Not really seeing your beef here. It's ultimately yout reponsibility to make sure your bike is properly adjusted before riding. I would think you'd have noticed a bent derailler hanger when you bought the bike so it was most likely a misadjustment and to cause that kind of damage it must have been WAY off.

Probably more reason to buy a bike from your LBS than an online retailer if you're not going to go through the bike with a fine tooth comb before riding. I don't expect most online shops include a bike setup in the deal while most LBSes do.

 

seems like you should be mad at Shimano.

Your bike either road, mountain bike or cruiser or other type of bike comes appx. 90% assembled and then packed for shipment directly from the factory. Although re-assembly is quite simple, we strongly suggest that you have your local bike shop do this for you since some final adjustments may be necessary due to being shipped directly from the factory. (Most any dealer will offer this service for a minimal charge. It’s only a few minutes work.)

looks like you missed this part.

 

You expect a bike that was shipped cross country to arrive in perfect adjustment? I don't care if you ordered from bikes direct or Pinarello- you have to carefully inspect and adjust any new bike.

 

Most likely, the failure occurred due to one of two causes: 1) the bent derailleur hanger or 2) component failure. My issue is that the blame for either case lies with bikesdirect.com. Either they sent me a bike that was so out of whack it broke before ten miles ridden, OR they sent me a bike with crappy (counterfeit?) components that blew up before ten miles ridden.

I appreciate that bikesdirect.com issues a disclaimer that one "might" want to go to a LBS for set up / tune up (but it's not necessary). However, it is my opinion that if this is effectively required, it should be explicitly stated and accompanied by a price reduction.

In the end, either I return it, get the part from bikesdirect.com, or I'm screwed and have to shell over a few hundred dollars more. Not the end of the world by any means. I'm just trying to keep others from making my mistake and buying from what is either a disreputable site, or at best a site/store that provides a shotty product along with poor customer service.

 

Lotophage: I did indeed read that disclaimer. Perhaps I'm being naive, but I'd expect if I purchased at a LBS, with a proper warranty, this wouldn't' be an issue.

Had I purchased from a LBS, they could see that it was either faulty assembly (their responsibility) or a bad part -- in my mind also their responsibility as they are the ultimate point of sale for that bad part.

Whereas bikesdirect.com takes no responsibility for anything. That is my issue.

 

nealric: A fair point. I did indeed carefully inspect the bike before riding it. I believe I would have noticed if the derailleur hanger was bent to such a degree where it would contact the spokes. In fact, all indications are that the derailleur hanger did not contact the spokes. There is no damage whatsoever to the spokes. Considering the bent/broken chain and the blown out metal on the derailleur itself, had the derailleur hanger contacted the spokes causing this problem, there would be indications of serious damage to the spokes.

This leads me to believe it was component failure. It is my opinion that it is ultimately the responsibility of bikesdirect.com to monitor and police quality control of what is put on their bikes. Most businesses that sell a product are responsible to make sure that product functions properly and the component parts of the product are sound. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect bikesdirect.com to do the same.

Think about if this "product" was a car. Toyota is responsible to make sure their break petals function properly and were held liable when they didn't (regardless of the fact that the break petals were manufactured by a third party).

 

Dollar to donuts the low limit screw wasn't set properly and the shift threw the deraileur into the rear drive side spokes. Might've worked fine previously but you might've just shifted far enough that time for it to happen.

I agree it's frustrating but if you take the responsibility to do the final 10% of assembly yourself then you need to check everything, not just the bits and pieces you snapped together. It's absurd to say that you were only responsible for the parts you assembled. You knew it wasn't a total build yet you're trying to finger BD for a misconfigured third party (Shimano) component on a bike that everyone agrees wasn't a turnkey, finished product.

There was a third option here. You could've taken your new BD bike to the LBS to have them go over it or do the final assembly. Most shops margins are made on service and not bikes and given the economy most would like to have the work. Going this route you would've paid a bit more than you did and bit less than at the LBS for a bike....and still had a properly configured ride.

FTR, I did it to my Giant TCR Advanced Carbon frame with a groupset that I assembled. It totally sucks but it wasn't Giant's fault that it happened. It was mine. It's a miserable and costly lesson to learn. A very costly lesson for me.

 

nealric: A fair point. I did indeed carefully inspect the bike before riding it. I believe I would have noticed if the derailleur hanger was bent to such a degree where it would contact the spokes. In fact, all indications are that the derailleur hanger did not contact the spokes. There is no damage whatsoever to the spokes. Considering the bent/broken chain and the blown out metal on the derailleur itself, had the derailleur hanger contacted the spokes causing this problem, there would be indications of serious damage to the spokes.

This leads me to believe it was component failure. It is my opinion that it is ultimately the responsibility of bikesdirect.com to monitor and police quality control of what is put on their bikes. Most businesses that sell a product are responsible to make sure that product functions properly and the component parts of the product are sound. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect bikesdirect.com to do the same.

Think about if this "product" was a car. Toyota is responsible to make sure their break petals function properly and were held liable when they didn't (regardless of the fact that the break petals were manufactured by a third party).

Any chance of getting a warranty through Shimano? Sometimes sh*t happens and you get a bum component though it really does sound like a misadjustment was responsible rather than a wholesale component failure as you say it happened right after a shift.

 

your issue. should learn how to adjust yourself or pay your local bike shop. buyer beware on the internet...

 

tconrady: As I replied to another poster, I don't think it was contact w/ the spokes that caused the problem.

While I agree with you about responsibility for final assembly, I think we just have a different conception as to how far that responsibility extends. In the end, despite any disclaimers they may add, bikesdirect.com is still selling a product advertised as a bike one can assemble and use themselves without issue. In my case that was not true for whatever reason.

As to your point about taking it to a LBS for a tune up / check up you're right. Unfortunately, I can say with 100% honesty that I had planned to do that this last weekend. I figured I could ride the bike for a minimum of a four times without a major blow up -- wrong.

 

If I can't get bikesdirect.com to honor their "100% satisfaction guarantee," I think there is little chance I'll be able to have much luck with Shimano directly. But it's definately a good idea. At least if I shipped them the broken part they could likely tell me the definitive cause of the problem.

 

highendbikedeals: I believe that was the thrust of my post / subsequent replies. Though you restated it in an impressively concise manner.

 

Bikes Direct gave you the parameters. You were either to impatient or cheap to follow their directions. An internet purchase is set up for someone who understands what they are getting into. Usually buyers who buy on a site like bikesdirect.com accept the conditions of buying cheap ****.

 

tconrady: As I replied to another poster, I don't think it was contact w/ the spokes that caused the problem.

Ooops! I missed that part. That's what I get for working and RBRing at the same time. :blush2:

If the rear wheel/spokes and frame are fine then you're only out a chain and rear deraileur...I wish that was all that happened to mine. BD has said their piece and while they're technically right, you'd at least hope they'd meet you in the somewhere in the middle with an olive branch. Perhaps their offer was along those line...I don't care to get into a he said/she said kind of thing.

I think you're best coarse of action is to go to your LBS and order the parts, fix the busticated pieces and let them go over the rest of the bike.

 

Bikes Direct gave you the parameters. You were either to impatient or cheap to follow their directions. An internet purchase is set up for someone who understands what they are getting into. Usually buyers who buy on a site like bikesdirect.com accept the conditions of buying cheap ****.

Guessing BD doesn't even look at the bikes before sending out as they say that it's packed for shipping directly from the factory. BD is pretty much just a middleman. This is why I'd never suggest a first timer buy a bike online as you really need the expertise of a good LBS to make sure you get fit and adjusted properly.

 

that's what you learn owning a bike shop and dealing with this kind of issue. It's really great when customers are pissed at us because of their issues. If it had happened from your lbs - you would have every right to jump up and down. It happened out of a box - live and learn

 

that's what you learn owning a bike shop and dealing with this kind of issue. It's really great when customers are pissed at us because of their issues. If it had happened from your lbs - you would have every right to jump up and down. It happened out of a box - live and learn

Even there there are limits. What if the OP got a stick stuck in the chainstay and that took out the derailler?

 

highendbikedeals: I took another look at bikesdirect.com for the parameters that state we're selling you a maladjusted bike or crappy components. I couldn't seem to find that passage or the one about required expertise before purchase. I'll keep looking.

I did find this little bit though on their "satisfaction guarantee": "We know you will be happy with your bike. If for any reason you are not*, let us know and we'll make it right or you may return it."

To yours & everyone's general point, I should have been more skeptical about the purchase and done a greater check on the bike: you're right. The purpose of my post on here is to warn other potential purchasers so they don't make the same costly mistake.

 

Bocephus Jones II: I couldn't agree more. Perhaps the site is more appropriate for a buyer with more expertise. But I'd hazard a guess that most purchasers from bikesdirect.com are first time buyers. From my own experience, I was definitely put off by the $1000 / $2000 price tag of buying from a local shop. That's why BD seemed like such a great alternative -- a first time buyer could get a bike w/ great components for relatively little money.

 

Sorry to see that

I recently had a similar incident, possibly. I installed a new chain on my Colnago Dream HX and on the second ride, during a steep climb, the chain ass-ploded and yanked my RD into the spokes. Destroyed the RD, the derailleur hanger, and put my Dream out of commission for the 2+ months its taken to get a new hanger from Colnago (still waiting).

I've assembled three BD bikes, the all were set up well except for the disc brake calipers on the last MTB, which either weren't installed or weren't aligned (can't remember). If this wasn't an RD limit issue, it may have been a bad chain, or stiff link. I wish BD would have shown you more sympathy and better customer service, but I'm not sure I can lay the blame on them entirely. They offer great prices, and do it by shipping you the bike to build. And sometimes, unfortunately, *&%$! just happens.

 

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Sablotny: It's interesting you say that because my chain looks similarly exploded (and bent for good measure). The only thing that give me pause is the bike was less than a week old and I was riding on a flat stretch of road commuting home. This makes me think it was a defect rather than stress being the cause of the problem.

In fact, my blowout happened on the flat stretch right in front of the White House / Treasury. The only positive aspect of this whole experience is that the guards came over and helped me disentangle the broken chain from the gears and hold up the bike. They were very helpful nice guys.

 

highendbikedeals: I took another look at bikesdirect.com for the parameters that state we're selling you a maladjusted bike or crappy components. I couldn't seem to find that passage or the one about required expertise before purchase. I'll keep looking.

I did find this little bit though on their "satisfaction guarantee": "We know you will be happy with your bike. If for any reason you are not*, let us know and we'll make it right or you may return it."

To yours & everyone's general point, I should have been more skeptical about the purchase and done a greater check on the bike: you're right. The purpose of my post on here is to warn other potential purchasers so they don't make the same costly mistake.

I'm really sorry to hear that you learned a lesson that will cost you some money. The reality is that when you buy a bike like this online you get the benefit of the cheaper price, but at the cost of responsibility on your part to assemble, adjust and inspect to make sure it's ready to go. If you'd found the mal adjustment the problem wouldn't have happened.

The trade off is cheaper price for the responsibility and / or risk of making sure it's ready to go when it's assembled. They can't possibly do that with their business model and the way they ship things.

Your LBS can - and that's why they charge more.

It's good you brought this up because it is a fact of these sort of online purchases and indicates at least some of the value that the LBS provides for the higher prices.

 

I figured I could ride the bike for a minimum of a four times without a major blow up -- wrong.

If something isn't adjusted correctly, it doesn't then magically work if you only use it briefly. It's either set up properly, or it isn't.

 

I'm very sorry this is not what you want to hear, but arguing won't change the facts, so get over it.

And really if it only costs you $100 to fix then you're probably still ahead of the game. Be thankful it didn't do more damage and chalk it up to a lesson learned.