Have you ever see one fail like this?
#26
Should Be More Popular
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Malvern, PA (20 miles West of Philly)
Posts: 43,635
Bikes: 1986 Alpine (steel road bike), 2009 Ti Habenero, 2013 Specialized Roubaix
Liked 9,565 Times
in
4,422 Posts
Maybe not. But the location of the broken spokes and the damage of the fork align up perfectly, so that's my thinking. As I said, no way to prove or disprove it. My suspicion is that SOMETHING got in the spokes and broke the fork. Maybe not the reflector...but the fork AND the reflector are both made of plastic. Right??
#27
Banned
Likes For shelbyfv:
#28
Senior Member
yes its very obvious something got in there. since the back ends are bent inwards. thats where it happened. i'm guessing a squirrel.
Likes For PepeM:
#31
SuperGimp
Oh, I forgot to add - this is a clear case of Cinzano!
Likes For TrojanHorse:
#32
Senior Member
Sometimes when I ride in areas with a lot of debris on the road (leaves, twigs, etc) I can hear stuff ping my spokes.
I'm guessing she ran over something that hooked inwards towards her wheel (small tree branch?) and sheared the spokes and fork.
Bad luck.
Oh and about carbon forks: I was stupid enough to get a hacksaw stuck in my front wheels while riding along. Don't ask! Broke a spoke and scared the hell out of me but only rubbed the paint on my forks. Carbon is pretty tough.
I'm guessing she ran over something that hooked inwards towards her wheel (small tree branch?) and sheared the spokes and fork.
Bad luck.
Oh and about carbon forks: I was stupid enough to get a hacksaw stuck in my front wheels while riding along. Don't ask! Broke a spoke and scared the hell out of me but only rubbed the paint on my forks. Carbon is pretty tough.
Likes For jideta:
Likes For carlos danger:
#34
Hope shes alright! Wow, I have had that happen to me on my old Trek 5200. Well, not JRA, it took me running into the back of a truck that pulled in front of me and stopped short. A clean hit going probably 10mph, I didnt even hit the ground but my wheel with fork fork arms still attached just dropped and I was left holding the bike. I remember being amazed as how thin those carbon forks are.
#35
Senior Member
#36
Senior Member
This thread is like the tin foil hat club.
Likes For Seattle Forrest:
#38
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Chapel Hill NC
Posts: 1,681
Bikes: 2000 Litespeed Vortex Chorus 10, 1995 DeBernardi Cromor S/S
Liked 797 Times
in
446 Posts
I’ve seen pics of a CF fork failing like this after a squirrel jumped into the wheel. While one might expect the spokes to cut the squirrel in two, the wiry little bastard stayed intact (but dead) and the fork gave way instead. Looks to me like something more substantial than a squirrel got into the wheel and started shearing off spokes. Every time the next spoke came up, the object was slammed into the back of the fork before the spoke failed. 6-8 broken spokes and 6-8 impacts against the fork later, it was the forks turn to fail. I would’ve said a stray tree branch, but a branch stout enough to do this damage would hardly be missed. Maybe a piece of metallic road flotsam, like a tool (wrench or screwdriver)?
#39
#40
Me duelen las nalgas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Texas
Posts: 13,515
Bikes: Centurion Ironman, Trek 5900, Univega Via Carisma, Globe Carmel
Liked 2,814 Times
in
1,808 Posts
Looks like she got spoked and it happened so fast she didn't notice or remember what happened.
Go back to the scene of the crash. You might find whatever got caught in the wheel and jammed it.
Debris is easy to overlook. As alert as I try to be, occasionally I have to take my eye off the road ahead to check approaching or overtaking cars, etc. A couple of days ago as I was rounding a turn I glanced around to check a couple of cars that appeared to be intent on blowing a 4-way stop sign intersection. I took a tighter line than I'd planned on and missed a metal wire sign stake, sans sign, by a few inches. That thing could easily have flipped into the spokes and tossed me overboard.
Very common problem around here in springtime when homeowners are running nearly continuous garage sales. Even with local ordinances for sign removal, some folks just tear off the posterboard or gatorboard signs and leave the buggered up metal wire stakes behind. They only remove the sign boards that identify the owners, but leave the other garbage behind.
Worse are the local athletic events sponsored by various charities and businesses that use the multi-use path. They'll stake signs every few yards overhanging the paved and gravel paths. And after the events they don't clean up all their mess. Often they'll just discard the metal wire stakes along the grass -- those things are about like wire coat hangers, almost invisible until you're on top of them. Pisses me off. I've snapped photos and posted to the offending event Facebook pages, but nobody ever responds. Occasionally I've stopped to move their signs farther from the path but still visible. It shouldn't be necessary.
Another reason I avoid hugging the curb or using the laughably named "bike lanes". That's where most debris ends up, including bits of wire off construction crew trucks, sign stakes, fallen branches after storms, etc. That stuff is much more dangerous than flat tires from broken glass and other debris along the road edges.
Go back to the scene of the crash. You might find whatever got caught in the wheel and jammed it.
Debris is easy to overlook. As alert as I try to be, occasionally I have to take my eye off the road ahead to check approaching or overtaking cars, etc. A couple of days ago as I was rounding a turn I glanced around to check a couple of cars that appeared to be intent on blowing a 4-way stop sign intersection. I took a tighter line than I'd planned on and missed a metal wire sign stake, sans sign, by a few inches. That thing could easily have flipped into the spokes and tossed me overboard.
Very common problem around here in springtime when homeowners are running nearly continuous garage sales. Even with local ordinances for sign removal, some folks just tear off the posterboard or gatorboard signs and leave the buggered up metal wire stakes behind. They only remove the sign boards that identify the owners, but leave the other garbage behind.
Worse are the local athletic events sponsored by various charities and businesses that use the multi-use path. They'll stake signs every few yards overhanging the paved and gravel paths. And after the events they don't clean up all their mess. Often they'll just discard the metal wire stakes along the grass -- those things are about like wire coat hangers, almost invisible until you're on top of them. Pisses me off. I've snapped photos and posted to the offending event Facebook pages, but nobody ever responds. Occasionally I've stopped to move their signs farther from the path but still visible. It shouldn't be necessary.
Another reason I avoid hugging the curb or using the laughably named "bike lanes". That's where most debris ends up, including bits of wire off construction crew trucks, sign stakes, fallen branches after storms, etc. That stuff is much more dangerous than flat tires from broken glass and other debris along the road edges.
#41
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Northeastern MA, USA
Posts: 1,686
Bikes: Garmin/Tacx Bike Smart
Liked 296 Times
in
193 Posts
Not Necessarily
The only thing that's safe to say is that neither of us were there, so neither one of us can draw a definitive conclusion. There were three other riders one in front two behind. None of them was her hit anything or saw anything get jammed. So, as unlikely as it sounds, fork failure is a possibility. We'll never know for sure.
Likes For dmanthree:
#42
dot dash
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Land of Pleasant Living
Posts: 12,568
Bikes: Shmikes
Liked 6,167 Times
in
3,320 Posts
Good reason to put an edge on those bladed spokes!
#44
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TC, MN
Posts: 39,521
Bikes: R3 Disc, Haanjo
Liked 9,462 Times
in
4,673 Posts
Likes For WhyFi:
#45
Wish I had saved the photo someone took. Quite the freakish accident. The good news was that the wheel and my crabon fork were fine. No assplosions.
#46
#47
dot dash
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: Land of Pleasant Living
Posts: 12,568
Bikes: Shmikes
Liked 6,167 Times
in
3,320 Posts
Likes For MoAlpha:
#48
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TC, MN
Posts: 39,521
Bikes: R3 Disc, Haanjo
Liked 9,462 Times
in
4,673 Posts
#49
Ah, an obscure reference to Breaking Away...I like it.
Likes For eja_ bottecchia: