Dangerous Parts?

[utahdog2003]

Friendly Question, Kooka lovers please put down your stones...

I notice that a good many of you have some of your retro bits installed on bikes that are actually used in battle, even some retro bits that were totally unsafe for use when they were new! (Kooka cranks for example) I understand wanting to collect them, and I understand the show bike thing, and I understand the idea that some of you want to use your retro pride and joy for what it was intended. Still, to use unsafe schwag from back in the day, after we now know some of these things to be dangerous, is a mystery. I also stipulate that there are certainly examples of all parts failing at some point, but the fact remains that some are predisposed to failure more than others, (read Nuke Proof) I've got a set of NOS Fast Feather QRs in violet that are dead sexy, but they were such garbage back in the day that I would never use them on a bike. They are also not for sale. Neither is the Fast Feather post, the list goes on and on.

At Interbike Vegas in 1993, I had a conversation with a guy who worked with Ringle back when the first gen Cam-Twist and Ti-stix skewers were released, and he told me that the original function of the skewer was intended to be as most skewers work, and it was only after they realized that the closing force afforded by the design was too inferior to be functional that they came up with the idea of twisting them tighter after they were closed. Yikes! There are many other parts we all cherish today that came into being in an engineering vacuum, and yet they are sprinkled all over muddy bikes on these pages.

Searching for "danerous parts" yields a thread about Critical Racing stems and whether being a flexy bit is a worry...well, the answer is yes, you are nuts to use a Critical Racing stem on the trail. Sell it?...NO, but Ride it?....Hmmm...good luck!

I'm not trying to start a rash with anybody, and I've rewritten this thread a few times trying to soften the point as much as possible, but some of this is quite scary. How do you ride Kooka cranks today? You guys that do, do you worry?

 

[utahdog2003]

One more point. I firmly believe that the popularization of CNC technology, coupled with the rise of mountain bikes, yielded one of the most interesting and romantic periods in cycling history, as is evidenced by the interest in this site. Still, some of these little geegaws we love so much should really only be on a shelf.

Thanks for letting me soap-box a bit. I really hope I'm not ruffling feathers...

 

[Inigo Montoya]

i think a whole lot of those dangerous parts that are in use on bikes here have been used for ~10years or more. so they have proven to "last". i guess it needs to be differentiate between "dangerous" used and "dangerous" NOS parts.
i personally plan to use a welded cannondale frame from 1990 as "citybike". ok for me. but i decided against using onza HOs. i just not THAT bold

 

[utahdog2003]

i think a whole lot of those dangerous parts that are in use on bikes here have been used for ~10years or more. so they have proven to "last".

I agree, the list of scary stuff is outweighed by the good stuff by a factor of 10-1! Certainly there are vintage parts which are better than any modern counterpart.

but i decided against using onza HOs. i just not THAT bold

I was thinking about the lovely, and seemingly perforated, HOs, but I didn't want to push my luck by targeting too many favorites!

 

[jonnyboy666]

i know what you mean, there are some products out there new and old that i wouldn't use but sometimes i think it is down to what you hear yourself and what you have used.

for example, you said nuke proof hubs had problems, i never used the carbon ones but i have been using a nuke proof titanium and alloy hub first bought in 96 for a road bike and now in use on my cyclocross bike, never been touched and it's spinning lovely till this day!

on the other hand i use itm millenium stems on both my cross bike (painted in my gallery) and on my road bike, the 12cm stem on my road bike was bought new in 99 and is still going strong and i still use it despite seeing 2 of the very same stem snap after developing cracks, one on a cross bike and the other my bosses road bike, will i stop using it? yes, when it cracks! (hopefully i'll be going slow when it does!)

with cranks, i wouldn't worry too much, if they snap i'd expect a bollock squashed on a top tube maybe if you were stood up which would hurt obviously but isn't that much of a problem after it's dropped back into it's sack!

i think the main thing is, if your a big guy don't be to obsessed with the lightweight stuff, you'll be pissed off when you kill it!

 

[utahdog2003]

with cranks, i wouldn't worry too much, if they snap i'd expect a bollock squashed on a top tube maybe if you were stood up which would hurt obviously but isn't that much of a problem after it's dropped back into it's sack!

Actually when the left arm fails, and you're a left foot forward style rider, the stub of the broken arm sticks into the back of your calf and your ass bends a perfectly good Control Tech seatpost and cracks your Rascal! :shock: I would have rather taken a shot to the grapes!

The "Downhill" model... I should have known better when the then president of the company introduced himself to me and handed me a business card that said his last name was "Fail"! You just can't make this stuff up!

 

[The Ken]

I've got a Kooka Billet Stem should I be worried? [Pic in my gallery]

It feels pretty strong but I know when Alu fails it fails fast. I certainly trust it for daily riding but if I start racing again I might need to take something a little stonger.

I often wonder about some of my CNC components, they just don't look as meaty as I would expect. I've got several skewers that I know I don't trust and as such they don't get on a bike.

 

[jonnyboy666]

hey utahdog, you're kind of a glass is half empty kinda guy aren't you!

i realise having a squashed nut isn't the only possible injury but lets face it, it's the old classic of anything could happen at anytime and i always try not to worry about bad things till it happens, otherwise you'll never step outside your front door for fear of tripping on a crack in the pavement as you fall underneath a ladder that you were trying to avoid in the first place!

life is a challenge, somedays more than others and sh*t happens!!!

go on, fill up that glass!! you know you want to!!

 

[The Ken]

I can't fill up my glass.... I might spill it.

I've got overly cautious as I've got older/since I had kids... I only hope it doesn't rub off on them.

 

[FairfaxPat]

Dangerous parts

BITD Gary Fisher made an aluminum version of the Bullmoose bars which were very dangerous and recalled very soon after their release-they would break suddenly and put you on the ground instantly, thus earning the nickname DEATHBARS. I still have a set for curiosity 's sake-never to go on a bike again. Johnyboy 666-you must be kidding if you think a KNOWN bad part won't bite you-it's just a matter of time!