Bicycle Mechanics - stem broke

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e75/marcelinyc/stem010.jpg
i got hospital bill. is manufacturer responsible?

WOW.. we all read about, rarely if ever see it, I'm impressed. Of course there are circumstances to consider. It appears to not be abuse, you can answer that, you ought not to,to me but.. If the bars show that damage or impact occurred before the fact, well you know... I'd say.. YES, at least some accountability on the part of Bianchi could be realized, it's worth pursuing ,i f not for punitive damages, for compensation AND for the sake of other hapless riders.

Yes, you need to determine:

Did the stem break because of the crash or did it cause one?
Did you purchase it new with a warranty, or used with no warranty?
Do you have a purchase receipt?
Did you take it to an expert and let them inspect it?
Is there a recall on that particular stem?
If so, did you register the bike or part so that you could be informed of any recalls?
Is someone in your family a lawyer willing to work pro bono?

Any documentation you can provide will make for a better case. Sorry that happened to you...looks like it hurt.

That stem looks OLD as referenced by the worn off finish (frame looks worse). You can't expect something like a welded stem to last forever. I'd say you are responsible in large part.

As stated above, based on condition of bike and stem, I would say no.

How did the stem (and frame) sustain all of those scraps and dings?

from chain lock

I'm no expert, but that looks like a ****ty weld to me. It's not supposed to crack like that, abuse or not, ancient item or not, is it? Had the actual stem material broken I'd tend to blame the user. This way it looks like Bianchi screwed up.

Hope you've healed ok.

How old is that bike, early 90's?

You're in NYC, the land of 10,000 personal injury attorneys. If you are interested in suing Bianchi, your best bet is probably to call up a few lawyers and get some opinions. It costs you nothing to do this.

In the US, anyway, personal injury attorneys work for free until they win you money, so you may get the most realistic answer from an experienced attorney. They won't want to take your case unless they think they can win in court or settle out of court (at which point they take a fat 1/3 of your award, plus expenses), so you may get the best assessment of your chances from a lawyer.

They should be able to consider your circumstances and give you an answer, by whether they'll take your case or not.

I'm suspecting 'not', by the fact that the bike appears to be cobbled together from old parts (is it a fixie?), and the stem probably came on a new bike with a 1 year warranty, which expired a long time ago... Then again, who knows. If we start seeing 'Warning: Stem may break at any time and make you crash!' labels on all new bikes, we'll know you were successful ;)

Personal injury lawyer could probably get evidence from a metalurgist of faulty heat treatment which made the weld brittle.

Got to lve america where everybodys ready to sue because its not thier fault :rolleyes: . Its a bicycle that looks like it has had some abuse and been riddden hard. Do you inspect your bike regularly. Probly not because you would have seen a crack starting before it snapped.

The question is, did you all of a sudden find yourself riding down the road with the bars disconnected from the stem and then crash, or did you crash because of some other reason, and then saw the bars had broken?

If its the first situation, then yes, you likely have a claim against Bianchi. In the second situation no.

Still no responces from the OP, maybe I'll check back tommorrow, maybe not. Only he knows the truth.

The question is, did you all of a sudden find yourself riding down the road with the bars disconnected from the stem and then crash, or did you crash because of some other reason, and then saw the bars had broken?

If its the first situation, then yes, you likely have a claim against Bianchi. In the second situation no.


So you think Bianchi is responsible for the parts on their bikes forever? Even though the bike in question has obviously been used for many years? And the bike in question has been modified, or at least had other parts changed out (such as the headset)?

Looks like a textbook failure of a welded alumimum part. A strongly worded letter might get you a new stem, but probably not much else unless the part can be proven to be defective.

thanks for all the responses.
stem is about 2 years old.
i was moving ~25mph on smoooooth road when it just snapped.
i'll contact bianchi to see what they'll say.