Record 12 front derailleur self-destructed JRA

[jpang922]

Posting here as a PSA to inspect your Record 12 FD. Or maybe any Campagnolo 12 FD.

Half way into my ride last week I suddenly lost the ability to shift to the small ring. Even without cable tension the FD would not move to its lowest position. I ended up shifting the chain by hand and limped home.

Afterwards I removed the FD and something promptly broke off and fell to the floor. Upon further inspection, it turned out a part of the parallelogram broke off, and as a result the spring is no longer held in tension.

Below is the broken Record 12 FD (left) and a brand new Chorus 12 FD (right). Luckily it was not a ride ending failure and the fix was inexpensive, but I expect better from Campagnolo.

FWIW the same issue has been reported on WW: https://weightweenies.starbike.com/f...8f7&start=3825

[zmalwo]

sigh. Campy front derailleurs always self destruct for some reason. whether it's the cage or the spring stop it seems

[GreenJersey]

The sad part is that the spring stop seems to be a rather trivial part to get right.

[mpken]

I had the same failure last year on a new SR12 build. Second ride in and bang! FD no longer shifting. Warranty fix took a bit to get approved and I was allowed to harvest the cage from the old part.

[hkgmatt]

I had the same issue with my SR12 front derailleur after less than 500km on the groupset.

[tomato coupe]

Originally Posted by jpang922

Posting here as a PSA to inspect your Record 12 FD.

What are we looking for during this inspection?

[mcteague]

Originally Posted by tomato coupe

What are we looking for during this inspection?

Spring tab broke off. Maybe check for hairline cracks.

[oldpotatoe]

Seen it twice...not my fders...warranty...

[KonaSS]

Sounds like a known problem for Campy based on the replies here and WW. May not meet the qualifications for a recall but I would hope they at least make a running change to fix and treat all warranty requests quickly and generously.

[thwart]

Originally Posted by zmalwo

sigh. Campy front derailleurs always self destruct for some reason. whether it's the cage or the spring stop it seems

Riding Campy since getting back into cycling in 2006. Have never had a front derailleur failure.

But I don’t have any 12 speed bikes and do avoid the carbon cage Record FD’s.

[jamesdak]

Originally Posted by thwart

Riding Campy since getting back into cycling in 2006. Have never had a front derailleur failure.

But I don’t have any 12 speed bikes and do avoid the carbon cage Record FD’s.

Ditto! Currently 13 of my bikes are running Campagnolo from 8-11 speed, Mirage to Super Record and never a single broken part. For that matter I've only had one Shimano FD broken and that was the cage snapped by a mechanic one day.

Not to excuse the OP's issue, it does seem like the more capability they jam in for no practical reason, the more common problems we see popping up.

[msriddle]

Known issue, my original Record 12 broke and Campy/vendor replaced. The replacement looked the same but has been fine for about 3 years.

[fmradio516]

Sounds like it might be worth to have the 12s campy front derailleurs installed by a shop, and keep the receipt. In case they try to claim user install error.

[Ryun]

I have had two break on me including one
That was snapped in the box when it arrived. Warranty was smooth but a little lengthy

[jpang922]

Interesting to hear other’s experiences. Sounds like it could be a bad manufacturing batch of Record/SR 12 FDs. Unfortunately my unit is used, so unlikely I’ll pursue a warranty replacement.