monza

Yes, I have. In fact, that’s all I considered until I got the bike and talked to witnesses.

WC89

Glad you're not worse I must admit, even though my bike is aluminum, the fork and seat post are CF - not obsessed with it but catastrophic fork failure is always in the back of my mind. Never ever had to worry about that with my previous road bikes with chrome forks.

Menel

Just about any bike, from your mass produced Al, to your locally hand built Moots or Lynskey is going to have a Carbon fork.

merlinextraligh

Steel and aluminum forks fail also.

I'm not aware of any data that suggests CF forks spontaneously fail at a higher rate than CF. Based on frame fatigue tests for various materials, My bet would be that modern CF forks fail at a lower rate than Steel and Aluminum forks used to.

Bah Humbug

Cold comfort to the OP, but with practically all bikes having carbon forks, this is almost unheard of. I'm sure they're quite safe in abstract, but if you're the one who draws the one short straw...

whitemax

Trek is a very good company and I'd be surprised if they didn't do something to help you out. I doubt they'd do anything relative to your hospital bills unless you lawyered up but as said before, they are huge, have their own lawyers and it would get crazy expensive on your part. Make contact with them, you may find that they'll replace your bike. Heal quickly!

rebel1916

Stop talking sense.

shelbyfv

Gunnar makes nice bikes with steel forks.

ColinL

My GoPro Hero2 dies in under 2 hours. I'm not a pro, but I would consider a full-time camera really only an option for short rides.

GP

Get an attorney.

I know of at least one bicycle company that used forks that turned out to be defective and broke while in use.

rebel1916

Again, where is the evidence that light, sporty steel forks are any more durable than light, sporty, CF forks. There is none. If there was, the retro brigade would be touting it all day, everyday.

David Bierbaum

It's only "mostly sense." (Thank you Princess Bride!) The problem with all composites is that their failure modes can sneak up unobserved, and let go all at once. Steel tends to show visible signs of impending failure, such as rust through and metal fatigue (provided you look for them). Aluminum tends to fail more rapidly since it responds to stress with inelastic strain, where the material doesn't return to it's original shape after the stress is removed. A spring is a good example of "elastic" strain. Delamination and/or bubbles can stay hidden till the very end, however.

Aircraft that use composites are checked by special ultrasound machines to check for just such hidden failure modes before catastrophe strikes. They should probably make a similar tool for bicycle components made from carbon fiber composites as well, and have LBS use them during a bicycle tune-up check-up.

jon c. 

Again, where is the evidence that light, sporty steel forks are any more durable than light, sporty, CF forks. There is none.

I certainly have no empirical evidence, but I see documented cases of catastrophic carbon fork failure and hear only anecdotal evidence for catastrophic steel fork failure. To be fair, the fact that Carbon forks now dominate the market would certainly make it likely that they would also dominate the failure stories.

rebel1916

I broke a steel motorcycle frame once. Anecdote does not equal evidence.

rebel1916

Here is some more anecdote
https://www.bitrealm.com/misc/fork/p1000783.jpg

@David, read though this. It tends to refute that concern.
https://velonews.competitor.com/2002/...n-forks-2_3270

neneboricua

I use a Tachyon OPS HD. It only records at 30fps (GoPro can do 60fps) but it can record for 4+ hours https://www.tachyoninc.com/opshd.php.

Banzai

Bike shops already operate on razor-thin margins, and most cannot afford to hire competent employees. Bikes also continually get more expensive for, let's face it, almost no benefit. Now we want shops to have aviation NDI equipment?

Cookiemonsta

You are right, other than the stories we hear, there is not real evidence to suggest carbon forks are less safe. I also would not expect them to be common if they were really that much more dangerous. I made that comment kinda thinking about how I take my safety for granted, and maybe I should look into these materials before going 70 km/h on descents. It may not be the carbon forks, but here and there I know I compromised safety on my bike and gear.

JohnDThompson 

FWIW, during the several years I worked as Trek's warranty inspector (1983-86) I didn't have a single claim involving a failed steel fork.

himespau 

Wow, that's some scary ****. Best wishes with the recovery.

prathmann

I had a sudden failure of the steel steerer tube on the fork of our tandem. It cracked without warning right at the fork crown resulting in the front wheel and fork separating from the rest of the bike and the bottom of the head tube impacting the pavement (along with my face, palms, etc.).

Examining the area of the crack later showed that, yes, there was evidence that the crack had existed for some time already. But it hadn't been there a few months earlier when I last regreased the headset bearing. And I sure don't pull the steerer tube out of the head tube before each ride to check for a possible crack.

David Bierbaum

For carbon composite bikes? You wouldn't need AVIATION quality sensors, but something far less complex. (Aviation ultrasound sensors are designed to scan complex surfaces with complex loads, after all and are not mass produced, which would drive down prices.) It's hard to spot delamination, since it tends not to show when you look for "signs of wear", unless it's close to the surface. I'd think that some form of NDI testing could be subsidized by carbon component manufacturers, for liability reasons, if nothing else.

Does anyone have information on tap-testing of Carbon frames and forks?

StephenH

I was on a ride at night a while back, pointed out a hole, and one of my co-riders asked me about a "hole" a mile or two back that he hadn't seen. I didn't remember seeing any hole, but did see a little block of wood, maybe 2"x2"4" long, and I'm pretty sure that's what he hit. Didn't tear up anything or wreck him, but it could have been something like it that did you in- small enough to get moved off the road, large enough to impart some serious stress into a frame.

eja_ bottecchia

Consult a lawyer who specializes in products liability with an emphasis on bicycles.

pihb

I too live in Austin and sorry to hear about your accident. This makes me nervous after i just bought a Roubaix last Saturday! Hope you have a speedy recovery