Frame failure experiences

[Frankenorange]

The only frame i have broken was a gas pipe something after a very big crash. I ran into a roller blader who suddenly veered onto our side of a cycle path that myself and a couple of mates were going absolutely flat out on, like idiot teenagers do.
Mate in front managed to avoid him but i didnt. Broke the guys shoulder blade, compressed my spine where it meets the pelvis and had a mild case of concussion. Also learnt that day to never wear an expandable metal watch strap when cycling as they open your wrist up pretty good.
Both mudgaurds and the rear wheel were right offs as some cartwheeling was involved, but i thought the frame and forks were ok. Not long after i started getting some wild shakes at the front end on downhills. That is when i found a crack that went round a good part of the headtube, about halfway between the lugs.

 

[Black_puma]

My first bike failure was when I was only about 7 or 8 years old and I had been riding this 20" wheeled folding bike around a circuit for a good while and then all of a sudden the bike broke in half causing me to crash rather badly.
The weld had come undone from the plate at the joint.
Can't remember that much about the crash as it happened nearly 50 years ago. But as a young child I was more upset about not being able to ride that bike anymore. It was like losing a friend.
I've not had anymore catastrophic failures since.
I have had some other crashes with bikes but not because of structural faults, but the damage did happen as a result of said crashes.
The only other issue I had was with my 2001 GT iDrive 4.0 that developed a stress fracture at one of the welds on the bottom bracket shell but I stopped riding it and replaced the frame with something different before it could cause any issues, sadly out of warranty as the GT wasn't brand new when I bought it in '02 or '03. I rode it to work everyday for 4 years.

 

[greencat]

A fair chunk of my frames have failed.

Saracen Sahara - a particularly hard OTB riding out of car park and not seeing a ditch. Head/down tube crack.
Kirk Revolution - Snapped drop out then replacement frame one of the frame inserts debonded and fell out.
Dawes Ranger - BB shell cracked
Ritchey logic frame (can't remember brand) - friend crashed into me during a hard stop at a roundabout. Ripped off the bottle cage. Stress cracks eventually circled the tube.
On-One Inbred - Decade of hard commuting and irregular maintenance saw the bottom bracket shell threads rust out.
4T titanium - seat tube cracks x 2 (one after the first repair). Probably due to pulling heavy trailer with seat post mount. Now I use trailers that are axle mounted
Whyte 901 - Seat tube failure. Probably too short insertion (recommended insert length, but long seat post due to frame being too small)

I'd agree with @bikeworkshop on their assessment of how and why materials fail. For me, it seems to be a mixture of maintenance (they can survive a long time with zero maintenance) and putting very hard loads on them (either chronic or acute) or not being up to the task.

Titanium has probably been the most disappointing failure. I expect steel frames to rust etc. I expect aluminium to fatigue. But titanium was lauded as lasting a lifetime as strong as steel, but lighter etc - but a significant number do seem to fail (and not just for the reasons mine did).

 

[bikeworkshop]

Here's a long-serving GT Arete hybrid visited us lately -
Ten years ago it suffered toptube failure behind the ht weld.

It seemed good otherwise so I mitred a tube whose id matched the od, snapped it over and brazed it on.
Bit of a clean, slapped on some hammerite, still commuting now

 

[Woz]

Titanium has probably been the most disappointing failure. I expect steel frames to rust etc. I expect aluminium to fatigue. But titanium was lauded as lasting a lifetime as strong as steel, but lighter etc - but a significant number do seem to fail (and not just for the reasons mine did).

First up, very surprised about a 4T failing, but weren't they more in the lightweight department and like you mention pulling a trailer. It would perhaps be like putting one of those child seats that clamp on the seat-tube on a thin walled frame?

There's a few things going on, but yes when Ti fails you feel very let down. Owners who buy from new and a failure occurs outside the warranty must be utterly miffed - in part due to the high initial expense, the myths like you say around Ti, and then to add insult to injury the availability and cost of any repair if possible.

Now what I don't believe is that "a significant number" fail. I would be fairly certain the numbers are comparatively low. What tends to happen is when they do fail they will get splashed around the web in "shock" "horror" "didn't expect that". The umpteen cracked steel or AL frames mostly get dumped with little press or fuss (of course a few exceptions).

On the MTB side there was a period in the early / mid-90s of practically everyone needing to have a top model race bike in Ti flavour in their catalogues; Wheeler, KHS, Mongoose, Parkpre, Diamond Back, Sunn, Orange, Lapierre, Gazelle, Kona, Raleigh, Crescent, etc. etc. etc. Some got it right, some got it wrong. Have in mind too many more budget Ti frames were produced overseas in Asia or former Eastern Soviet block. I'm not saying that means they are all bad, far from it. The ones that have survived up till now will probably survive in the future with some respect.

It is fairly rare to read about say a Dean or similar produced by Sandvik USA failing. Same with Lynskey, Serrota and Morati.

 

[Panza]

I have broken two frames (that I can think of):
1990 (ca) Peugeot Altitude MTB: Broke the right chainstay - Too much chainsuck did that frame in.
2010 (ca) Litespeed Archon: Rear dropout and weld on the BB shell failed. As has been said here: The later Litespeed frames are just underbuilt.

I believe Titanium (and steel) will last for a very long time if it's built right. I have two examples here with me that works like new:
1992 Kona Hei Hei - It was ridden HARD for 10 years, summer and winter. Then it has done 22 more easy years.
1993 Daccordi, lugged Columbus SLX tubes - I'd day 17 years of about 10.000km each year on that bike. Then more occasional rides.

Not to nitpick, but when someone writes "Alloy frames" my thoughts go to steel: "Alloy steel is a type of steel alloyed with several elements such as molybdenum, manganese, nickel, chromium, vanadium, silicon, and boron."
If you mean aluminium, you should write aluminium.

 

[novocaine]

Have in mind too many more budget Ti frames were produced overseas in Asia or former Eastern Soviet block. I'm not saying that means they are all bad, far from it. The ones that have survived up till now will probably survive in the future with some respect.

It is fairly rare to read about say a Dean or similar produced by Sandvik USA failing. Same with Lynskey, Serrota and Morati.

Given that most the american spy planes were made from Titanium stolen from those countries, often built by people stolen from those countries, I'd be happy enough with an early Asian or Russian frame. I'd be more worried about a Europe or America made frame (assuming it wasn't a Russian who built it over there), where the skills were those of a steel fabricator trying to transfer to Ti. certainly early on anyways, within a few years I suspect the skills would have been better fostered in the latter locations.

 

[bikeworkshop]

Not to nitpick, but when someone writes "Alloy frames" my thoughts go to steel: "Alloy steel is a type of steel alloyed with several elements such as molybdenum, manganese, nickel, chromium, vanadium, silicon, and boron."
If you mean aluminium, you should write aluminium.

The uk cycle trade has some vernacular phrases.

e.g. a Road Bike is a racer

Alloy is an abbreviation for aluminium alloy in the trade, and bike ethusiasts.
This may well vary around the world, and certainly does in other professions.

Ti and steel frame tubes are also alloys, but the term isn't used much for them (in the UK Cycle trade) unless you are discussing the metallurgy.

The brand and sub-brand of tube is a more common description.

Carbon means carbon fibre.

 

[novocaine]

The uk cycle trade has some vernacular phrases.

e.g. a Road Bike is a racer

Alloy is an abbreviation for aluminium alloy in the trade, and bike ethusiasts.
This may well vary around the world, and certainly does in other professions.

Ti and steel frame tubes are also alloys, but the term isn't used much for them (in the UK Cycle trade) unless you are discussing the metallurgy.

The brand and sub-brand of tube is a more common description.

Carbon means carbon fibre.

alloy - ali
steel - real
ti - why?
plastic - carbon fibre
Butted fibrous carbon lattice in a linear, multilayered, interlaced structure, bonded with a poly-lactic resin - Bamboo.

 

[Woz]

My understanding is that those who worked in the defence industries in those countries re-converted their skills to frame manufacture. The MTB bike boom and more positive political environment made the mix. I would almost argue the Ti knowledge was there but the bicycle knowledge and understanding of stresses involved in this period was not there at these much smaller plants.