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.

Busted Steerer Tube

From Colin:

I recently bought a frame that came with a full carbon fork (my first fork with a carbon steer tube!) Just got done building it up, and on the test ride the handlebars felt wiggly, so I took out the fork and removed the warning sticker to find this nasty crack. The seller and I missed it because it was under the sticker but it was obvious while riding. Anyone have a fork with a steel steer tube?

Hmm... the seller missed it because it was under a sticker? You are more trusting than I.

Broken LOOK HSC5 Fork

From Mathew:

This is my LOOK HSC5 full carbon fork after impact with a tree at about 35km/h. My frame stayed together, thanks to Alloy Lugs (it's a 2003 KX Light). I can nearly guarantee a steel fork would have bent but not failed disastrously. Needless to say, a very expensive replacement is on order. The rest of the bike - absolutely no problem.