I wasnt even going over any potholes. I made a turn, heard a loud crack, and that was that. Bike shop is being pretty cool about replacing the frame and rebuilding. I use a Marin DSX-1
This ever happen to anyone else?
byu/zerohandel inbikecommuting
by zerohandel
7 Comments
Been a minute since I worked in a bike shop. The term Just Riding Along (JRA) is what we heard a lot with broken frames, wheels, and other components. 😁
Awesome the shop is taking care of you.
I’ve worked on a lot of bikes. Seen a number of failures like this on aluminum bikes, usually by the weld. Most recent was an older Kona Jake the Snake, weld right by the dropout failed.
I always laugh when I see all the “carbon is fragile steel is real” posts when I’ve parted out steel and aluminum bikes after frame failures, but never carbon.
…I have seen carbon crash damage though.
Happened to me about 1 month ago, steel frame I use for (amateur) races.
I had the whole thing repaired and reinforced
Aluminum is planned obsolescence. It has a finite cycle life span. Every single time aluminum is flexed it grows weaker and weaker until it eventually fails. Best thing you can do to reduce the stress on an aluminum frame is avoid mashing the pedals in high gear and avoid standing up to pedal when accelerating or going up hills. Better for the frame to sit and spin in high cadence in granny gear and largest cassette cog.
I was riding through a busy intersection on my winter bike (aluminum) when there was a groan and a snap and I was sailing through the air with the handlebars, front forks and wheel in my hands and the rest of the bike trailing behind. Both front welds failed. It had done 18 years of service. No hard feelings.
I found a crack in the steel dropout. Ground a vee into it and welded it with a $15 swap meet stick welder.
I had an aluminum cannondale moto (2nd gen) frame crack at a weld on the downtube. Had no idea, and only saw it while cleaning the bike. Got a warranty replacement, and 13 years later still going strong.