Catastrophic Failures of Carbon Bikes
08-18-18, 07:55 AM
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Catastrophic Failures of Carbon Bikes
Anyone hear the story on NPR this morning regarding a lawsuit involving catastrophic carbon bike failure? The attorney who was interviewed dozens of cases of such failure with accompanying serious injury. Dozens of cases were cited.
08-18-18, 08:28 AM
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tick .... tick ... .tick ...
ASPLOSION!1!!!!!!!!
Few survive, none unscarred, from this silently creeping horror which stalks cyclists across the land .... Catastrophic Carbon Collapse Syndrome----if you are reading these words, you are probably next.
if it has laready killed you ---you are probably not reading these words.
None of us are safe except those it has already claimed.
Try to run, try to hide .... The Aslosion Is Coming For YOU!
I hear the next Sharknado movie, the sharks will be riding CF bikes frames from China---it was the only thing that could scare people who had seen the previous six.----"Sharknado VII---Dengfu is coming for You!"
ASPLOSION!1!!!!!!!!
Few survive, none unscarred, from this silently creeping horror which stalks cyclists across the land .... Catastrophic Carbon Collapse Syndrome----if you are reading these words, you are probably next.
if it has laready killed you ---you are probably not reading these words.
None of us are safe except those it has already claimed.
Try to run, try to hide .... The Aslosion Is Coming For YOU!
I hear the next Sharknado movie, the sharks will be riding CF bikes frames from China---it was the only thing that could scare people who had seen the previous six.----"Sharknado VII---Dengfu is coming for You!"
08-18-18, 08:30 AM
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Oy vey...
Here we go again.
So, the take away from the article is that carbon is robust and an excellent material. The fault lies with cheaply made and poorly maintained CF bikes.
I can deal with that.
Here we go again.
So, the take away from the article is that carbon is robust and an excellent material. The fault lies with cheaply made and poorly maintained CF bikes.
I can deal with that.
Last edited by eja_ bottecchia; 08-18-18 at 08:43 AM.
08-18-18, 08:32 AM
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Well thanks to your post I went down the rabbit hole of catastrophic carbon component failure and found this article posted in July by Outside magazine that discusses this is some detail:
Why Carbon Fiber Bikes Are Failing
I've got a carbon fiber bike that I bought new from Bikesdirect... I guess you guys probably wont hear about me getting creamed by Feathers self destructing... C'est la vie
Why Carbon Fiber Bikes Are Failing
I've got a carbon fiber bike that I bought new from Bikesdirect... I guess you guys probably wont hear about me getting creamed by Feathers self destructing... C'est la vie
08-18-18, 08:33 AM
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No, and I can't seem to find any reference to it on their website.
08-18-18, 08:55 AM
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08-18-18, 08:57 AM
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Thanks for the link, the audio doesn't seem to be available yet 
08-18-18, 09:45 AM
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I can safely say that no CF frame, fork, or any other CF part will ever catastrophically fail on me, because there won't be any. Hey, just doing my part to energize the thread.
08-18-18, 10:10 AM
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Wait... does this mean that there are counterfeit carbon frames emulating quality made Chinese carbon frames?
08-18-18, 10:20 AM
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I said this in another thread, but somewhere there is a video of a guy doing interesting, detailed analyses of carbon frame cutaways from all the manufacturers and comparing them. It was a video posted here like 2 years ago, but I can't find it.
08-18-18, 10:46 AM
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https://www.velonews.com/not-all-fra...nterfeit-bikes
08-18-18, 10:50 AM
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Carbon fiber frame cutaway thread. Internal structure of bike frame pictures & links
I'd be interested in a video of carbon cutaways myself, off to the Googles!!!!
08-18-18, 11:01 AM
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Some former aerospace engineer from Australia cut up brand-name bike frames ...
I tend to be more practical ... I know a Lot of people who ride carbon, I am on a couple bike sites, i have Facebook riding networks ... and No one has had a CF frame of fork failure in that group ... except for a guy here who crashed and found a crack in his fork and said the fork cracked and caused the crash ... because.
When I was deciding whether or not to trust Workswell, i did a ton of research---well, internet research, not lab work. What I found was exactly the same unsupported horror stories and the same notion that there was a worldwide all-poerful pro-CF conspiracy, carefully covering up every CF component failure, burying the bodies deep and late at night, both literally and figuratively.
Five years later, still no bodies. Still no successful court cases revealing the global network of undercover CF agents hiding the countless cases of asplosion.
there are people who refuse to fly and prefer to drive. Numbers proving flying is safer per mile ... no impact. There are still Flat-Earthers. Freedom is a wonderful thing.
The worst part of having CF bikes is that I am tempted not to ride my heavier metal bikes on any ride where there will be serious hills. My poor metal bikes languish.
I tend to be more practical ... I know a Lot of people who ride carbon, I am on a couple bike sites, i have Facebook riding networks ... and No one has had a CF frame of fork failure in that group ... except for a guy here who crashed and found a crack in his fork and said the fork cracked and caused the crash ... because.
When I was deciding whether or not to trust Workswell, i did a ton of research---well, internet research, not lab work. What I found was exactly the same unsupported horror stories and the same notion that there was a worldwide all-poerful pro-CF conspiracy, carefully covering up every CF component failure, burying the bodies deep and late at night, both literally and figuratively.
Five years later, still no bodies. Still no successful court cases revealing the global network of undercover CF agents hiding the countless cases of asplosion.
there are people who refuse to fly and prefer to drive. Numbers proving flying is safer per mile ... no impact. There are still Flat-Earthers. Freedom is a wonderful thing.
The worst part of having CF bikes is that I am tempted not to ride my heavier metal bikes on any ride where there will be serious hills. My poor metal bikes languish.
08-18-18, 11:09 AM
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Again lets label these bike at to what they really are. They are CF reinforced plastic. There is simply no way getting around the fact that plastic ages quite fast. The simple fact remains, if a pound or two is worth the risk, keep pouring your money into a risky product go right ahead and buy them. The mfg are more than willing to take your money for an over priced and probably flawed product.
Pro CF bike proponents keep mentioning airplanes. Keep in mind this fact. At least 3 CF tails have broken off French Airbus airplanes. Many senior pilots refuse to fly them or allow their families to ride on them.
Pro CF bike proponents keep mentioning airplanes. Keep in mind this fact. At least 3 CF tails have broken off French Airbus airplanes. Many senior pilots refuse to fly them or allow their families to ride on them.
08-18-18, 11:15 AM
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Are most of these failures the steering tube on carbon forks, and aren't those tubes aluminum, at least in some cases?
08-18-18, 11:15 AM
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Carbon failure, you say!?!?!
08-18-18, 11:27 AM
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Cervelo Founder Calls for Industry-Wide Fork Steerer Test. Here's a quote:
The cycling industry isn't doing enough to prevent fork steerer failures.That’s the opinion of a man who would know: Cervélo co-founder Phil White, whose company suffered a large fork recall in 2008 following fork failures that resulted in multiple crashes and injuries.Cervélo is not alone in that sorry episode.The cycling industry has seen a rash of fork steerer-related problems in the last few years, from nearly every major brand sold in North America. Big brands with big test labs have experienced consumer injuries and expensive recalls that the manufacturers say resulted from a mix of engineering and manufacturing flaws.
08-18-18, 11:38 AM
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08-18-18, 12:07 PM
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My 2011 Cervelo RS has an aluminum steerer, but interestingly my alloy Diamondback Haanjo Trail (gravel bike) has a carbon steerer--which surprised me. I put loose bearings into the Haanjo's headset the other day and replaced the FSA compression plug with a much longer one that will hopefully support the pinch bolts from the stem better. Don't know if that really helps anything, but I figure it can't hurt.
The Outside article is a bit unclear as to whether it was a fork blade or steerer tube that failed on woman who filed the lawsuit against Giant.
While I trust carbon frame with essentially my life, I do take extra care not to put the bike in a position to be tipped over or otherwise dinged. If it's ever in any sort of crash I'll probably just discard it without thinking 2x.
The Outside article is a bit unclear as to whether it was a fork blade or steerer tube that failed on woman who filed the lawsuit against Giant.
While I trust carbon frame with essentially my life, I do take extra care not to put the bike in a position to be tipped over or otherwise dinged. If it's ever in any sort of crash I'll probably just discard it without thinking 2x.
08-18-18, 01:48 PM
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Well, ... yes. Giant or any other bike company may have their frames made in China. When they do, they have to keep a close eye on quality control. But that doesn't guarantee that some other Chinese factory can't turn out copies with no QC.
08-18-18, 02:04 PM
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BlazingPedals et al, my post was tongue in cheek. Quality control, design and company leadership determine how a product is received by the buying/end user public.
People can knit pick this troll thread if they like, I was just getting in on the game is all. A twist of phrase.
Like Rydabent, you might see me riding a crabon feebray before too long. A Bianchi Intrepida 105 would be Hot!
People can knit pick this troll thread if they like, I was just getting in on the game is all. A twist of phrase.
Like Rydabent, you might see me riding a crabon feebray before too long. A Bianchi Intrepida 105 would be Hot!
Last edited by shrtdstncrdr; 08-18-18 at 02:05 PM. Reason: I miss-spelled "feebray"
08-18-18, 03:06 PM
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“The bike manufacturers are like nesting dolls. They set up layers and layers of companies to try to protect themselves, but finally they are being held liable.”