Giant derailleur hanger failure!

[Sloth1987]

I recently purchased a new Giant road bike that has done only 800kms. 

This morning on a flat road, riding a constant gear at a constant cadence the back wheel locked up catastrophically and nearly caused a huge crash. 

The derailleur was destroyed and jammed in between the spokes. Spokes broken. Chain twisted. 

I have never broken a hanger on any of my other bikes in the 6 years of riding. I never cross chain or shift under load.

Have any Giant owners experienced issues with their hangers failing suddenly?

[Ruben101]

17 minutes ago, Sloth1987 said:

I recently purchased a new Giant road bike that has done only 800kms. 

This morning on a flat road, riding a constant gear at a constant cadence the back wheel locked up catastrophically and nearly caused a huge crash. 

The derailleur was destroyed and jammed in between the spokes. Spokes broken. Chain twisted. 

I have never broken a hanger on any of my other bikes in the 6 years of riding. I never cross chain or shift under load.

Have any Giant owners experienced issues with their hangers failing suddenly?

Sounds like the derailleur was not set up properly (limit screws)

[Sloth1987]

Screws were set and the derailleur never shifted too far up or down. Happened in the middle of the cassette without any gear changes

[Andreas_187]

Happened to me once, bike fell over at a coffee stop and bent the hanger slightly. I bent it back but it had been weakened and snapped 20km later when I got to a climb causing the same damage as you

[Andreas_187]

What shop did you buy the bike from? 

[W@nted]

Was your rear wheel skewer tightened correctly? Happened to me before. Quick release not lekker and the rear wheel shifted under pressure.

A hanger should not just break. Something caught the derailleur/chain causing force in the wrong direction for the hanger.

[MTBRIDER1234]

18 hours ago, Sloth1987 said:

I recently purchased a new Giant road bike that has done only 800kms. 

This morning on a flat road, riding a constant gear at a constant cadence the back wheel locked up catastrophically and nearly caused a huge crash. 

The derailleur was destroyed and jammed in between the spokes. Spokes broken. Chain twisted. 

I have never broken a hanger on any of my other bikes in the 6 years of riding. I never cross chain or shift under load.

Have any Giant owners experienced issues with their hangers failing suddenly?

Did the wheel lock up initially because of the chain getting caught or the derailleur getting caught?

Like others have suggested, your hanger may have been slightly bent and something abnormal caused it to fail. By any chance, was the hanger almost broken and you didn't see that? Just thinking because it may have been on the verge of failure and a hard shift just forced it over the edge.

[WerrieNaughty]

It could have been a spoke that failed and got jammed into the drivetrain, had a similar experience once. 

[Sloth1987]

MTBrider. The wheel locked up as the deraileur was tangled between the spokes. The bike is 2 months old and was never dropped or crashed. It was the weirdest feeling ever as it caught me off guard.

[Sloth1987]

Werrienaughty. Did your hanger also break in the process?

[MTBRIDER1234]

4 hours ago, Sloth1987 said:

MTBrider. The wheel locked up as the deraileur was tangled between the spokes. The bike is 2 months old and was never dropped or crashed. It was the weirdest feeling ever as it caught me off guard.

Weird for sure...

I honestly can't say why it happened without being there or seeing the bike