Another car bike rack casualty

From David:

My Specialized S-Works Tarmac didn't fair so well against Grandma's carport.

Cavendished Wheel

From Joe:

Attached is my effort at recreating the recent Mark Cavendish crash in our club crit last night (Ormeau park, Belfast, Northern Ireland). Actually, I didn't even get the chance at a of reckless sprint. Rather a case of some loose gravel on a tight corner and me sliding into a kerb. First lap too, ragin!

Look 585

From Humphr via Twitter:

@bustedcarbon here's some from last nights racing http://twitpic.com/1lbwxv Look 585 I think

HiFi 29er

Rafal sent me a photo of what I think is a Gary Fisher HiFi 29er.

I heard a pop in back of the bike but proceed to ride it for about another 10 seconds. Until Jeremy yelled at me to stop and check the wheel. I though it I have broken several spokes but no this was the end result.

Read the full story on his blog. My wife has the same bike, and she broke the rear triangle as well, but in a different location. Gary Fisher did warranty hers, and she even got him to sign it.

Before & After

From John of fastacraft.com:

I have a small business that specializes in carbon fibre processing. Lately we have begun doing repairs to bikes when possible. This one belongs to a friend Karl who for forgot it was on the roof of his car when he drove into an underground car park. Before and after repair.

Steerer Tube Failures: Trek Responds

After a rash of steerer tube failures, Trek has responded blaming incompatible stems and incorrect installation. Trek advises:

1) Always use a torque wrench, and never over-tighten stem clamp bolts.
2) Always use spacers above and below the stem. Although less obvious than correct torque, a minimum of 5mm and a maximum of 40mm spacers under the steerer, plus a 5mm spacer above the stem are required. Riders should factor in these spacers when sizing their bike.
3) Use only the stem brand and model that came with the bike, because not all stems will work with carbon steerers. Often the lighter the stem, the less chance it will be compatible with a carbon steerer. Weight-relieving cutouts on the stem clamp and steerer interface can create stress risers.

You can read the full article on VeloNews. I'd rather just have a slightly heavier bike and be able to change my stem without fear of crashing.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

This video has just started making the rounds. Impressive trials riding on a carbon road bike. While I'm impressed the bike survives all the abuse, I don't recommend it unless somebody else is paying for your bikes.

Huge Crash @ Tour of Switzerland

Big crash at the tour of Switzerland yesterday. Heinrich Haussler rides over Mark Cavendish's wheel and it folds, causing them and others to crash. Video and story.

Origin 8

From Chuck:

[Here is] a picture of my broken Origin 8 frame. It broke during this year's Lake Sunapee road race in NH. There was a huge crash in the Cat 4 race and I was in the middle of it. My friend, who was right next to me, ended up with 8 broken ribs! I was fine as I just landed on somebody else but my bike didn't do so well.

It sucks to break a bike, but breaking the body always sucks more.

JRA: Broken Raleigh Frame

A scary story from Brian:

I recently had an accident on my Raleigh in which my carbon frame broke, which caused my crash. I was going about 30mph down a hill and there was a sharp transition going uphill at the bottom. As soon as I started braking at the uphill my frame snapped and I went flying into the woods. I was fortunate I didn't hit the concrete, but still came out with several head injuries. There were no stress cracks, no dents, nothing wrong with the frame as I had just had it fully serviced and picked it up three hours prior to the accident.

These are the type of failures that made me start this blog. You can't tell me steel, aluminum or titanium fails like this.

Fork Fail

Here's one from Samuel:

Here's a picture of my late 90s carbon trek after the front fork snapped off. I was biking up Market Street in San Francisco when it happened. No train tracks, no pot holes... just catastrophic failure :-) Luckily, I was going pretty slow, so there were only minor scratches and bumps as I hit the pavement.

This was an aftermarket fork, which was on the bike when I bought it. I've been riding this bike hard through SF and Oakland for 3+ years, so I am not surprised it failed. Looks like an old design where the carbon was glued to an aluminum bracket. The carbon popped off at this junction.

Even if a fork is old, I'd rather the legs didn't pop off. I've seen modern forks fail in the same way, so I'm not sure this is a solved problem.

Bike Toss

From Scott:

TBAG (Tempe Bike Action Group) has an annual picnic with games and events. In this previous year, there was tallbike jousting, kid's bike derby, and a bike toss featuring heavy bikes and various lighter bikes including an old carbon frame. After being tossed, the carbon bike was smashed in two on a light pole.

More photos. I don't understand "bike culture".

Scott CR1

From Ian:

It's been a while since this actually happened, but here are some photos from me going into the back of a car at ~50km/h.

I was head down hurting at the start of morning peak hour and didn't see the parked car in a clearway/towaway zone until the last second. I had enough time to throw myself to the right and the bike went square into the back of the car. I took off the right hand side external mirror as I went past, and tucked and rolled as I landed about 2 metres in front of the car.. Didn't even crack my helmet on landing. Effectively got up and walked away but was taken to hospital emergency for a few hours to go over me. Just a couple of small scars which are not all that visible now 2 or so years ago.

I never 'suffer' while training or racing with my head down now. Something I try to teach everyone else to do.

Good advice. Check out the rest of the photos.

Bontrager XXX

From Aaron:

This picture taken of my rear Bontrager XXX carbon MTB wheel off the Trek Top Fuel 9.9 SSL.

The bike has been ridden for about 6 weeks with about 25-30hours on these wheels. Rim showed this crack/split that occurred during normal riding. I’m not aware of any major hit or crash that would have caused it.

Coming from using metal based Bontrager Race X lites that after a half dozen years of abuse don’t even need to be trued -- this happening was a bit of a shock. (In addition to this rear wheel problem my front XXX wheel went out of true within 2 weeks of use).

Waiting on the warranty determination from Trek, the shop assumes they will go good on it. ($900 for a single wheel with 30hrs of use, a person would be inclined to think so, right?).

Ouch. I hope Trek helps you out.

Another broken seat post

B.N. sent me a photo of his Pinarello Paris with a seat post that lasted less than 500 miles.

Crash Corner @ Bastion Square

Both Kurt of Everti Bikes and Jamie sent me photos of Jessica Hannah from last weekends Bastion Square Grand Prix. She clipped a pedal, highsided and landed on her front wheel. She got back in the race and finished 15th.

No Carbon Wednesday: Garmin Edge 305

I haven't done a No Carbon Wednesday in a while so I thought I'd finally cover the saga of my Garmin Edge 305. My first one fell off of the mount while crossing a trestle. My second one fell off during a cyclocross race. I complained to Garmin about the quality of the mount and amazingly they sent me a replacement for free with an upgraded mount. Unfortunately I smashed the LCD screen in my next 'cross race. I have to give Garmin credit for great support, but I can't recommend the Edge 305 for somebody that crashes as much as I do.

Pinarello Prince

Another photo with no details, this time a Pinarello Prince.