Originally Posted by
ppg677
Has anyone heard stories of a horrific crash caused by a steel frame failure? I'm curious to know how it happened and if something gave with basically no warning.
A friend of mine had a dropout break on her steel frame, but the frame didn't explode and she was able to come to a controlled stop.
I've not heard a blow-by-blow account of a catastrophic failure, although I'd imagine anything up near the front end could be horrible. I did acquire a very dead 80s Super LeTour once for parts... seller was a really big guy that had attempted to repair his seat tube-to-bb failure with JB-Weld. Needless to say, the "fix" was a failure too.
But the frame had failed at that position and the brake bridge/left stay as well... guy was still alive to sell the bike, so there's that.
I tend to side with the "it's steel, it'll be fine" crew most of the time (because I just don't know any better? hahaha). But something about that possible crack, combined with the just plain scary-looking corrosion... I dunno, man.
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A race bike in any era is a highly personal choice that at its "best" balances the requirements of fit, weight, handling, durability and cost tempered by the willingness to toss it and oneself down the pavement at considerable speed. ~Bandera
Last edited by Fahrenheit531; 11-15-16 at 08:43 PM.