bike to me at cost (around $600), and this is where I'm at now, I'm not happy about spending another $600 for a bike that I had already spent $1000 on, and I'm going to pursue Trek further and see if I can get them to change their minds about the warranty (I feel the frame should not have cracked), I'm also going to try to speak to the store owner regarding the limit screws but that issue is a little subjective if they say I bent the hanger.

Can anyone provide any insight on where I stand with Trek and the store? Thanks

 

[johnlh]

I feel for you. The limits may have been improperly set, or something could have happened to the bike. Who knows.

Perhaps you should ask the shop for a discounted replacement frame & wheel repair. If they can't do this, ask them how much it would cost to have your parts swapped onto an $80 frame you are thinking of buying online.

 

[180mmCrank]

The frame cracked!? - There is no way that the derailleur going into the spokes cracked the frame ... it is much more likely that the frame cracked first and that's what caused the derailleur to be out of alignment and get caught up in the spokes. Do you remember riding over a bump or a pot hole or anything else that might have bust the frame?

If the frame cracked first then this should be covered by the warranty.

Does this make sense? Is it helpful?

 

[laziali]

Sounds like the frame cracked causing the rear der to go into the spokes not the other way around.

No way a frame should crack after a few months. So unless you crashed or mistreated it, then this is 100% covered by warranty.

 

[deboat]

Warranty is something that covers the owner from manufacturing defects. This is not a guaranty. There is a differance.
Depending where you are, you may not be dealing with Trek but a Trek importer or distributor.
I would write to your Trek Rep. and in a friendly manner state your case.
The shop is there to help you. If you want to take it further with Trek ask the shop for help and support with this. I think it is friendly that the shop has offered you more than Trek has offered. To me this shows that the shop values you as a customer.

If the bike was working and shifting gears before then stopped working correctly I would be thinking that either something had broke or the owner had (without knowing) caused some damage. For a new frame to break would need a great force. When I have broken frames in my past, I would not feel a sharp impact because the frame absorbs the force and breaks , so the rider feels little.

Good luck!!

 

[richwagmn]

I bought a Trek 1.2 in April, seemed a decent entry level road bike, it had good reviews. Last week I was coming to the end of a ride, I was going fairly slow, shifting down the gears, when the real derailleur got caught in the spokes, it was stuck and I was unable to remove it, I carried the bike home (fortunately I was just around the corner) and had another look at it, still couldn't move the derailleur out of the spokes and I didn't want to try forcing it and cause more damage, I noticed that the frame had bent and cracked where it holds the rear wheel.

I took it to the store I bought it from, one of their mechanics took a look and said "if it was a horse, he'd take it around the back and shoot it", he told me that he have his boss take a look at it and they would see it Trek would cover it with their warranty. Trek warranty folks said the damage was not covered by warranty, but they would offer me a replacement bike with a 20% discount ($800 inc tax), I was not impressed by this, I asked the mechanic about the limit screws on the derailleur and why they didn't prevent this, he said that all bikes are checked before they leave the store, but the hanger could get bent easily, I mentioned that I was very careful storing the bike and had only been out on it about 4-5 times, he said there was no way of knowing now if the hanger was bent and repeated that all bikes sold are inspected before leaving the store, effectively saying it's my word against the stores and they're not going to accept responsibility, but he was sympathetic with my situation and would talk to the store owner, the owner said that they would give the replacement bike to me at cost (around $600), and this is where I'm at now, I'm not happy about spending another $600 for a bike that I had already spent $1000 on, and I'm going to pursue Trek further and see if I can get them to change their minds about the warranty (I feel the frame should not have cracked), I'm also going to try to speak to the store owner regarding the limit screws but that issue is a little subjective if they say I bent the hanger.

Can anyone provide any insight on where I stand with Trek and the store? Thanks

Strange one.

Does the 1.2 have a replaceable derailleur hanger? If so, no way a derailleur going into the spokes would damage the frame.

The one time I had this happen on a bike without a replaceable hanger, it spun the derailleur around and bent it and damaged the threads. There was no frame damage (except the frame was toast because the hanger wasn't replaceable).

I think your bike shop should man up and accept some responsibility for a derailleur being out of adjustment. Do they have a checklist of everything they check? Where is it? Something's not right.

All I know is you're not at fault but are being asked to bear the brunt of the cost.

I'm doubting t

 

[Unsytherhino]

Thanks y'all for your imput, I don't remember hitting any bumps, it looks like the frame bent cracked when the derailleur got caught & I was still trying to ride, the wheel stuck fast & put pressure on that part of the frame (not sure if that makes sense, I'm approaching the limit of my tech knowledge). I'm planning on talking to the owner of the bike shop today & I'll see if they can give more insight into the warranty.

 

[BroDeal]

It sounds like the LBS screwed up and did not adjust the derailleur correctly.

 

[ElChingon]

It sounds like the LBS screwed up and did not adjust the derailleur correctly.

Yea, sounds just like that. Had this happen to a friend, he picked the bike up for the shop, rode a group ride and at one point BAM! Rear derailure was eaten up into the rear cogset. Friend took it to the shop and just dropped it off saying, there's a problem with the bike and literally left. Got a call a couple days later to pick it up. They replaced the rear derailure, hanger, new cables, new bar tape, new rear wheel. Price $0.00 and an apology.

 

[Unsytherhino]

Spoke to the owner of the LBS today, not happy, he claimed to not have technical knowledge of the situation and leaves this sort of thing to his employees, I find this surprising for a guy who's ran a bike store for over 25 years, and in spite of the mechanic saying he spoke with him about it on several occasions, and they're being more than fair by replacing the bike at cost, also offered no help on the warranty claim with Trek, said he didn't know why I was talking to him. I'm not happy.

Thanks for all your input folks

 

[veganrob]

Spoke to the owner of the LBS today, not happy, he claimed to not have technical knowledge of the situation and leaves this sort of thing to his employees, I find this surprising for a guy who's ran a bike store for over 25 years, and in spite of the mechanic saying he spoke with him about it on several occasions, and they're being more than fair by replacing the bike at cost, also offered no help on the warranty claim with Trek, said he didn't know why I was talking to him. I'm not happy.

Thanks for all your input folks

Complain directly to Trek. You are being shafted by bike shop.

 

[180mmCrank]

Complain directly to Trek. You are being shafted by bike shop.

I agree... the shop should take more responsibility.

 

[Archibald]

it's simple.

Shop sold you a faulty product (whether original product was faulty or this is the resultant damage of faulty work by shop mechanic).

They need to replace the faulty product or give you your money back. They can then seek/argue recovery from Trek. It shouldn't be your issue...

 

[hiero2]

Thread moved to Bikes and Gear.

Personally, I don't see enough information here to judge whether the OP is being shafted or not. Too many unanswered questions, and I've only seen one side to this story.

I do wish him luck in resolving his dilemma.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

I bought a Trek 1.2 in April, seemed a decent entry level road bike, it had good reviews. Last week I was coming to the end of a ride, I was going fairly slow, shifting down the gears, when the real derailleur got caught in the spokes, it was stuck and I was unable to remove it, I carried the bike home (fortunately I was just around the corner) and had another look at it, still couldn't move the derailleur out of the spokes and I didn't want to try forcing it and cause more damage, I noticed that the frame had bent and cracked where it holds the rear wheel.

I took it to the store I bought it from, one of their mechanics took a look and said "if it was a horse, he'd take it around the back and shoot it", he told me that he have his boss take a look at it and they would see it Trek would cover it with their warranty. Trek warranty folks said the damage was not covered by warranty, but they would offer me a replacement bike with a 20% discount ($800 inc tax), I was not impressed by this, I asked the mechanic about the limit screws on the derailleur and why they didn't prevent this, he said that all bikes are checked before they leave the store, but the hanger could get bent easily, I mentioned that I was very careful storing the bike and had only been out on it about 4-5 times, he said there was no way of knowing now if the hanger was bent and repeated that all bikes sold are inspected before leaving the store, effectively saying it's my word against the stores and they're not going to accept responsibility, but he was sympathetic with my situation and would talk to the store owner, the owner said that they would give the replacement bike to me at cost (around $600), and this is where I'm at now, I'm not happy about spending another $600 for a bike that I had already spent $1000 on, and I'm going to pursue Trek further and see if I can get them to change their minds about the warranty (I feel the frame should not have cracked), I'm also going to try to speak to the store owner regarding the limit screws but that issue is a little subjective if they say I bent the hanger.

Can anyone provide any insight on where I stand with Trek and the store? Thanks

Interesting that the shop is essentially calling you a liar, in that when you said you didn't bend the der hanger by having it fall over, they are saying you did.

Pretty obvious, regardless of what the store 'says' they do to make sure the der limit screws are set, yours clearly was not. If it's a typical trekspecializedgiant store, the people at the low end of the food chain do the assembly, get paid piece work, so they are rewarded for being fast(and maybe incomplete in their job).

If the owner is a decent owner he would either have trek warranty or self warranty. Otherwise he doesn't understand how crowded the bike market is, how tough it is to keep customers and how easy it is to lose them.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Spoke to the owner of the LBS today, not happy, he claimed to not have technical knowledge of the situation and leaves this sort of thing to his employees, I find this surprising for a guy who's ran a bike store for over 25 years, and in spite of the mechanic saying he spoke with him about it on several occasions, and they're being more than fair by replacing the bike at cost, also offered no help on the warranty claim with Trek, said he didn't know why I was talking to him. I'm not happy.

Thanks for all your input folks

Geezz, another clueless bike shop owner.

 

[dsut4392]

Thread moved to Bikes and Gear.

Personally, I don't see enough information here to judge whether the OP is being shafted or not. Too many unanswered questions, and I've only seen one side to this story.

I do wish him luck in resolving his dilemma.

I'm inclined to agree. Without some nice close-up pictures of the damage (@ the OP, hint hint) it's hard to make a call on what happened. Bending a derailleur hanger is easy to do, and doesn't imply fault on behalf of the shop or the bike owner.

It does sound unusual that the frame is "bent and cracked where it holds the rear wheel". A replaceable derailleur hanger shouldn't allow this sort of damage to occur, and I would expect Trek to come to the party with a replacement frame if the bike shop asked them nicely. That still leaves the rear wheel, derailleur and chain that need to be paid for by someone...

 

[laziali]

I'm inclined to agree. Without some nice close-up pictures of the damage (@ the OP, hint hint) it's hard to make a call on what happened. Bending a derailleur hanger is easy to do, and doesn't imply fault on behalf of the shop or the bike owner.

It does sound unusual that the frame is "bent and cracked where it holds the rear wheel". A replaceable derailleur hanger shouldn't allow this sort of damage to occur, and I would expect Trek to come to the party with a replacement frame if the bike shop asked them nicely. That still leaves the rear wheel, derailleur and chain that need to be paid for by someone...

Agreed. Not clear from the OP whether the rear replaceable hanger is bent and cracked or whether the frame is. If it's the hanger, then that's a $10-$20 replacement job. If it's the frame, well that's mighty unusual and sounds like a clear warranty claim.

 

[nabowood]

Similar Situation

I own a Trek Crockett that is less than a year old. Have had no problems with the bike. Haven't adjusted the rear deraileur in ages. Shifted like it was meant to shift. Last week I was rolling out of a parking lot, not shifting, no real pressure on the cranks (small chainring and middle of cassette) when next thing I know, My derailleur was crumpled on top of the cassette, chain was bent almost 90 degrees and jambed into my spokes. Turns out that my hanger had snapped, for no apparent reason.
I have ridden many bikes and many, many miles and have never had this happen before. Had to have been a flaw in the hanger casting. Not sure yet whether Trek will do anything or maybe the bike shop will cover it?
Anybody have similar problem?

 

[King Boonen]

Less than a year, back to the shop. Should just get switched out for free. Did it damage anything?

 

[durianrider]

100% you hit your RD on something that caused it to bend the RD hanger. Then you go to fast shift it up to the biggest rear cog on the cassette and it gets sucked into the spokes and rips it all off.

Every few months I see a noob walking down the road in their cleats with a snapped off RD and I stop and explain to em what just happened. Most deny then I point to the obvious scratch that is longer than an hour old on the lateral side of their RD.

Bike shop is not to blame, neither is Trek. You caused the bend or someone who loaned/parked your bike.

1.2 is a strong bike. JRA doesnt happen on bikes like this.

Google image 'bent rd hanger' so you know what to look for when you clean your bike each week or after it gets knocked/shipped etc.

Just buy a new frame and put your parts over onto it. Easy. Or buy the good priced bike and donate your parts to someone in Africa.

 

[richwagmn]

I own a Trek Crockett that is less than a year old. Have had no problems with the bike. Haven't adjusted the rear deraileur in ages. Shifted like it was meant to shift. Last week I was rolling out of a parking lot, not shifting, no real pressure on the cranks (small chainring and middle of cassette) when next thing I know, My derailleur was crumpled on top of the cassette, chain was bent almost 90 degrees and jambed into my spokes. Turns out that my hanger had snapped, for no apparent reason.
I have ridden many bikes and many, many miles and have never had this happen before. Had to have been a flaw in the hanger casting. Not sure yet whether Trek will do anything or maybe the bike shop will cover it?
Anybody have similar problem?

That'd have to be a crazy bent derailleur hanger to cause a problem in the middle of the cassette. Does the cassette freewheel properly? Only reason I ask is I once had a piece of debris get between the hub and the back of the cassette. Stopped pedaling and well... you guess what happened next.

Something doesn't seem right. I'd certainly go back to the shop.

 

[winkybiker]

That'd have to be a crazy bent derailleur hanger to cause a problem in the middle of the cassette. Does the cassette freewheel properly? Only reason I ask is I once had a piece of debris get between the hub and the back of the cassette. Stopped pedaling and well... you guess what happened next.

Something doesn't seem right. I'd certainly go back to the shop.

A friend had a derailleur torn off. Middle of the cassette, immediately after a double front/rear shift. My guess was that a kink was thrown into the slack chain as the front changed. The kink then jammed in the jockey wheel - game over.

 

[dsut4392]

I was on dcrainmaker's site a couple of weeks back (please don't judge me) and he has a post about a similar incident his wife experienced with a trek tri bike. probably completely unrelated of course...