mcshroom
Bionic Subsonic
- Location
- Egremont, Cumbria
Checking the tightness of your calipers might be more productive. Thankfully my only caliper braked bike is old enough to have nuts rather than recessed bolts, so it's easy to check they are safe
Broken Forks on Morning Commute
- Thread starter BrumJim
- Start date
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Checking the tightness of your calipers might be more productive. Thankfully my only caliper braked bike is old enough to have nuts rather than recessed bolts, so it's easy to check they are safe
freewheelwilly
Senior Member
- Location
- London
This happened to a friend of mine a few years back. He had recently bought a new road bike from a well know bike outlet that shares the same name as a company that makes clothing for the larger lady. Anyway, a loose front break caliper came off whilst he applied the breaks one day on his commute and before he knew it he was face down in tarmac with a wheel and a set of forks written off. Turned out he hadn't gone over the bike when he took ownership of it and checked every nut and bolt was tight putting his faith in the mechanic that had built it for him. It also answered my niggling question as to where this clicking sound was coming from the week before when we went out on a ride.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Send me your rubbish carbon bikes folks - I'll find a home for those unwanted bits of plastic 
To be frank, sounds like poor maintenance - who the hell has a brake calliper fall off ? You are going to face plant, carbon, steel, bamboo, anyway.
Oh saw another snapped carbon bike at weekend - carbon forks went on a straight section of road - a few pot holes before it though - my offer still stands folks, I shall recycle them for you !
To be frank, sounds like poor maintenance - who the hell has a brake calliper fall off ? You are going to face plant, carbon, steel, bamboo, anyway.
Oh saw another snapped carbon bike at weekend - carbon forks went on a straight section of road - a few pot holes before it though - my offer still stands folks, I shall recycle them for you !
freewheelwilly
Senior Member
- Location
- London
Like they say, there's nothing wrong with carbon but when it does go wrong it goes catastrophically wrong.Send me your rubbish carbon bikes folks - I'll find a home for those unwanted bits of plastic
To be frank, sounds like poor maintenance - who the hell has a brake calliper fall off ? You are going to face plant, carbon, steel, bamboo, anyway.
Oh saw another snapped carbon bike at weekend - carbon forks went on a straight section of road - a few pot holes before it though - my offer still stands folks, I shall recycle them for you !
That aside there was a positive spin on this. He now is so competent in bike maintenance and bike building that i only have to throw a few beers his way and i have a fully tuned and cleaned up bike every 3 months.
fossyant
Ride It Like You Stole It!
- Location
- South Manchester
Wish my 'mates' would throw a beer or three my way when I've sorted their bikes out (this is non-cyclists).
Sittingduck
Legendary Member
- Location
- Somewhere flat
Fork break / headtube fail = the stuff that nightmares are made of!
Wobblers
Euthermic
- Location
- Minkowski Space
Sigh. I fear it's already become one.
Er, no. And in this case would have been better off with one.
He admitted that he usually wore one, but being up from London and in Birmingham he forgot to bring it with him.
Jim, you're an engineer, so I know you're more than capable of calculating the probable kinetic energy of this poor bloke's head in this crash, and making a meaningful comparison of that and the impact resistance of a helmet (50 J). Stating he'd have been better off with one, is, I'm afraid, a little silly from a scientific view. Anecdote is not proof.
Had the brake caliper bolt been checked and tightened or replaced (as necessary), this accident would not have happened. That is the important message here. It is deeply frustrating that helmet wearing is constantly pushed over such things as simple maintenance and good cycling techniques - things that will prevent that accident in the first place. Simply put: accident prevention is far superior to accident mitigation.
Cyclist33
Guest
- Location
- Warrington
Er, no. And in this case would have been better off with one.
He admitted that he usually wore one, but being up from London and in Birmingham he forgot to bring it with him.
Don't you mean "down from London"?
Nigeyy
Legendary Member
- Location
- Massachusetts, USA
Wow, sounds nasty. Curious though, wouldn' t you notice if your brake calipre was coming loose? (I would think I would, but of course that's assuming its noticeable). Or is this a case of there's not much difference between a well tightened down calipre and it being perilously unscrewed? This maybe is a good lesson to learn -don't ignore new and different sounds from your bike.
Mind you, I've never liked the idea of front brakes being held in place the "wrong" way -i.e. braking forces them away from the fork. If a manufacturer could do it on their frames, brakes mounted on the back side of a fork seem to be the best idea (I know some people would say you'd get crud sprayed onto them,but then if you have a mudguard....)
Mind you, I've never liked the idea of front brakes being held in place the "wrong" way -i.e. braking forces them away from the fork. If a manufacturer could do it on their frames, brakes mounted on the back side of a fork seem to be the best idea (I know some people would say you'd get crud sprayed onto them,but then if you have a mudguard....)
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
Sounds nasty, I hope he didn't do himself too much damage, I'm surprised it got to the point of falling off without him noticing, or was it something mechanical? stripped thread or broken spindle?
SportMonkey
Guest
In theory, the idea of mounting brakes in front of the fork is that any failure would carry them away from the fork rather than into it, thus removing the chance of them locking the front wheel and dumping the rider on the floor. I reckon it would have to be an unfortunate set of circumstances for the loose calliper to have got tangled in the spokes behind the fork.
As for the safety kit, was he wearing gloves and, if not, how were his hands? Just as important, IMO, as a comment about helmets.
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BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
I know what you are saying but:
In this case, the bump was in exactly the same place as his helmet would have been. I suspect that his helmet would not have resulted in quite such a big bump so much blood spilt, although I didn't see the crash happen so I don't know if it was a direct hit or a rebound hit. I do know that a lot of accidents are so chaotic that a simple model can be as good as useless. I'm also conveniently ignoring the bigger picture that states that if he regularly didn't wear helmet at all he might have taken more care of his mechanicals, or might not have been tempted to give it some beans and try to match the speed of the bloke on the inferior aluminium bike that just passed him.
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BrumJim
Forum Stalwart (won't take the hint and leave...)
- Location
- Selly Oak, Birmingham
No.Don't you mean "down from London"?
I've looked on the map, and Birmingham is definitely above London. Look at the contours!
"up" and "down" from London comes from the early rail system. All lines terminated in London, you had the up line and the down line, so you go "up" to London wherever you are in the UKNo.
