Bike safety - worried about new bike

[BrokenWing]

Bought ds(14) a new bike in June, 3 weeks later he was out on it and the chain slipped, he fell off and broke his arm.

The bike is badly damaged, gouge out of saddle, gear control covers snapped off, probably more as its badly scrapped up.

I have given the bike back to the shop to look at and asked for a full safety check. to be honest I'm worried about him on this bike ever again and considering buying him another make.

This is the 3rd reasonable sized bike ds has owned and I have never had problems with chains coming off before. is it normal, or is the bike faulty/not set up right? What rights do I have?

[prettybird]

Without knowing more about the bike and how the accident happened, can't really comment.

It may be that the bike is the wrong size. It may not. It could just be that your ds wasn't familiar with the new gears.

Chains can and do slip - even for TdF riders Mechanicals can happen even to the best maintained bike. Ds has had the derailleur hanger snap on one of his early bikes - an Islabike! Dh was convinced it was either ds' fault or something wrong with the bike. But when the same thing happened when he was out riding my bike (the gears on his bike weren't working and he couldn't work out how to fix them), a Specialized Allez, it of course wasn't anything to do with him

Hope your ds is recovering and that the bike can be sorted.

[BrokenWing]

thanks @prettybird , ds should be recovered and arm fixed just in time for the school holidays ending mid August (Scotland) . 3rd week into the holidays, sun shinning and he is already fed up as friends are all out and he cant keep up walking with them on their bikes.

Its a 21" Carrera Vengeance, size wise he looks and feels comfortable on it (he's around 5' 7" with long legs). He was cycling downhill at speed, standing on pedals, not changing gear (showing off essentially!) when the chain slipped off.

My worry is why the chain slipped as we've never had it happen with previous bikes (Ridgeback, Python, Dawes), was there a fault with the bike, was there a fault with the initial setup for it to happen so soon after purchase, or is it just one of those things, will they fix it and it will be safe? From your experience it sounds like it may just be one of those things, I think I have a bit of a guilty feeling buying from a retail chain rather than a bike shop this time (he wanted a bike like his friends this time).

Thankfully it was just his arm, not his head!

[prettybird]

I'm not au fait enough with different bikes and their mechanics

It's one of dh's complaints: that I encouraged ds to get into cycling (and not just cycling, competitive cycling), yet expect him to maintain the bikes Actually, I don't : I expect my dad or the LBS, with whom I have built up a relationship, to maintain them

I have however learnt a lot more about bike terminology and at least now know what the different bits of a bike are called So at last I can talk intelligently with the LBS.

I'm currently in a stand-off with ds, whose bike chain was slipping badly, he tried to fix it and in the process has somehow damaged the gear cables. The added complication is that it is a bloody expensive bike (bought just before he gave up cycle racing ), so the gear cable goes inside the frame.

I've said I'll take it to the LBS (where we bought it) to get it fixed and a general service (which I'd agreed to do anyway prior to him going off to Aberdeen in September, where it will be his main mode of transport) provided he goes with me so that he can learn to do it himself.

He's refusing to go as he "can just take it to a LBS in Aberdeen". He doesn't seem to realise that services and maintenance from bike shops where you've not bought the bike can be expensive - and that he's going to be an impecunious student on a budget

So at the moment he's riding my bike if it's available (although I did have to tell him to leave the saddle at the right height for me - or at least return it to that height, which I have now marked with nail varnish )