Typhon
Senior Member
- Location
- Worcestershire
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!
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!