base2 

A few years ago, I had a Trek T50 tandem. My son and I would hammer that thing. Seriously laying down the watts as much as a father/son duo could all the way through his teen years. Uphill, downhill, stand and stomp sprints, switchbacks and windy roads were no match for our "mad skillz."

...Apparently, the bike wasn't either. The down tube cracked at a down tube water bottle boss. The stiffener tube is what held the bike together.

I also had a Scattante DX350. A Fuji built frame for Performance Bicycles house brand. It was built around some really weird "standards." One was a head tube meant for IS/ZS 42mm headset cups to be mated to a standard 1&1/8 straight steerer. Another was 130mm disc. But the frame was actually 131mm and the dropouts were true so I never paid it any mind and importantly, I didn't know any better. So I stuffed a 135mm disc wheel in it from around mile 1,000 to it's final demise at around mile 9,000 or so. The stress of 8,000 miles of a wider than appropriate wheel on the chain stay bridge of the aluminum frame while I enthusiastically rode aggressively, lost 40 pounds and got strong, was just too much. It too, cracked.

Nothing bad happened. It was just a hairline originating in the weld proceeding about half way around the tube. The bike began life as a budget CX, became a road bike. Then, as a gravel bike with mountain gears I broke 2 forks and occasionally shredded a tire. It died a 76 gear inch single-speed on Seattle hills. It really is a shame. It took a really long time to locate a 130mm disc hub once I realized the error of my ways. Too long, apparently. (I guess I finally identified that bottom bracket "knock," huh?)

Now, my Rodriguez global travel bike that I have been using for commuting duties is bent. I don't know what happened. The single-speed chain to the Rohloff hub was just a lot more slack today than it was yesterday and there is a 4mm discrepancy in how close the wheel is to each chainstay. Flipping the wheel around makes no difference. It is the frame that mysteriously taken a banana like tendency. I will be taking it to R&E for evaluation. (I was mad as hell and tried to chase down a negligent car driver the previous ride. Could that have done it? )

Now that I think about it...I've been through 3 bottom brackets in 8,000 miles and had Ruckus Composites repair a bubbling chainstay on my Cervelo, too.

I'm starting to wonder if there is a common denominator, here...

How many frames have you used until failure? Stories please...

rsbob 

My 87 Columbus tubed Bianchi cracked by the BB. Had it welded and the bike lives on and is put into service on wet rides. The crack was not due to the massive wattage I could not muster.

Polaris OBark

My 87 Columbus tubed Bianchi cracked near the front derailleur braze-on. Had it warrantied and the new frame has lasted 34 years.

Russ Roth

I was climbing a mountain in the Catskills and sheared the rear axle on a freewheel hub, bent the drive side stays and the non-drive drop out and ruined the frame, trek deemed it abuse. Was asked to test out a Vicious Cycles cross bike made with ritchey tubing, it didn't like the staircase ride and the fork bent back far enough that the tire went past the downtube and nearly made me crash. I'd say that was on the abusive side but I'd done similar rides on my 853 Havnoonian cross bike so I still think the frame/fork were sub-par. Had a Giant that had the drive side seat stay separate from the seat tube, kinda just popped off, not certain how it happened, just seemed to ride weird one day and a quick look showed the issue.

jaxgtr

I had a used late 90's Spec Rockhopper and it cracked about 2cm above the bottom bracket along with my ankle while I was doing something stupid according to my wife, but I did not think so.

Sierra_rider

2014 Ridley Helium(lightweight climbing bike.) After about 6 years of riding, it developed a small crack at the back of the drive side chain stay. It was almost invisible from the outside...the only thing that clued me into something being wrong, was a horrendous creaking noise that it developed. Saw a very faint crack in the paint, pulled the rear derailleur cable out and could see the crack well from the inside.

I think it was a perfect storm of factors leading to the crack. The lay-up of the carbon on the inside of that frame is not impressive. I also crashed that bike a couple years previously. ******y brag-time, but I do put out some pretty decent wattage(not a flyweight climber though.) I think a smaller rider may have never experienced the same issue, watching the bottom bracket area flex while pedaling was always a bit disconcerting.

Anyway, I ended up on a brand new Canyon and never looked back. While I've only ridden the Canyon for 3.5 years, I've put considerably more miles on it than I did in the 6 on the Ridley. No issues so far and it has re-affirmed my faith in carbon not assploding.

sean.hwy

Lost count of how many bmx bike frames I have cracked as a kid. We did a lot stupid stuff back then.

I know I have way more hours and miles on each of my bikes that I have bought since 2020 ( gravel, road, mtb 6+ bikes ). No cracks yet.

Same place on my xgf bike. She is under 100 lbs cracked her 2015 specialized aluminum road bike. Not sure how she didn't ride it much and when she did it was just on the road. dunno

sean.hwy

ha-ha

that's why she become the wife. she knows you.

diphthong

cracked a 2001 coppi ksc plane aluminum frame on a chain stay but had help getting hit from behind at a decent speed in december 2018. rip that coppi frame. loved loved it.

alcjphil

Have cracked a frame twice. My first bike was an 18" wheel BSA. Great bike but after a few years the top tube broke just in front of the seat tube. My father found someone who was able to braze it back together and it lasted long enough that my brother and young cousin were both able to ride it. The other was my Commencal Super 4 which cracked at the junction between the top tube and seat tube. This was a common failure for the early versions of this frame along with the chain stay which I also broke

jaxgtr

very true.

skidder

I had a Trek FX model crack at one of the rear dropouts where it meets the seat stay. The rest of the parts were still servicable (some were upgrades), so I bought a touring frame off the old Nashbar website and built up a new bicycle using those parts (and a few newbies like a new crank and BB). I still have it and its in the ride rotation.

Trsnrtr

Well, let's see...

Trek 460 (BB - seat tube)
Cinelli (Head tube)
Alan CX (Head tube)
Gianni Motta (BB - seat tube)
Nishiki Team (down tube)
Nishiki Comp III (left rear dropout)
Eisentraut (head tube)
Eisentraut (seat stay)
Specialized Roubaix Pro (BB Shell)

Might be a couple more over the last 40+ years.

Jughed

As a kid I tried everything I could to crack my Schwann Phantom Scrambler BMX bike. I wanted a new ride.

I used an engraver to draw in hairline cracks into the welds… turned that bike into a decked out Skyway TA.

Never broke a road or MTB frame.

I did explode a set of CF aero bars- that was bad.

big john

I think you win.

big john

I had an "English" 3 speed as a kid. Was jumping off a dirt mound to show off and the head tube broke and I went over the bars, Kid in the neighborhood had a pile of bike crap and I bought a frame from him and transferred all the parts.

Had a lovely Nishiki rigid steel mtb. Heard a funny noise and found the rear axle bent. Put a new axle in and the noise was still there. Closer inspection revealed the chainstay had snapped in front of the left dropout.

Bought a Trek 660 new in 1988? I think. After about 15K miles it cracked radially around the bottom bracket. Trek warrantied it but they didn't make 660s anymore so they gave me store credit and I got a Landshark built up with my parts for $150.

I rode a K2 mountain bike for 10 years. I was climbing a hill near home getting ready to descend the other side and heard a noise which sounded like the chain was slapping around. Got off and looked at the chain and didn't see anything. Finishing the climb the noise was still there and took a longer look before descending and picked up the bike by the saddle and the rear wheel stayed on the ground. Seat stay broke and the suspension was pivoting the whole thing. Walked home that day.

cyccommute 

Four. Two steel and two aluminum.

1984 Miyata Ridge Runner. Broken four times (arrows below show breaks). First one one the fork steer tube which a Miyata rep told me that they were suggesting people replace the forks because they break but they wouldn’t cover it under warranty. Cracked at the bottom bracket bridge but they wouldn’t cover it under warranty because I actually rode the bike as a mountain bike! Had it repaired…and discovered how hard repairing steel really is. Then it broke at the rear dropout when an axle broke which I also had repaired. Then it broke at the bottom bracket bridge again. Disposed of it after that.


1989 Specialized Rock Combo. Steel. Broke at the dropout.


1998 Specialized Stumpjumper Pro. M2 metal matrix frame. It cracked at the brake bridge which was a very common problem for the frame. Great frame but the metal matrix was brittle.



1998 Nashbar Flashback. Not this one but the black frame version. I bought too small a size and was attempting to get the seat back further using a Titec Hellbent seatpost. Cracked the seat mast but had it repaired without any issues. Gave it away but it was still in use last I knew.

subgrade

Four frames, if my memory serves me right. All were low grade steel and all of them were abused quite heavily. The first two were kids' bike frames with 24" wheels, both cracked at the chainstays near BB. Another one was a touring bike frame, bent both top tube and downtube after a frontal crash; I bent the frame back into shape, but soon enough the damage was repeated and resulted in cracked frame. The fourth one was an entry level rigid Peugeot MTB. It didn't like jumps at sub- freezing temperatures; both seatstays seperated from the seat tube.

Aside from that I have broken cranks, a crank spindle and a stem.

ofajen

None. I did have a Deda aluminum road bar develop a crack. And a Dura-Ace crank arm, but I blame me for putting it on a standard JIS spindle (not low-profile) and riding it single speed. And that was after forty years or so.

Otto

phughes

Does my 70s era Western Flyer Buzz Bike Eliminator count? Broke at the headtube after rough jump. Fixed by dad. Steel is real.

SurferRosa

Just one, an '80s steel racing frame. A previous owner ran it into a hay bale. Fork was realigned by the builder. I rode it for four years until the down tube finally cracked. "No regerts."

Trsnrtr

All of my broken frames except one were in the ‘80s during my racing years and all were crashed at one time or another.

Steve B.

Weird crack on the side of the downtube of a 2000 Lemond Victorie titanium road frame. Maybe 1/2 long, right next to the cable stop. Trek would not honor a warranty as I had had the frame painted locally, after 2 occasions of the OEM paint flacking off, the 2nd Trek paint job sucked as much as the first. F Trek, 8 will never buy a bike from them, they were dicks about this.

Camilo

I have neither the strength nor the crash probability to break a frame. Yes crash could happen, but I avoid them at all costs. So I've never damaged a bike frame in over 60 years of riding.

I did bend the front wheel of my first bike when I let my older brother ride it to school when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade with me on the front handlebars (remember that?) My foot went into the wheel and it got bent. My dad, as punishment (we weren't supposed to do that), made me ride the bike with the bent wheel for as long as I remember.

I think I might have broken a trike when I was 5. I remember my dad taking it with us to my grandparents' house one weekend and my grandpa brazing something to fix it. I put out a lot of wattage on that trike! Or, more likely, playing "bumper tag" with my brother on his trike.

cyccommute 

Crashes aren’t really a cause of frame breakage. I do have the crash probability as I crash with frightening regularity. I even crashed a bicycle into the side of a car long ago. That didn’t break the frame…bent the hell out of it but it didn’t break. I wouldn’t expect any bike to not be bent by running it into the side of a car but I really doubt that any frame would actually break during such an event.