Super Record 11 Rear Mech Failure - any others out there ?

[Bridgeman]

2 year lifespan? I'm still on the first gen Campy SR 11, including the rear derailleur. Bought it when they first came out. I should inspect mine.

I had a Campy SR 10sp rear derailleur fail years ago. The top parallelogram broke and the rear derailleur opened up into the spokes at speed just after a downhill. Shredded the wheel, eventually locking it up. I think I still have it in my box of broken stuff.

It was mentioned to me that a lot of damage to rear hangers and mechs comes from people parking their bike close together before and after rides, especially at coffee shops.

[ferrarista]

2 year lifespan? I'm still on the first gen Campy SR 11, including the rear derailleur. Bought it when they first came out. I should inspect mine.

First gen super record has the cage and top parallelogram in carbon.The rest is aluminum so doesn't have the problem you see with the newer version where its all carbon.

. I had a Campy SR 10sp rear derailleur fail years ago. The top parallelogram broke and the rear derailleur opened up into the spokes at speed just after a downhill.

10 speed super record was never made. I guess you mean record.

[kac]

2 year life-span for that price??!! That's really horrifying! I saved for a long time for SR-11 (replacing Record 10). The failures shown in this thread are really alarming and potentially dangerous. Any word on whether or not Campagnolo is addressing this issue? Smacks of a potential lawsuit to me.

[ultimobici]

Working for a Campagnolo Service Centre and have been selling a lot of SR11 but have yet to see a single failure. Not one. Plenty of 7970 rear mechs failing but not a single Campagnolo RD of any flavour.

Can those who have had failures be sure that the mech has not had a knock at some time and then failed later?

[kbbpll]

Is it not possible that the failures at the hanger are caused by over-torquing the mounting bolt? Just curious.

[Butcher]

We all have our opinions and this 2yr life span is just that. Hard to imagine there was not a bump on the derailleur sometime in it's life.

[gitsome]

He was referring to the later versions of SR that are all carbon. He is one of the top nyc mechs at a very high end place that sees people spending 12k on bikes yearly, sometimes they do not even bother picking them up..... I do not think it has anything to do w installation, he said the carbon-molding process for the hanger is often not precise enough and the carbon itself eventually just cracks. His opinion is Campagnolo never meant this gruppo to be long-term reliable, its a great, super-light race oriented gruppo meant for just that.... and people expecting it to last longer are expecting it do something it was not designed for. He compared it to F1 that changes engines every 2 races....SR11 is like that. Record has more reliable internals (steel screws etc) and I THINK a metal hanger, for a slight weight penalty. He saud while SR11 works its amazing and incredible, but just not meant for the long term. He was not knocking Camp at all ether bw, we all love it, just making the point SR record is designed to be ultra light etc at the cost of durability for those who race, are sponsored or able to change gruppo often (which is the clientele he deals w, all of the above including cat 1 +2) People who commute on Lightweighs, etc, lol. They exist here in NYC.

I am wondering about mixing Sr and R and maybe using Record rear w Sr cranks, etc....

[kac]

He was referring to the later versions of SR that are all carbon. He is one of the top nyc mechs at a very high end place that sees people spending 12k on bikes yearly, sometimes they do not even bother picking them up..... I do not think it has anything to do w installation, he said the carbon-molding process for the hanger is often not precise enough and the carbon itself eventually just cracks. His opinion is Campagnolo never meant this gruppo to be long-term reliable, its a great, super-light race oriented gruppo meant for just that.... and people expecting it to last longer are expecting it do something it was not designed for. He compared it to F1 that changes engines every 2 races....SR11 is like that. Record has more reliable internals (steel screws etc) and I THINK a metal hanger, for a slight weight penalty. He saud while SR11 works its amazing and incredible, but just not meant for the long term. He was not knocking Camp at all ether bw, we all love it, just making the point SR record is designed to be ultra light etc at the cost of durability for those who race, are sponsored or able to change gruppo often (which is the clientele he deals w, all of the above including cat 1 +2) People who commute on Lightweighs, etc, lol. They exist here in NYC.

I am wondering about mixing Sr and R and maybe using Record rear w Sr cranks, etc....

If that's correct, shouldn't Campagnolo have stated the intended purpose and the limitations of the components prominently on the packaging? Omitting an important qualifier like that seems destined to create problems with disappointed customers, angry shop mechanics and retailers. The only group likely to be overjoyed will be personal injury lawyers. I have 2013 SR-11 on my bike and I'd be really upset if something like that happened and especially if Campagnolo knows about a potential issue of this magnitude. If the company does know, how does this differ from the GM ignition switch issue? The Toyota problems? Others?

[kac]

Working for a Campagnolo Service Centre and have been selling a lot of SR11 but have yet to see a single failure. Not one. Plenty of 7970 rear mechs failing but not a single Campagnolo RD of any flavour.

Can those who have had failures be sure that the mech has not had a knock at some time and then failed later?

Since you have official access to the company, is it possible for you to obtain an official statement from an authorized spokesman on this potential problem?

[kac]

Well, the speculation on this topic is driving me crazy, so I sent a note to Campagnolo asking for clarification. If/when I get a reply, I will post it here. If anyone else is so motivated, please write to the company. Perhaps that might elicit a response. Here is the URL: http://www.campagnolo.com/jsp/en/contactsok/index.jsp

Here is what I wrote:

On the internet bicycling enthusiast forum "Weight Weenies", there is an extensive (3 page-long) series of reports of spontaneous and catastrophic failures of Super Record rear derailleurs. I have copied the URL at the end of this note. I am requesting official clarification from the company on this point, as the allegation made in the report suggests that there is either a design flaw or the group set was intended specifically for occasional race use and has an expected life-span of 2 years. Please clarify. Here is the URL for the report: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=107310

[gitsome]

He was referring to the later versions of SR that are all carbon. He is one of the top nyc mechs at a very high end place that sees people spending 12k on bikes yearly, sometimes they do not even bother picking them up..... I do not think it has anything to do w installation, he said the carbon-molding process for the hanger is often not precise enough and the carbon itself eventually just cracks. His opinion is Campagnolo never meant this gruppo to be long-term reliable, its a great, super-light race oriented gruppo meant for just that.... and people expecting it to last longer are expecting it do something it was not designed for. He compared it to F1 that changes engines every 2 races....SR11 is like that. Record has more reliable internals (steel screws etc) and I THINK a metal hanger, for a slight weight penalty. He saud while SR11 works its amazing and incredible, but just not meant for the long term. He was not knocking Camp at all ether bw, we all love it, just making the point SR record is designed to be ultra light etc at the cost of durability for those who race, are sponsored or able to change gruppo often (which is the clientele he deals w, all of the above including cat 1 +2) People who commute on Lightweighs, etc, lol. They exist here in NYC.

I am wondering about mixing Sr and R and maybe using Record rear w Sr cranks, etc....

If that's correct, shouldn't Campagnolo have stated the intended purpose and the limitations of the components prominently on the packaging? Omitting an important qualifier like that seems destined to create problems with disappointed customers, angry shop mechanics and retailers. The only group likely to be overjoyed will be personal injury lawyers. I have 2013 SR-11 on my bike and I'd be really upset if something like that happened and especially if Campagnolo knows about a potential issue of this magnitude. If the company does know, how does this differ from the GM ignition switch issue? The Toyota problems? Others?

I totally agree. If I had this happen to me at my income level I'd have a heart attack. I'd be so pissed. But his point was that this was never meant to be a long-term gruppo and more of a race-day ultimate performance, low-weight product and the tradeoffs are durability. I agree they should maybe try to advertise this but can you imagine sales if they said.. "Product will last 2 years under regular use..." Who the hell would buy it???! LOL. They will never say that.

[gitsome]

And there is talk of a Super-Light SR for 2015....one can only imagine what that will mean..... Again I think lke anything, one sacrifices durability for weight....the usual WW devil's bargain of: low weight, durability, reasonable price....choose 2....at best....

[gitsome]

No manufacturer is ever going to state a durability time-limit on a product, no matter what. They will just say it is the ultimate blah blah blah...and there is always a chance of failure but blah blah blah... I think only way to gauge these things realistically is to speak w honest people (who are not selling them) and who have extensive experience dealing w them (like mechanics) and get feedback based on such experience (that is hopefully well-informed and non-biased).

[xena]

It happened to my friend. Almost snapped in half. He had to wait for a replacement until Campag decided it was a faulty product. So he had to fork out for a new mech to get on the road. He was not compensated for the damage done to his wheel or the mess it made of his paint job.
Its pretty bad service.

[gitsome]

Seems like the worst place to save a few grams is that hanger....overboard on the carbon me thinks...

Last thing: he said if you can afford it and you dont care about cost, go for it or get Record. Maybe a middle-road. If you want durability at equal performance get Shimano. He doesnt care, sees both and all and more all day long. Im still Campagnolo addict tho..like I said will consider mixing gruppos if/when I ever do it.