Mountain Biking - Bike exploded, here are the pics

This is what happens when you buy a Mongoose Canaan Elite that aparently has substandard workmanship. This happened on our ride this weekend at the bottom of a gully, on smooth dry dirt. He is very lucky he was not killed. I have the exact same bike, in fact we both got them together. His was less than 60 days old. Needless to say mine is going back to Performance for a refund, I just dont want to chance it.
If you ride a Mongoose I would be carefull and check the areas around the water bottle mount holes. It looks like a crack formed there and spread out to the down tube weld. The metal appears to have gotten to much heat during the manufacturing process and was weakened. Notice the weld held up but the aluminum broke free from the weld.
It's too bad because the bike rides great and has fantastic components for the price we paid. Oh well. I see a Trance or Anthem in my future.


[EMAIL="http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken1.jpg"]
[EMAIL="http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken2.jpg"]
[EMAIL="http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken3.jpg"]
[EMAIL="http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken4.jpg"]
[EMAIL="http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken5.jpg"]

Your photos do not work.

here are his pics
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken1.jpg
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken2.jpg
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken3.jpg
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken4.jpg
http://www.cs.utexas.edu/~jss/canaan/broken5.jpg

Must be photoshopped because that can never happen to a metal frame.

doesn't look photoshopped to me.

doesn't look photoshopped to me.

He's being sarcastic...see the recent thread regarding carbon vs. metal frames.

It's less funny when you have to explain it! :(

Glad he was ok. That looks pretty bad. I think this would be a legitimate case for a replacement, as long as receipts etc. were produced. Good luck.

This is what happens when you buy a Mongoose Canaan Elite that aparently has substandard workmanship. This happened on our ride this weekend at the bottom of a gully, on smooth dry dirt. He is very lucky he was not killed. I have the exact same bike, in fact we both got them together. His was less than 60 days old. Needless to say mine is going back to Performance for a refund, I just dont want to chance it.
If you ride a Mongoose I would be carefull and check the areas around the water bottle mount holes. It looks like a crack formed there and spread out to the down tube weld. The metal appears to have gotten to much heat during the manufacturing process and was weakened. Notice the weld held up but the aluminum broke free from the weld.
It's too bad because the bike rides great and has fantastic components for the price we paid. Oh well. I see a Trance or Anthem in my future.


[EMAIL="http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken1.jpg"]
[EMAIL="http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken2.jpg"]
[EMAIL="http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken3.jpg"]
[EMAIL="http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken4.jpg"]
[EMAIL="http://www.cs. utexas.edu/ ~jss/canaan/ broken5.jpg"]

Looks like Chelboed was riding that baby!

Are you OK. Ide promiss not to sue for a new bike as you'll get over the neck and back soreness. Looks like the screw holes created a weak spot that couldnt take the moment.

This happened on our ride this weekend at the bottom of a gully, on smooth dry dirt.

So, you're saying this was a JRA incident? Yeah, right. :rolleyes:

Now if you mean that he was dropping into the bottom of the gully from a fair heigth and really slammed the front end hard instead of landing properly, then yeah, i would believe it.

I used to do alot of TiG welding, and that looks for all the world like a bad one.
I hate to say it, but somebody probably didn't want to admit they'd ****ed by letting the gas run out or touched the tip, and they covered it up.
I suspect it caused a hairline fracture that went unnoticed, and the repeated stress caused what can only be called "catastophic failure".
Can we get an experienced frame builder in here and see what they think?
Your friend is VERY lucky he wasn't seriously hurt or killed.
If that's not covered under warranty, I don't know what is. Even after returning it (write the serial # down first), I'd suggest calling Mongoose and throwing a **** fit. They should be able to check records and find out who made that frame. Depending on the circumstances, someone should probably have to take their certification over, maybe even be fired.

Again, I'm glad your friend is ok.

Good thing I have a 60 inch wide monitor to see the pics...

Damn, that puppy FAILED. I saw this failure at the 24-Hours of Big Bear this year:

http://www.velotees.com/images/BrokenKona.gif

He also claimed that he just rolled into a gully and SNAP. I have no reason to doubt him.

... Brad

Good thing I have a 60 inch wide monitor to see the pics...

1280x1024 monitor and Opera web browser (best damn browser in the world) with dynamic page resizing is all it takes. Just press and hold the minus key until the photos fit your screen :)

On topic: that is quite catastrophic for a 60 day old bike. Shouldn't happen on a high-end Mongoose!

Can we get an experienced frame builder in here and see what they think?
Your friend is VERY lucky he wasn't seriously hurt or killed.
If that's not covered under warranty, I don't know what is. Even after returning it (write the serial # down first), I'd suggest calling Mongoose and throwing a **** fit. They should be able to check records and find out who made that frame. Depending on the circumstances, someone should probably have to take their certification over, maybe even be fired.



From the second pic it looks like the weld got too hot trying to penetrate the root of the thick shock tab into the relatively thin areas almost a third up the way downtube. It's not an automatic deathwish, but it's not the strongest way to attach an aluminum tab. We're not super-familiar with the Mongoose design, but perhaps the shock bottomed out at the bottom of the gully, and in addition the the "g-out" (aka the whoop! force:D) across the frame, the tab was forced into the tube and sheared off along the parimeter of the heat affected zone at the weld.

Also, we doubt mongoose has any way to track down the individual welder save for a quality control sticker.They're part of a large manufacturing syndicate with a small army of welders across asia that pumps out thousands of welded frames a month. Fortunately for you, they have a lot more liability coverage as a large company so getting a new frame should be painless under warranty (as long as you have your reciept).
Don't call anyone intending to throw a ***fit. Respect gets respect.

Good thing I have a 60 inch wide monitor to see the pics...:lol: Aww, c'mon - - I can almost see the whole thing with my 28" :D

I have to admit, I've never welded on a frame, only a little brazing. What looks like pitting or maybe even slag in the 3rd pic is what caught my eye.
I also would have thought the higher-end frames would still be made here, and consequently there would be some sort of record as to who built it.
I know every time I've welded something "important" there were a LOT of sets of eyes that inspected it, and that's if it didn't get an NDI as well.
I'd guess that's probably kind of cost-prohibitive in a mass production environment.

He was at the bottom of a roller section when it happened. The Place is Rocky Hill Ranch outside of Austin and the run is called the Wall. It is about a 15 foot gully that you ride down and then back out the other side like a roller coaster drop and climb. He was probably going 20+ mph by the time he got to the bottom and then this happened. The surface is smooth dirt in that section, in fact it's the smoothest part of the run. He just missed a tree and the top tube probably would have impaled him but the front tire collapsed and he hit that and went over the bike forward before the tube could stab him. It was my wheel, we had been trading bikes to see how each others bike rode with different wheels and suspension settings. I have the exact same bike, except mine is in one piece!

Hey, I think there's a bit of a problem forming on that frame!

how long had those pictures been taken after this happend becase this looks tome very rusted in one picture around the brake and also the brakes are predeonently a few mm after the weld not on the weld its self

Looks like Chelboed was riding that baby!

Nah...it looks too good. If it were me...there'd be some "substantial" damage done.

Shouldn't happen on a high-end Mongoose!

Like there is such a thing...silly:D

the failure
was putting water bottle bosses in that spot.

that started a crack

it is
design failure

bogus frame design

nice components

Yes the bike was spec'd out very well. Thats one reason we both bought one, along with the sweet deal we got on em. The bike rides fantastically and we both were very happy until this happened. It looks like we are both going to be picking up a Giant 08 Trance X2 in the next day or two. It is about 3 pounds heavyer than the Mongoose, 29.5 verses 26.5 but hopefully that means a stronger frame.

perhaps the shock bottomed out at the bottom of the gully, and in addition the the "g-out" (aka the whoop! force:D) across the frame, the tab was forced into the tube and sheared off along the parimeter of the heat affected zone at the weld.

I'm with you 100% on this one. You've got a direct line right between the welded on tab and the bottle cage hole. It looks like an impact fracture, with enough energy left over to tear the top tube in two (you can see the initial crumple and then tear through)

The weld may well have been substandard, but it was a weak design to begin with IMO.

He just missed a tree and the top tube probably would have impaled him but the front tire collapsed and he hit that and went over the bike forward before the tube could stab him. It was my wheel...


Ohk, so it was your wheel that caused the accident to begin with and nearly killed him, You're a bad friend :p

But anyway...I'm a little confused. What do you mean the "front tire collapsed"? The wheelset appears to be fine in the pic, I'm just trying to get a picture in my head of the incident. You are saying that the frame failed and then what happened with the wheel? Or was there a wheel problem leading up to the frame failing.

Either way, I know the section at Rocky hill and I agree that there shouldn't be a reason to put any extreme forces on a frame in that section to break a frame. I'm thinking the leadup to this was an already cracked frame due to poor design and/or workmanship that lead to catastrophic failure.

The wheel was definitly taco'd. Dont know if it came first or second in the crash, it happened too fast. He is know looking at getting a Trance and I'm leaning towards a TranceX2. He thinks the X2 sits too high and wont be as fast turning as the Trance, We will see!

A friend of mine was in Moab last week, and broke his Blur on his first ride of the trip. I'm still waiting for pics. He's 150 lb of XC fury, so I'm sure there's heavy damage.

To me the fact that the wheel tacoed says something else here. I'm not sure what it says, but i wouldn't think that JRA into a gully would cause a wheel to taco even with frame failure. I'm just saying...

This is why aluminium is not real.

Oh dam. That frame is a piece of crap. I never trusted mongoose because of their crap frames. I use to brake them all the time back in the day.

Will I did. I broke a lot of things frames, handlebars, rims, forks, etc. It was because they were not quality components.

QUICK!

DUCK!

Something just flew over your head!

:roflmao: