Frame failure experiences

[moonlite]

Never had one fail on me but that may be down to not riding enough . . .

 

[PanoIgano]

I broke a Cannondale R1000 back in '97 I think it was. These had the old Cannondale drop outs that were then replaced with new reinforced one when the CAAD series were released. I had my frame replaced under guarantee and then new frame lasted till I sold it to the next owner in the UK.

For the rest, even though most of the time I am not very kind with my builds, I never had once an issue.

 

[jimo746]

Never had a catastrophic failure of a frame, but the last Kirk Revolution I owned gave me the willies .

 

[7Speed]

I took a different approach and use a Specilized Allez that I couldn't give a flying **** about.

. I get terrible bike neglect guilt.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Never had a catastrophic failure of a frame, but the last Kirk Revolution I owned gave me the willies .

Riding a kirk, you can feel how it's going to break

I broke a Cannondale R1000 back in '97 I think it was. These had the old Cannondale drop outs that were then replaced with new reinforced one when the CAAD series were released. I had my frame replaced under guarantee.

Even the cannondale dealer's mechanics called them "crack'n'fail" in the late 90s.

 

[bikeworkshop]

I took a different approach and use a Specilized Allez that I couldn't give a flying **** about.

But when it was new,
it was an object of desire!

As bikes slip down in value , our respect follows them

 

[novocaine]

. I get terrible bike neglect guilt.

But when it was new,
it was an object of desire!

As bikes slip down in value , our respect follows them

was free to me, it's value is 0, it's respect is less. it will be ridden, quite likely on the trainer till it dies, I suspect the chain will eat the drive chain, then it will be dunked in noodle soup and become a SS weapon.

 

[Siish]

I had an aluminium Barracuda where the head tube split for no apparent reason a child had a tim gould race replica (in name at least) peugeot where the seat stays parted company with the seat tube

 

[bikeworkshop]

I had an aluminium Barracuda where the head tube split for no apparent reason a child had a tim gould race replica (in name at least) peugeot where the seat stays parted company with the seat tube

Cheaper aluminium frame headtube split is quite common. I suspect the tube wasn't reamed properly.

And on cheaper old steel frames, seatstay to seat lug is a massive weak point.
Drive side dropout, Chainstay at bb, and even the join seattube to bb are common failure points.

I would say that top quality frames have fewer failures, but a greater diversity of failure locations.

 

[markoc]

Had a lavadome crack on the top tube about two inches away from the seatpost. Very strange that it failed there, but they gave me a Kilauea frame as a replacement. (Win)

Had the shock bolt on a Proflex 550 snap after bunnyhopping a drain cover on a busy road, back end went even more wobbly than when it was attached. They gave me a replacement shock assembly and a lovely Neil Pryde courier bag that was my all time favourite til it was stolen in France. Probably should have thrown in some replacement pants too...