My Triban 3's chain broke today

[Typhon]

So I haven't been able to get out for a proper long ride all week. I knew I'd have this afternoon off so I was really looking forward to a nice long ride today. I had planned my eating and drinking around such a trip and even planned a new route. My Triban 3 is barely 6 weeks old and I have only done 350 miles on it so I wasn't expecting anything more serious than a puncture to happen.

All was going well until about 15 miles in - bang, the chain snapped. I had been in the 5th highest (smallest) gear at the back and in the highest (biggest) gear at the front and was changing into the middle ring at the front. So there was no stretch on the chain. I have always been very careful to avoid that.

I took it to my local Halfords because despite what people say on here about them, they have always been brilliant for me. The guy looked at my bike and said that it's a lovely bike but had been put together very poorly. It took him almost an hour to get the chain sorted and it only cost £6 + the cost of the new chain.

I took my bike for a spin and was shocked - it is like having a new bike. Gone are the clunking noises that I and other Triban owners have complained about on the forums. No longer does it make an ugly noise when the chain is perfectly straight (on the 4th/5th gears on the back, middle gear on the front). No longer does it jump gears when it is in the very lowest (biggest) gears on the back.

All in all I am quite disappointed and feel like I have been taken for a bit of a fool. If this had not been my first bike I would have known that the clunking was symptomatic of something more serious. I am sure someone is going to say that this break is my fault as I didn't maintain the bike i.e. fix the chain but I was a beginner buying an entry level £299 bike. You just expect the bike to have been put together properly.

I suppose I should count myself lucky that the broken chain just dragged on the floor rather than getting jammed in the rear cassette because I imagine the sudden and abrupt inertia of the pedals would mean that my momentum would have taken me over the handlebars. Decathlon should count themselves lucky that did not happen too!

 

[Edwards80]

Which store was it from? Mine was the Stockport store and I have no complaints but I guess it comes down to who was in on the day too.

At least you are sorted now and can enjoy it again :-)

 

[Typhon]

It was from Birmingham. The staff were very helpful but I guess whoever put the bike together just didn't do a very good job.

True, I can now enjoy my new "improved" bike.

 

[HovR]

Glad you didn't come off, and you got your chain fixed/clunking noises removed.

The guy looked at my bike and said that it's a lovely bike but had been put together very poorly. It took him almost an hour to get the chain sorted

Did he literally just fit a new chain, or did he make any other adjustments? Fitting a new chain is a 10 minute job. Seems a bit odd him saying it was put together poorly if it takes him an hour to fit a new chain!

 

[Typhon]

Glad you didn't come off, and you got your chain fixed/clunking noises removed.



Did he literally just fit a new chain, or did he make any other adjustments? Fitting a new chain is a 10 minute job. Seems a bit odd him saying it was put together poorly if it takes him an hour to fit a new chain!

No, sorry I didn't make that clear - he had to adjust the gears and derailleur an awful lot to get the chain working smoothly. I did write that originally but took it out as I thought that someone would say "ah but he'd have to change it to fit a new chain anyway".

 

[HovR]

Fair enough, that makes more sense!

 

[oldfatfool]

The gears and derailleur would need adjusting after 6 weeks and 350 miles in anycase due to cable stretch. When you first got your Triban was it clunky or did it get gradually worse?

 

[Typhon]

The gears and derailleur would need adjusting after 6 weeks and 350 miles in anycase due to cable stretch. When you first got your Triban was it clunky or did it get gradually worse?

It was always clunky. Other people with Tribans have observed that theirs was clunky too and when I asked on here I was just told to check the allignment and not stretch the cable etc which I did. As this was my first bike since childhood and I never had any problems other than punctures on the 4 MTBs I had as a kid I thought it was just a noisy bike and didn't realise that something was seriously wrong. I've learned my lesson I suppose. I think that lesson is more "trust your instincts and not companies" rather than the lesson about the actual chain though.

 

[Widge]

A-ha........no such probs with MY Triban YET....but....as I (and some others have mentioned before) there IS indeed more chain noise (I would describe it as 'clattering' over the chainrings) than I expected...and I strongly suspected a poor quality cahin and looked into replacing it.

I haven't done as yet, thinking, well how can they get that wrong but maybe I was right.

In what way was your drivetrain poorly set up...what was wrong with the chain? Was the the link incorrectly fastened or chain-line and derailleurs out of whack? What make of chain did it get replaced with?

Thanks for flagging it up.

w

 

[RWright]

I bought one of my bikes, an Electra Towne from a lady that had only put maybe 20 miles on it (before you laugh at me, it is a man's bike). I noticed the shifting was off when I test rode it and the brakes did not feel quite right. I bought the bike anyway because it was basicly brand new and for about half the price of a new one.

I got it home and started going over it very closley and had to reroute the front brake cable because the person that assembled it had ran it so that if you turned very far to the left the front brake would apply. I also adjusted the gears, set the limit screws and it was fine.

I was glad the lady I bought the bike from and myself did not get tossed over the bars with the way the brake cables were routed. I was going to call REI..the place it was purchased new, but since it was not my original purchase I didn't. It was clearly set up for customer delivery by someone that either had no clue or could care less about what they were doing. I was lucky I had a little experience fixing all the old bikes that had been given to me when I first started my new cycling adventures. For the non mechanical types starting out, it pays to do some youtubing or even better, find a good LBS and let them keep a check on things for you. It will probably save money and possibly pain in the long run.

 

[Typhon]

A-ha........no such probs with MY Triban YET....but....as I (and some others have mentioned before) there IS indeed more chain noise (I would describe it as 'clattering' over the chainrings) than I expected...and I strongly suspected a poor quality cahin and looked into replacing it.

I haven't done as yet, thinking, well how can they get that wrong but maybe I was right.

In what way was your drivetrain poorly set up...what was wrong with the chain? Was the the link incorrectly fastened or chain-line and derailleurs out of whack? What make of chain did it get replaced with?

Thanks for flagging it up.

w

Yep that clattering is what I had before today and now it's gone. It definitely shouldn't be that way.

Basically the chain, gears and derailleur were all out of alignment. The mechanic at Halfords was really quite surprised and spent ages trying to get them right. I'm not sure what the make of the chain is I'm afraid. I just know it was £15 and it was only £6 to sort out the gears which given the time it took and his obvious expertise, I was very happy to pay!

 

[Typhon]

I bought one of my bikes, an Electra Towne from a lady that had only put maybe 20 miles on it (before you laugh at me, it is a man's bike). I noticed the shifting was off when I test rode it and the brakes did not feel quite right. I bought the bike anyway because it was basicly brand new and for about half the price of a new one.

I got it home and started going over it very closley and had to reroute the front brake cable because the person that assembled it had ran it so that if you turned very far to the left the front brake would apply. I also adjusted the gears, set the limit screws and it was fine.

I was glad the lady I bought the bike from and myself did not get tossed over the bars with the way the brake cables were routed. I was going to call REI..the place it was purchased new, but since it was not my original purchase I didn't. It was clearly set up for customer delivery by someone that either had no clue or could care less about what they were doing. I was lucky I had a little experience fixing all the old bikes that had been given to me when I first started my new cycling adventures. For the non mechanical types starting out, it pays to do some youtubing or even better, find a good LBS and let them keep a check on things for you. It will probably save money and possibly pain in the long run.

That's a really shocking story, she could have been seriously hurt. It's fortunate that someone with experience of fixing bikes such as yourself bought it after her so you could fix the problems with it before you started to seriously ride it.

I'm surprised that Decathlon did not take greater care with their assembly but even more surprised that an American company did not. What is a few extra minutes of care compared to a potential multi-million dollar lawsuit when someone has an accident because of the bike?

I am getting more and more knowledgeable on the mechanical side of things. I had read things about fixing chains before but just didn't expect this to happen so soon after starting! I'll have to read up even more I think. I would love to get to the point where I can maintain/service/fix my bike myself.

 

[Broadside]

My sister bought a Carrera road bike at Christmas that came with some el cheapo chain that had a twisted link causing no end of noisy and clattering shifts sometimes without touching the levers. I put a KMC chain on it and it was like a different bike.

 

[billymcq2]

I had a bit of chain clattering at the start on my Triban 3 but only when in the middle ring in front. It stopped after about 50 miles, maybe just a bedding in issue with mine. I've had no other problems so far, gear changes nice and smooth and no slipping or clunking.

Chain came off the other day, but that was my fault as I was on a path with a small wooden bridge on a bend that I usually blast through on my MTB, done it on the Triban, skidded and ended up almost coming off, must have caught the chain with my foot or something.

 

[Darren Jeffrey]

Posted a couple if times in here about the gearing on my triban. Just never felt 100% confident in it even after taking it back to the shop for a tweak. It has been clunky, grinding at times through gear changes, noise at points whilst just cycling and slips out of gear randomly from time to time.

Might take it up to another bike shop and get them to have a look