Originally Posted by
cyccommute
Being something of an expert at making bikes fail...6 frames, 4 actual frame failures...and breaking numerous parts, I can tell you that I trust the failure mode of aluminum far more than I trust steel. Aluminum has never 'shattered' or failed catastrophically on me. It always seems to tear and release energy slowly. Steel, on the other hand, has always broken without warning and with a rather loud 'ping!'
Yeah, I know what you mean. I had a steel frame just up and separate at the head tube/down tube junction. I didn't hear the ping sound, but that was probably because I was busy flying over the car that had just "brake checked" me.
In case you are wondering, no damage to the organic unit. I stuck the landing.