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Broken Bike, Broken Heart


wunderboy

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I got my 221ti in March and, as a beginner, I have not been terribly hard on it. I may have only dropped it a few times, and never from any significant height. However, several days ago I went for a mellow ride and was just hopping on the flat sidewalk. I squatted down just to get a boost (not to clear a gap, mind you, but just to land back on the sidewalk) and just then, at the moment I was loaded, SNAP!!! my fork shattered ... the part inside my head tube. I came crashing to the ground along with tears, brake fluid, and shattered metal... my handlebars still in hand. There was no reason for this it seems, but now I am broken. I am just terrified that something like that is going to happen at a less opportune moment. I mean, I had prime equipment and there was no hard landing, just hopping. If I would have been on a wall, it could have spelled disaster. How do I mentally overcome the doubt in my weaponry after such a menial battle is lost? I need to hear from people who have gotten hurt due to bike malfunction but kept going anyway. Did you have the same doubts?

Edited by wunderboy
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Well trials is pretty hard on parts so basically you must either turn into Felix Mucke or just accept it ( probably easier just to accept that its part of trials).

To tell you the truth I sort of avoid front wheel moves now as I managed to snap my forks gapping to front wheel. Doesn't help confidence that my steerer on forks at the moment is about 10-20mm shorter than the height of the stem on at the lowest it can go.

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Being that I am a broke student, I can not afford any new parts now, but my girlfriend has a python and hasn't ridden in months... so I just took her bike, did a rim grind and put my monty bars on... so it is pretty much new and the gear ratio is quite different. Why am I whining? I am such a frikin' sissy.

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Being that I am a broke student, I can not afford any new parts now, but my girlfriend has a python and hasn't ridden in months... so I just took her bike, did a rim grind and put my monty bars on... so it is pretty much new and the gear ratio is quite different. Why am I whining? I am such a frikin' sissy.

Your girlfriend has a Python!!!!!!!!! Woah dude! Wish I could get any girlfriend I've ever had to ride! That would be killer! Good luck to you with the fork! And the girl! Might I suggest you get the new V!Z curved fork from Unique Trials in Florida. Unique Trials can hook you up with some cool stuff.

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Your girlfriend has a Python!!!!!!!!! Woah dude! Wish I could get any girlfriend I've ever had to ride! That would be killer!

In what way would that be a good thing?! My girlfriend rides XC with me sometimes and isn't always fun.

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Fuk me you need to chill out lol , its like you have written a peice out of a overly dramatic book. People snap forks all the time i recommend getting some

echo forks , will be alot stronger than your montys (Y)

My monty forks were the worst of my fork snapping experiences , didnt creek or anything just snapped and wacked me face on ground lol.

Edited by Deonn h
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Monty parts aren't really known for their durability. Some stuff is good though. Anyway, that sort of thing happens all the time in trials

I am really glad you said that, as it gives me hope in my new equipment!

Your girlfriend has a Python!!!!!!!!!

HAD a Python ;)

It's not that the snapped forks scarred me... it was the fact that they snapped when I had done nothing to them... It's not like I can even gap more than 4 feet to front wheel.

Edited by wunderboy
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I got my 221ti in March and, as a beginner, I have not been terribly hard on it. I may have only dropped it a few times, and never from any significant height. However, several days ago I went for a mellow ride and was just hopping on the flat sidewalk. I squatted down just to get a boost (not to clear a gap, mind you, but just to land back on the sidewalk) and just then, at the moment I was loaded, SNAP!!! my fork shattered ... the part inside my head tube. I came crashing to the ground along with tears, brake fluid, and shattered metal... my handlebars still in hand. There was no reason for this it seems, but now I am broken. I am just terrified that something like that is going to happen at a less opportune moment. I mean, I had prime equipment and there was no hard landing, just hopping. If I would have been on a wall, it could have spelled disaster. How do I mentally overcome the doubt in my weaponry after such a menial battle is lost? I need to hear from people who have gotten hurt due to bike malfunction but kept going anyway. Did you have the same doubts?

I'm pretty sure 90% of the people on here have had something fail on them at a very inopportune time. It might knock your confidence slightly the next time you try but you soon forget. The amount of times i've gone to gap/drop gap and had my chain snap are ridiculous... yet i'll still stamp down on the pedals as hard as i can once i've fitted a new one. Control your fear, don't let it control you.

Edited by Krisboats
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What's happened is pretty much certainly a fatigue failure. A crack begins in the surface of the part and grows by a tiny amount each time the part is stressed - aluminium is a focker for this BTW - steel will tend to creak a lot more or you'll see rust from a crack easily. Look at the cracked surface in the fork - it will have a dark area (The initial crack over part of the break) and a lighter coloured dull area (Ductile overload failure in the part once there isn't enough cross section to support the load). It is because the crack is growing slowly that you get failures doing things which never broke the bike before. It's also the reason second hand trials bikes tend to change hands for so little money...

Nothing much you can do about fatigue failures - polished parts last better against fatigue (No scratches to act as stress risers from which fatigue cracks can begin), shot peened are even more durable as the shot peening process puts compressive stress in the surface (Fatigue cracks can only initiate where there is tensile stress). Anodised parts are worse for fatigue resistance than ordinary aluminium because the columnar structure of the anodising can create higher stress zones on the surface. Not a big issue with parts designed for trials though.

Fatigue is the reason why I'd be slow to trust handlebars or stems past 2 years (More like 1 if I've been riding a lot - snapped some shitec bars in 6 months), trials frames/forks/cranks past 3 years and chains past 1 year. I always try to buy stuff that is both designed for trials and designed for durability, not competition lightweight. Wheels can last a long time and don't fail in very dangerous ways, so they can be used for years.

However it's only in the last couple of years I've had the kind of money that allows me to buy exactly what I want rather than being in the all too common situation where you only have cash to upgrade one part, so you have to guess what's going to fail first... Since then failures are few and far between thank fook :)...

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I've had a set of megamo forks snap on me at speed while trying to hop a curb and miss a passing car. Cracked a rib landing on the stem, smashed my face against the floor and skinned my knuckles as I still had gold of the bars :(

Really isn't a pleasant feeling.

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Definitely not the first Monty forks I've heard of doing this, especially if they happened to be the SSS style ones.

Either way, you get over it really. If you think of all the hundreds of times you'll have pedalled that bike and ridden it in general, it was just one bit of bad luck really. Just get some better forks and you'll be fine (Y)

(Until the next time :shifty:)

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once crashed on my face doing a gap to front ! did it straight after, crashed again but this time went over the bar ! did it again ! nailed it ! reason why he did it just after I felt was to beat my fear of doing it again !

You'll get over it eventually ! just do it again and with time it will feel natural !

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ive snaped 2 sets of koxx forks.....both gaps around 8 foot hurt shed loads..........and a coupple of months back.......gap to front wheel when my monty ti stem snapped clean in half

this tells you two things

1 .if your poor or have good mommys and daddys stay away from koxx and monty

2.Go deng

dave

Edited by mrkoxx
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