Broken Frames on Tour
In another thread there was another round of talk of broken frames and welding. This seems to come up again and again, usually as an argument against aluminum frames for touring. It made me wonder about a few things...
How many here have ever broken a frame on tour? Where, somewhere with plenty of services or not? Frame material? Did you manage to get it repaired and continue on it? Replace it and continue? End your tour? Interesting anecdotes? Details please.
Do you know of others who have broken frames on tour? Same questions as above.
Personally I only know of a guy who crashed and bent/cracked a fork and had to wait a couple days for one to be shipped and another couple instances where folks waited for derailleur hangers to be delivered (if you count that as frame damage). The guy waiting for the fork was probably happy to have a few days to recover before resuming his TA as he was pretty banged up.
I have seen pictures of main and rear triangles cobbled together by being splinted with bamboo or bars or wrapped with sheet metal (beer can in some cases) and held together with hose clamps, cable ties, or duct tape. I don't know if any were touring, Many of the pictures I have seen were mountain bikes with wrenches or other tools used as splints to ride back out of the boonies.
Personally I might be inclined to do whatever it takes to get to somewhere that I could get a new frame or a new bike if the damage was bad. Depending on the damage, that might mean stripping the frame and junking it, then hiking, hitching a ride, taking a bus, or whatever it takes to get to a ctiy or town where a replacement could be procured or shipped to. If that meant shipping the good bike home and riding a cheapie bike for the rest of the tour so be it
I have a two bikes that I am emotionally attached enough to that I'd have a hard time letting go of. The rest I'd just as soon replace either the frame or the whole bike if a frame broke.