Twice Busted Madone

Mark send me these photos of his Trek Madone. First the seat tube cracked and was repaired. Then 10,000 miles later Mark hit a pothole at 30mph and it broke again. The 2nd time Trek gave him a new frame.

Descending the Guaramiranga

Leandro from Brazil sent me these photos of his friends bike. He crashed descending the Guaramiranga for the first time. Luckily he only received minor scuffs. His "Pinarello Style" bike however did not survive.

Pedal Falls Off

Haven't had a just riding along story in a while. Here's one from Zack - "Just riding down the road when the pedal fell off. Wasn't even pedaling hard or putting out much torque." Luckily it didn't happen when standing...

Death of a Beauty

Jimmer posted this photo and a few words about his on his blog.

Zipp 404

Don sent me these photos of his Zipp 404. The was pushed into the barriers during a crit, breaking 7 bones and his Zipp 404. His steal steel frame and Alpha fork were ok.

Somehow Zipp managed to rebuild the wheel. Hopefully Don won't be off the bike for too long.

Pinarello Prince

Joshua sent this one in. 3 months old. Fell over. Toast.

It's not unexpected for a frame to break when it gets crashed into a concrete block at 40+ km/h, but when it just tips over and breaks, I think that hurts the most.

Ster Elektrotoer

This photo from Pez Cycling News is from stage 3 of this years Ster Elektrotoer in the Netherlands. Amazing photo, we can all image what happens next.

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.

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.

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.

Mangled Trek

Steve sent me a photo of this Trek. He says:

Amazingly the rider is ok. Descending a steep windy grade and the truck had crossed the centerline.

SRAM Derailleur

SRAM Carbon derailleur cage -- busted!

Carbon Seat Rails

Someone over at Pinkbike.com broke his carbon seat rails.

Ruined Forks

These forks are done, but the wheel looks ok.

No Carbon Wednesday: Steel is Real

Steel is Real.

No Carbon Wednesday: Cannondale R700

The carbon fiber apologists have been complaining. They want to see some broken aluminum, steel and titanium bikes as well. To make them happy I've started "No Carbon Wednesday." I'll start things off with the king of the aluminum bike: Cannondale. This R700 is in rough shape.

Another set of forks

This time it's a Felt that has lost it forks.

Broken Frame

This guy sure looks happy, happy to be alive I guess.

Road Kill

This photo is a classic from bikeforums.net. Maybe bladded spokes would have helped here, but I doubt it.