Yikes - not for the faint hearted

[SkipdiverJohn]

I'm not saying steel can't fail, and just to prove the point I have personally had a chainstay fail on a steel Raleigh Pioneer frame, which is not a common occurrence.
However, the rather alarming failure you posted would not have happened without warning, and would have been visible if the rider had regularly checked his frame. My failure wasn't catastrophic either, it felt a bit odd and the frame became increasingly flexy over several miles, which caused me to stop and investigate the cause. When I discovered the problem I rode it several more miles back home in a restrained manner and at modest speed. I don't think carbon would have given me the same, if any, warning - which is why don't trust it and especially wouldn't trust a used carbon bike with possible previous hidden crash damage.

 

[ColinJ]

It's almost as if you had that ready for the inevitable material comparison comments.

I couldn't resist!

The owner of the bike had obviously neglected his maintenance to let it get into that state. I encountered him walking his bike along a lane at Gargrave (near Skipton). I stopped to see if he was ok. It turned out that he had been riding the same audax event as me, which meant that like me, he had just done the same steep descent into Earby. Bloody lucky that his forks hadn't snapped off on one of those tight bends!!!

He had got onto the flat road at the bottom and then noticed that his front mudguard had started rubbing the wheel. It was soon obvious why...

 

[sleuthey]

Aren't all the main brand bikes built in China. I'd be surprised if anyone with carbon forks finds they are not made in China. Trek, Giant, Cannondale, Specialized, etc etc all get their forks from China.

Up to 2019 Vauxhall petrol Engines were made there. As for MGs, I think the whole thing is made there

 

[jay clock]

I couldn't resist!

The owner of the bike had obviously neglected his maintenance to let it get into that state. I encountered him walking his bike along a lane at Gargrave (near Skipton). I stopped to see if he was ok. It turned out that he had been riding the same audax event as me, which meant that like me, he had just done the same steep descent into Earby. Bloody lucky that his forks hadn't snapped off on one of those tight bends!!!

View attachment 535365

He had got onto the flat road at the bottom and then noticed that his front mudguard had started rubbing the wheel. It was soon obvious why...

what app is that map etc from?. I like it

 

[ColinJ]

what app is that map etc from?. I like it

Memory Map. The app is free; you buy the digital maps. I use it for planning new routes

You can buy the OS digital maps for the whole UK (except for NI) at 1:50,000 (Landranger), 1:25,000 (Explorer) and 1:10,000 scale (street level) in a 'platinum pack'. Memory Map recently had a special offer on, but that seems to have finished - it is now £195 for the pack. You can install on up to 5 devices e.g. phone, tablet, laptop, desktop computer and 1 other device. You could buy a special GPS to take the maps as well but my 3 GPS devices don't work with them.

 

[Venod]

You can get a subscription to OS mapping for £30 a year, there is an app for your phone, also one for Windows and probably a Mac based one, up to date maps all the time.

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/sh...kdyWSoxb1wZUlyjSPo3sbr1q7pYGopGBoCNRUQAvD_BwE

 

[Drago]

People by no name stuff from China for one reason only - it's cheap.

Personally, I don't entrust my life to the lowest bidder.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

People buy no name stuff from China for one reason only - it's cheap.

Most premium brand name carbon manufacture is also outsourced to China and the finished bikes are far from cheap. Some of the build quality and the dimensional tolerancing of critical stuff like the BB shell is absolutely shocking. I was watching a Hambini engineering video on YT the other day and he was sorting out a BB on a £3k carbon gravel job for a customer, that he said neither him or his NDT tester would even be prepared to ride because the frame had such serious defects hidden within it's structure.
It appears if you want carbon but don't want to buy Chinese, either because it's tolerances are shite or you don't want to help fund the Chinese Communist Party, then you have to buy either a Look or Time bike - which aren't made in China and will actually have a correctly dimensioned BB that is very unlikely to creak!