Trek Y33

Pete just sent me this photo of his broken carbon seat post, but his carbon framed 1997 Trek Y33 is still going strong. These frames have a lifetime warranty. If it broke I wonder what Trek would replace it with? Nothing as cool, that's for sure. I love looking at these old mountain bikes, when Unified Rear Triangle was considered hi-tech, now it's only for Walmart bikes.

Sebastian Lang's Specialized Tarmac SL

Lukas sent me an email letting me know about Sebastian Lang's Gerolsteiner Specialized Tarmac SL team bike from the Tour of California. I'm not sure why it's blurred out, we all know what type of bike it is.

Levi Leipheimer said:

Today in that crash, we had Sebastian Lang come down pretty hard and had to abandon. His bike was broken into three pieces... I was in front, but I think somebody hit a pothole and lost their grip and crashed.

Giant TCR Advanced 2

I received an email from Christian that says:

Here are some pics of my 2 month old TCR Advanced 2. I went into the back of a car that stopped suddenly on a roundabout. I was going only about 15 kph. Front forks snapped at the base of the steerer tube. There is almost no damage to the carbon frame except to the small area around the steerer tube bearing ring at the base of the headtube. I got 10 stitches in my face.

Ouch! That sucks. This is mostly a busted aluminum, but there is a small amount of busted carbon too.

Unknown Carbon

I just received a photo of this "unknown" brand of bike with the following comment:

The bike was merely being ridden and had not been involved in a crash of any sort. The whole fork column came straight through the head tube without warning! As can be seen the aluminium cups that support the carbon have come away completely leaving the bare carbon. The head-tube has failed completely. Scary!

This story came from the inside, so all identify marks and names have been removed.

Time Cranks

Tim sent me these photos. This bike belongs to one of his friends, who isn't a big guy, but must put out a lot of power because he broke most of the spider holes on his crank. No warranty either, since the crank is two years old. Lame.

No Carbon Wednesday: Busted Tube

Usually there isn't anything interesting about a busted inner tube, they get holes and go flat all the time. This one is a little different; I installed it and then wheel starting making strange sounds. After some investigation I found that the tube was full of dirt. No idea how it got in there.

Even More Mavic R-Sys Failures

When it rains it pours. Here is another failed Mavic R-Sys wheel, this time one of the rear wheels which wasn't recalled. The drive side spokes are aluminum, so the wheel didn't fail completely. Still, it would be nice for $1300+ wheels not to explode when hit by road debris.

Full story at bikehugger.com.

R-Sys Failure: Mavic's Response

Fact: Mavic responds to wheel collapse article

It's too early to blame the wheel; the tire, tube or frame could be to blame.

Or rider error. Or aliens.

Orbea Orca

Ruarri just sent me this photo of his Orbea Orca with the comment:

I walked away from being T-boned by a car. Pity i don't have the pic of the left pedal, it got sheared in two.

Wow, I don't know how you walk away from that. Very lucky. This is definitely one of the more dramatic busted carbons that I've posted.

Even More Broken Carbon Bars

Those guys over at Pinkbike sure like breaking their bars.

Mavic R-Sys Redux

I've blogged about the Mavic R-Sys twice before, and after being recalled in January they are back and already the carbon spokes are breaking again. Velonews.com Editor in Chief Ben Delaney had his front Mavic R-Sys wheel suffer a catastrophic failure, sending him into the ground breaking his shoulder blade. This wasn't the result of a crash or any impact, it simply failed exiting a corner. Carbon spokes just aren't a good idea.

See the full article for more details and photos.

Video of a Dolan Mythos Breaking

James just sent me some photos and video of his Dolan Mythos which broken when he went over the bars in a race. There is some YouTube video of the crash as well, you can see James' bike up in the air at 16 seconds in. Looks like some broken collar bones as well. Very painful.

Broken Steerer on a Trek

Meat Toothpaste forwarded me this thread from roadbikereview.com:

Last year I witnessed a spectacular carbon fiber steerer failure which I believe may have been caused by a too-heavy rider on an OCLV. The steerer abruptly snapped apart just above the fork crown, smashing the rider face-first into the pavement. He was seriously injured and had to be hauled away by the EMTs. I took photos . . .

REI Recalls Novara Trionfo

As reported in the LA Times:

After two reports of bicycle breakdowns causing a fractured clavicle, broken teeth, facial damage and head injuries, retailer Recreational Equipment Inc. and the Consumer Products Safety Commission recalled the 2005 model Novara Trionfo bike today.

Ouch. The carbon forks are separating where the steerer meets the crown.

Campagnolo Chorus Carbon Crankset

I just got this email from Brian:

My Campagnolo Chorus carbon crankset broke today while I was riding. I was riding pretty easy, today was an easy endurance ride. I got out of the saddle to give my butt a bit of a rest, but wasn't putting more than 175 watts in, and it busted out around the pedal thread insert.

I'm really hoping that Campagnolo will help me out with this, 'cause I was laid off about 6 weeks ago and have no funds to replace it, even with a cheap crank.

That is super lame. Hopefully Campagnolo helps him out, and if not, maybe one of my readers can. Contact me if you can.