2 spokes broken in a week (on a 3 month old bike!)

[billflat12]

Sounds like your gears was poorly setup when you purchased it , was your broken spokes on the drive side ? if the chain overshifted and jammed in the back wheel this would cause it to snap and explain your bent mech, it would also damage the spoke ends behind the cassette causing your problems with spokes snapping now , you will need to remove your cassette to check this . While the cassette is off you could also fit a plastic spoke protector to prevent this from happening in the future,

PS. ok guys, Dork discs are uncool but to open a debate see : http://www.briztreadley.com/2009/cannondale-busted-for-not-fitting-a-spoke-protector-disc/

 

[snailracer]

Expensive BSO?

 

[whitebait]

Just a quick update on this...

Dropped the bike in for them to replace the mech and explained to the mechanic that I wanted my £21 for the original spoke replacement back, as the issue was obviously caused by the dodgy mech.

Went in to pick it up from Cyclesurgery Moorgate after work and spoke to the manager who tried to first tell me that they'd replaced the mech and second spoke as a 'goodwill gesture' and that they wouldn't be giving me my money back for the first spoke replacement as it was just one of these things, especially when you're a 'heavier rider' (I'm 6'6" and a little under 15 stone) and have panniers attached.

I said that wasn't acceptable and that the bike was sold as a touring/audax bike, had rackmounts so was obviously built with the expectation that it'd be used with panniers, that he wasn't replacing it out of goodwill, but rather because the bike was faulty, is still under warranty and under the sale of goods act the bike has to be fit for purpose and it clearly wasn't.

After a couple of repetitions of the above and when it became obvious to him that I wasn't going to leave without my £21 he called CS Kings Cross and spoke to their manager. He'd clearly already spoken to him about it and the other manager was absolutely fine with it and also said that if any more drive side spokes go they'll be happy to replace the whole wheel under warranty.

Thanks to everyone for your comments and suggestions. Really good to have this stuff clarified by people who know what they're talking about! I've got to say, generally the bike is great. When it's working it's a great ride and I've really been enjoying commuting (725 miles since I got the bike!). However, this experience has really put me off CS. I wish I'd gone through a nice little LBS rather than a chain who just seem to want to take your money and aren't bothered how you fare after that. The only reason I used them for the spoke replacements was that they're literally 2 minutes from my office and they're the company I bought the bike from.

Anyway, fingers crossed all's well from now on... Thanks again everyone!

 

[vorsprung]

Sounds like you got a "Friday Afternoon" bike with a dodgy chain and a bent dérailleur

 

[Angelfishsolo]

Sounds like you got a "Friday Afternoon" bike with a dodgy chain and a bent dérailleur

Yep indeed it does.

 

[mickle]

A salutary lesson in how to deal with a retailer who is trying to shirk their responsibility.

Though I'd have insisted on a full refund for the 'Just one of those things' comment alone.

I mean - honestly - did they weigh you at the point that you bought the bike?

 

[Angelfishsolo]

A salutary lesson in how to deal with a retailer who is trying to shirk their responsibility.

Though I'd have insisted on a full refund for the 'Just one of those things' comment alone.

I mean - honestly - did they weigh you at the point that you bought the bike?

I reckon they weighed him up though and though it wise to "do the right thing"

 

[billflat12]

Well done OP !! Ridgeback used to be a reputable make , having snapped your chain, bent a derailleur you should have at least insisted CS checked the other spokes behind the cassette for chain damage , or that they replaced the wheel there and then , I bought a ridgeback last year to use on a c2c 3day camping trip, bike was fitted with a 8speed shimano acera "megarange" type cassette for steeper climbs, as the chain obviously had a wider ratio gap to jump between the 2 lowest gears occasionally the chain came off and jammed behind the cassette, despite the limit screw being adjusted correctly, as the bike was new i had also checked and re-tensioned a few odd spokes during the ride, on the last day 2 drive side spokes snapped and badly buckled the back wheel , on returning home i discovered chain damage on another 10 of the 18 drive side spokes so rebuilt the wheel , i also replaced said cassette , also fitted a 4bolt adjustable stem to replace its flimsy 2bolt design that flexed so much at speed it was actually dangerous fully loaded , I had of course contacted ridgeback to explain my week old bikes problems , they just wrote back to say they had not had any other complaints and that the bike was built to british standards. I also informed the shop of the bikes shortcomings explaining to them why i would never buy another ridgeback again. salesperson just seemed totally disinterested , i have just chosen now to vote with my feet , (Any cc,s wishing to know name of said large cycle-shop in cheshire just pm me)

 

[albion]

Its the same for all mass production mega range bikes.If the spokes are not kept tight then the granny gear torque will slice them apart.It happened on my 8 year old Ridgeback Velocity carrying camping gear too.If I was wise enough to check spoke tension regularly it would have done far better on spokes.

 

[battered]

So for the sake of a spoke replacement and a £21 bill this shop, Cyclesurgery of King's Cross, in my opinion have demonstrated that they appear to be a set of cowboys they are in attempting to duck their obligations under the SoG Act. Nice work fellas. That's £21 well spent. No bad publicity here, amongst people who ride and buy bikes.

 

[mickle]

It's important to point out that it's probably not a good idea to purchase a stock bike off the shop floor and immediately load it up with heavy camping gear and go touring on it. I wouldn't do it with a hand-built wheel, so I definitely wouldn't do it to a machine built wheel.

One of the main reasons that bicycles are invited back for a 'first free service' is to give the mechanic an opportunity to re-tension the spokes after a period of bedding in. A wheel which has had this treatement will last a great deal longer than one which hasn't. It's equally important that a bike leaves the shop with the correct tension in the spokes. I suspect very strongly that the spokes in the OP's bike were not checked properly when it was assembled from the box.

Ridgeback may or may not have a problem with the tension of the spokes on some of their bikes - but if the mechanic was doing his job right he should have noticed.

So it sounds to me like a failure in the workshop - combined with what we know to be a failure of after-sales - which is a failure of management.

 

[gwhite]

It's important to point out that it's probably not a good idea to purchase a stock bike off the shop floor and immediately load it up with heavy camping gear and go touring on it. I wouldn't do it with a hand-built wheel, so I definitely wouldn't do it to a machine built wheel.

One of the main reasons that bicycles are invited back for a 'first free service' is to give the mechanic an opportunity to re-tension the spokes after a period of bedding in. A wheel which has had this treatement will last a great deal longer than one which hasn't. It's equally important that a bike leaves the shop with the correct tension in the spokes. I suspect very strongly that the spokes in the OP's bike were not checked properly when it was assembled from the box.

Ridgeback may or may not have a problem with the tension of the spokes on some of their bikes - but if the mechanic was doing his job right he should have noticed.

So it sounds to me like a failure in the workshop - combined with what we know to be a failure of after-sales - which is a failure of management.

I have to disagree here. When building a wheel the spokes should be tensioned and de-stressed properly and if this is done there should be no "bedding-in " required. "Colin531" builds wheels for Spa and very good wheels they are too having had a pair in my hands. This thread may be helpful.
http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=49278

 

[mickle]

I have to disagree here. When building a wheel the spokes should be tensioned and de-stressed properly and if this is done there should be no "bedding-in " required. "Colin531" builds wheels for Spa and very good wheels they are too having had a pair in my hands. This thread may be helpful.
http://forum.ctc.org...php?f=5&t=49278

Thanks gwhite but I wasn't talking about hand built wheels but the factory wheels which come on stock bikes.

 

[gwhite]

Thanks gwhite but I wasn't talking about hand built wheels but the factory wheels which come on stock bikes.

You really should cross yourself when talking about these wheels. I'm off on Monday to spend a whole day truing and tensioning new factory-built wheels before they are used and it's a depressing experience. The front ones tend to be dished unlike the rear and as for roundness..........ugh.

 

[whitebait]

So for the sake of a spoke replacement and a £21 bill this shop, Cyclesurgery of King's Cross, in my opinion have demonstrated that they appear to be a set of cowboys they are in attempting to duck their obligations under the SoG Act. Nice work fellas. That's £21 well spent. No bad publicity here, amongst people who ride and buy bikes.

Just to clarify, it was CS Kings Cross who I bought the bike from originally. They were the ones who incorrectly fitted the rack, didn't fit the chain correctly and (one assumes) didn't check the spoke tension or whether the rear mech was straight before handing it over to me.

It was CS Moorgate who I took the bike to for its 6-8 week service (apparently spoke tension isn't checked at this service) and for replacement of both spokes and the rear mech. They're the ones who tried to avoid paying me back the £21. When the CS Moorgate manager finally relented and called the CS KX manager they refunded it straight away, the two managers had obviously spoken about this previously and the KX manager suggested warrantying the wheel if further drive side spokes broke.

So, CS Moorgate were the ones trying to duck their SoG obligations, CS KX just aren't that good at building bikes...