Did poor maintenance contribute to his death?

[Ferdie]

It's really tragic in cases like these when you never know when something like this is likely to happen.

I've had this happen to me a couple of times, and the last time was on my way home from a monthly check with my LBS! I changed gear going into Old Street Roundabout and the chain popped off. I fell on my handlebars and kind of spreadeagled on top of it and luckily my feet hitthe ground first. I looekd a like a complete idiot in the middle of the roudnabout but it could have been worse.

For a few months after this I never stood up on pedals! At least if you are sitting down you have less chance of falling off

 

[PK99]

Isn't one of Sheldon's pieces of advice about never standing on the pedals of a bike unless you know it to be in excellent mechanical condition.

From said oracle:

Pedaling that hard is very stressful to the joints, and to the bicycle, and usually involves a level of effort that cannot be sustained aerobically. Unless you have unusually good form, it also tends to involve a fair amount of thrashing from side to side, which is a waste of energy. The added stress flexes many parts of the bicycle, and the energy required to do this flexing is not usually recovered when the parts straighten back out.

These extreme stresses also greatly increase the risk of breaking things. If a pedal, crank, chain, handlebar or handlebar stem should break under this abnormal stress (a very real possibility) you are almost certain to suffer injury in the resulting crash. Even a simple missed shift or the skipping of a worn chain can toss you to the ground when you throw all of your weight onto a single pedal. You should never stand up to pedal a bicycle that you do not know to be in excellent mechanical condition!

 

[ColinJ]

I'm not sure how he could go over the handlebars without the bicycle stopping suddenly though - perhaps the chain jammed, rather than slipped?

Scarily, it's actually extremely easy to do it! I survived a very similar accident (including my helmetless head hitting the road) when I was a teenager. I described the crash in detail recently in this post.

 

[fossyant]

Hence why it is important to maintain your bike, especially if you are going to ride it fast or hard.

We'll never know what really happened but this sort of thing does sometimes. Tragic.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

He was a school friend of one of my (many) nephews. Good kid from a good if not wealthy home, good student at Newman, a decent school with a low yob tolerance threshold.

Horrid situation all round.

 

[Zoiders]

Sounds like he may have been riding a trials bike - wich often have no real saddle on purpose and are also often single speed with track ends.

If the wheel slipped forward in the track ends as he was honking then yes it could drop the chain and yes it would put you over the bars.

 

[downfader]

He was a school friend of one of my (many) nephews. Good kid from a good if not wealthy home, good student at Newman, a decent school with a low yob tolerance threshold.

Horrid situation all round.

That makes it all the more sad.

My brother did once get his BSO up to around 30, his chain came off and jammed on the BB, bike flipped somehow and he landed on his head. Luckily he's a) a kick boxer and used to a battering, b) his head was cushioned a little by the helmet and was hit in the way it was designed for, although at much, much faster a speed.

What WAS annoying about it was as he tried to get up drivers who had seen this happen just drove past. He crawled to a pavement and the only one to show any concern was a little girl.

 

[summerdays]

You can't predict when a chain will snap, although mine just has after 5000 miles. I don't know if the chap was going uphill but bearing down hard on the pedal at the top of the revolution and having it suddenly give way could easily spill you over the front. Freakish occurrence, poor chap.

+ 1 Very sad ... its just one of the chance sequence of events that could happen to any of us.

 

[tyred]

I must admit I rarely stand on the pedals after seeing my mate take a header from his Triumph 3 speed all those years ago. We couldn't find anything wrong with the bike afterwards and it gave many more years of service. Jobst Brandt has an article somewhere explaining why SA three-speeds can slip into neutral when put under pressure in third and why you should never do that with these hubs.

 

[maat1976]

As someone who is a novice to cycling and only uses a crap Halfords bike that probably could use some maintenance and occassionally stands up on my pedals, this thread is particularly educational and has probably just saved me a future tumble.

Thanks.

 

[661-Pete]

As someone who is a novice to cycling and only uses a crap Halfords bike that probably could use some maintenance and occassionally stands up on my pedals, this thread is particularly educational and has probably just saved me a future tumble.

Thanks.

I would say, no! Get acquainted with the maintenance stuff instead, because your cycling will be all the more rewarding for it (and who knows? You may well find the maintenance thing satisfying in itself!). And a Halfords bike is only cr*p if you look after it like cr*p (or let Halfords look after it for you ). Get it properly adjusted and trued up, make sure all the clearances are right, etc. etc., it may well run as sweetly and smoothly as a bike five times the price!

It's the willing rider that counts!

 

[ufkacbln]

What WAS annoying about it was as he tried to get up drivers who had seen this happen just drove past. He crawled to a pavement and the only one to show any concern was a little girl.

That is always what amazes me.

Yesterday at Cams Hall, a car had broken down (virtually on the corner of Down End Road if you want to Google) and there was a tail back. Lots of hooting and verbal abuse for the unfortunate driver.

It took two cyclists to offer help and push the car off the road into a driveway!

 

[lit]

It took two cyclists to offer help and push the car off the road into a driveway!

That doesn't suprise me, much easier to do nothing than be helpful.

 

[RecordAceFromNew]

I would say, no! Get acquainted with the maintenance stuff instead, because your cycling will be all the more rewarding for it (and who knows? You may well find the maintenance thing satisfying in itself!). And a Halfords bike is only cr*p if you look after it like cr*p (or let Halfords look after it for you ). Get it properly adjusted and trued up, make sure all the clearances are right, etc. etc., it may well run as sweetly and smoothly as a bike five times the price!

+1. In due course you will be helping others making their bikes safer too.

 

[maat1976]

I will get into the maintenance thing, but I hate the Halfords bike and in the process of getting something better. I've had the Carrera tuned up a few times over the year (there is a guy who comes to my work every so often) so if there is anything urgent, I would HOPE he would tell me.

There was a maintenance course on bikes in our parking lot but I was unable to attend and I am on their waiting list for the next one, so fingers crossed I will get to do it.