Paranoid

[beavis]

There are some things that worry me. Quite a lot actually, but when it comes to bikes it's this;

1) Hope Ti Hubs - you know, the ones that the flanges crack on. How bad do they have to be before they come apart? And what happens when they do, is it total destruction resulting in a forward roll over the bars?

2) Front Straddle Cables on Canti's. You hear the horror stories about the wires braking and the Straddles having a trip wire effect on the tyres knobbly bits, resulting in a forward roll over the bars (again). At the moment I've got a small tie-wrap loosley attached through the hole in the top of my forks and around the Straddle - is this good enough protection?? Has it happened to anybody???

3) Before this just starts to sound like an obsession with going over the bars...an old topic I'm sure, but old alloy handlebars...discuss.

:shock:

 

[Tad]

Add carbon bars, carbon forks, carbon wheels to the mix too.

Then there's wheel rims, when is worn worn out? Fancy a front blowing out on you under braking and the over the handle bars moment again? Or the rear blowing out on a fast descent and the rapidly spinning shards of aluminium tearing through you calf muscle?

With a lot of this stuff it comes down to maintenance. If you look after your bike and clean it regularly you'll notice the cracks appearing on the front wheel. You'll notice your cables corroding and replace them before they snap...

 

[WD Pro]

Dads front cable snapped coming down scafell pike and the straddle hit the tyre (mud dawg I think) ...

It was actually very uneventful, first we knew about it was when he came hurtling past us (he was at the back of me and bro)

Maybe he was lucky ... :?

Does anyone know about a case where it threw someone over or is it was of those urban myth type things ?

WD

 

[beavis]

omg. Forgot about the wheel rims - make that no.4)

At this rate I may never ride again :roll:

 

[boxxer]

Well my tiglide I had to skelp 10 times with a big hamer before the rear popped apart

If the cracks are propogating from the spoke holes it'll go explosively and will not be a nice feeling - know a few guys who have had that happen to them...

 

[jimo746]

The straddle cable thing, it won't throw you over the bars, it just makes a bit of a noise as it catches on the roatating knobbly bits on the tyre. I know because earlier this year I pulled the front brake and the cable pulled through the cable hangar (someone hadn't tightened the bolt up enough ) and popped the cable end crimp off it too. And I'm still alive :?

I also split/blew out a wheel rim on the Marin trail near Betws-y-Coed in March, first thing I know of it was when I felt a horrendous pulsing of the brake lever when I was braking, so I left the front brake alone and rolled to a stop... the old Mavic 230 rim had split at the seam/weld and bent itslef outwards along a 2" length on one side :shock: Fortunately I had brought spare wheels in the car as I knew the 230's were wearing thin and if they were going to go, then they would go a) when being used hard and b) when I was away for a weekends biking, sods law

Next is the x-lite alloy bars which have developed a creak, despite trying copperslip and then grease on the bar/stem clamp area. I think I will keep a very close eye on them and maybe change them as if they break then it WILL mean a trip over the bars, most probably involving the loss of several teeth too

But tbh, you're far more likely to injure yourself by falling off your bike in day-to-day riding, or being hit be a car.... hope that makes you feel a bit better :?

 

[brocklanders023]

There are some things that worry me. Quite a lot actually, but when it comes to bikes it's this;

1) Hope Ti Hubs - you know, the ones that the flanges crack on. How bad do they have to be before they come apart? And what happens when they do, is it total destruction resulting in a forward roll over the bars?

2) Front Straddle Cables on Canti's. You hear the horror stories about the wires braking and the Straddles having a trip wire effect on the tyres knobbly bits, resulting in a forward roll over the bars (again). At the moment I've got a small tie-wrap loosley attached through the hole in the top of my forks and around the Straddle - is this good enough protection?? Has it happened to anybody???

3) Before this just starts to sound like an obsession with going over the bars...an old topic I'm sure, but old alloy handlebars...discuss.

:shock:

Don't be so paranoid my mate, it'll be reeeet (except the Hope hub, I'll have a look next time I'm round).

 

[drystonepaul]

I had three spoke holes on the drive side of a rear Ti-Glide crack and turn into one jagged mess whilst riding.
I'm not sure when it happened though as I just looked down on a road section to see my wheel was a bit buckled. It was only on closer inspection that I discovered the true nature of the problem. Still rode it home albeit more carefully.

I've also had rim sidewalls go with a bang as the inner tube explodes. Crank tapers on set of Middleburns suddenly giving up during a track-stand at the traffic lights with another loud bang.
Last year a bonded Dyna-Tech frame began to separate during a ride. I didn't notice until afterwards, although I'd also sliced a brand new tyre which had already prompted a walk back to the car park.

In over 24 years of biking though these incidents have been few and far between, so I try not to worry too much.
I never use old alloy bars though.

 

[somafunk]

My original TI glide rear hub (1995) cracked 3 spoke flanges back in 2006 but it had been used since the late 90's on my ss'ed mtb road bike build and a quick phone call to hope and they sent me a new ti glide hub free of charge - i can't argue or complain with their service but i must admit the spoke flange failure does cross my mind when i hit 50mph+ down a local very steep hill on my training runs, then again the failure of my 1" conti grand prix 26" tyres due to a puncture at the same speeds also crosses my mind, as well as the failure of my cut down easton ec70 carbon bars, or failure of my original pace rc31 carbon/magnesium dropout forks or failure of my 1994 marin indian fire trail frame...it's a wonder i take the bike out at all but to date it's covered well over 100,000 miles and i see no reason why it will not cover another 100,000....dunno bout the rider though - things are starting to fail on me never mind the bike...

[/url]
fungrel#1 by kennyl, on Flickr

Old pic.......yeah i know it's fkin ugly but it works surprisingly well, current changes include lightweight slimline headset/new 717 black rear rim as original red 717 exploded/conti 26" x 1" GP tyres/lighter front disc/syncros cattleprod aheadset stem/54 tooth chainring so i can chase n' catch cars on the main road.

 

[lumos2000]

be prepared, practice going over the bar a few times. then when the inevitable happens just tuck and roll, simples