cs1

It looked like a pretty big chunk of something in the road. I wouldn't blame it on the fork. It does make you wonder how mountain bikers are using CF forks off road in much tougher conditions without breaking.

CliffordK

Well, if you had a front wheel disc, you might not be able to steer your bike, but this would not have happened

Again, this is a pretty freak accident, and really requires the front rider to knock the bar into the rear rider's spokes. If it was a single rider, then one might stick the bar into one's rear spokes, but not the front (in which case, a rear disc would help).

So, increasing the spoke count might increase the chance of excluding the bar, but might not prevent it (unless the bar was too big to enter).

Looking at the Breaking Away Movie, (which, of course, is fictional) I had thought it was a pump in the spokes, but it was actually a pump between the wheel and forks. And, a far less spectacular crash. Think of the possibilities of a 2015 remake. Anyway, perhaps the spoke count made a difference in how the scene was made.

But, there are several places where one can jam a stick where it isn't meant to go. I've heard that fenders can suck sticks into them.

cny-bikeman

I rode in the west before, on freeways, but the number of people who are in an area where it is legal to do so is a very small amount of all riders - therefore rare. I understand why they put the bike lane on the left to avoid ramp problems but it's still hazardous - obviously.

LesterOfPuppets

Legal just a couple miles north of my place, and plenty of people live out there by Salmon Creek. There are other reasons why not many people ride the freeway.

LesterOfPuppets

Gotta try to remember to look through the rider (s) ahead. I've been guilty of zoning out on the cassette head of me, or whatever, gotta look through, though.

JohnDThompson 

Sturdier construction, I suspect. Road forks and off-road forks have always had different design criteria.

FBinNY 

This, but stuff jammed between the back of the fork and the spokes always causes an endo, and often a bent or broken fork on or off the road. Keep in mind that rigid carbon forks are relatively rare off road, so if we haven't heard anything it might simply be an odds thing because the base is so small.

The other difference is road bikers expect to stay up and every crash is an event in their lives. Mtn bikers OTOH realistically know that the odds of going down are high and aren't as likely to make a big deal of crashes. Or like a friend of mine, may be proud of their greatest hits, and like him, celebrate surviving major crashes.

Jeff Wills

And Interstate 84 east of here. I've ridden I-84 from Multnomah Falls to Troutdale when I was too pooped to ride up the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway.

Scooby Snax

Don't ask how, but I hit pause at the right time.
It's looking like it did get between the spokes.