Internal brake cables = eventual catastrophic failure?
Last week my beautiful steel triple-butted Miyata 914 went all wobbly on me as I stood up out of the saddle to pass a fellow cyclist. I was able to recover and slow down enough to see that my top tube had cracked completely through and had become detached right where you would expect it to — towards the front end where the hole is drilled for the rear brake cables. Is this a common occurrence with steel bikes that run the cables through the frame? In retrospect it seems like a pretty obvious design flaw to me since the hole is drilled right where the torque/normal wear and tear on the frame seems like it would be greatest.
Or is this more of a freak occurrence?
Comments? suggestions? Are these frames safe? or am I dangerous and guilty of abusing them?
Last edited by Mr. Hobbes; 02-04-12 at 09:21 PM.