I find this thread fascinating:
1. I had a low speed MTB incident in the '90s where I kinked the top tube / down tube, but did not crash. It was a light weight Jamis Dakota - no bent fork or wheel problems.
2. I t-boned another racer who was sliding across the ground in front of me during a criterium, sending me knee caps over coffee cups resulting in a kinked top tube and down tube - no bent fork, no wheel problems. An early '90s Japanese built Schwinn Paramount
3. Back in August of this year I crashed in a very poorly marked construction zone, resulting in a cracked aluminum rim, a bent steel fork, and me going tibias over tea kettle, landing on my shoulder & side of my head. My helmet did it's job, but my co-riders were generally freaking out. (what was kinda weird was I bent my NITTO bars and sprained my thumb, but opposite sides... weird...and my tire didn't flat, but the rim cracked - let's hear it for inner tubes! )
- - the GUNNAR CrossHairs frame was (is) fine (brand freaking new! like i'd been riding it a week!!!) . No tube kinks. No cracked paint. No frame mis-alignment (checked out by my local bike shop and me with my engineering degree that I bought 25 years ago....)
- - I talked to the construction company. I am not the litigious sort, so we settled on $500 for me to go away. That covered my bike parts replacement (mostly), but not my e-room visit.
Hopefully someone will stumble upon how the whole thing with the All City was resolved and post it here.
My vote is a manufacturing defect. It sure looks like the welds failed. But do you want to take the opinion of someone who keeps crashing bikes?!
ciao!
I have no idea how the bike in the OP came apart or why. I do know that I was given a red frame Bianchi bicycle that the rider rode into a parked car and slightly bent the headtube and downtube. The bike still tracks perfectly and can easily be ridden no-hands. Actually it's one of my favourite rides. I do wonder why the bike in the OP came apart like it did. AMybe time will t ell?
Cheers