Ceya

Flying down 5th Ave to my office on 3rd Ave and 42street in 1991. I was riding my Panasonic and no heavy traffic out there at 730pm .

I was going to stop for a light but before I put pressure on the pedals, it locked up .

I didn't crash but fell over the bike. The chainring broke cause the chain wrap around the cog . This cause the rear right chainstay of my frame to come to the front and my Gipiemme chainring arms to bend. I thought the bike had finally died .

I took it to Stuyvesant ( Known as A Bike Shop today) on 14th and 9th ave, Paco (Franscisco Cuevas oldest son) was the head mech and he was the MASTER of fixing stuff.

He straighten out my frame and chainring arms. I still have the bike and cranks finally broke 2 years later.

I still feel the dimple where the rear chainstay bent and showed me that anything can be fixed , at least steel can be fixed.


Most of what I know about frames, tubulars is from this man.
S/F,
CEYA!

scrublover

this one kinda' sucked.

thankfully, i was wearing chest pad/full face helmet.

Analog

Yikes!
Care to share the story behind that one?

scrublover

A lift day up at Keystone, nothing super big, but a few things beyond the design parameters, shall we say, of the frame. My bikes now are much more appropriate for that kind of riding.

Bottom of the second run of the day, lofted the front wheel over a little drainage ditch on the way back over to the lift. Next thing I knew, I was on the ground. Got some scars on my chest from one of the tubes, even wearing a 661 Pressure suit. I had actually stopped a couple times that run, because it kept feeling like something on the back end of the bike was off, or like a rear flat. I'm pretty sure it was the downtube starting to go, and I just didn't see it.

metallo pesante

snapped axle, bent skewer.



stripped hub.

This one was an easy formul for disaster. Mig Welder + old casette hub + the urge to ride a fixed gear - money= one hell of a bad idea.

I was racing my friends mini cooper in downtown savannah when i skidded a corner hit, stripped all the back out, then hit a pothole and endoed into a median.

wroomwroomoops

What fork was that? (I'm guessing CF, 'cause I hate CF forks - that's just a thing I have... )


And to the thread starter/OP: you must surely be aware, that the really catastrophic evnts won't be posted here, not by the person involved in them, right? So all these personal accounts are the almost-really-catastrophic ones.

The other guys are too busy smelling the roses from downstairs.

boroSS

i have a feeling that all gunnar forks are steel.

Smorgasgeorge

Got this from Wolf Cycle in West Philly and had it put on my old coaster brake conversion. As soon as I put my 200lbs on it, it skipped, butchered my nuts, and left me tipped over in the middle of an intersection.

TreeUnit

Well it's not quite as catastrophic...
My front quickrelease came undone while riding once. I discovered this as I was turning off of a street onto the sidewalk, and I noticed that suddenly I was flying face first at the pavement. I acctually lost my memory for a short time. I didn't realize i had been in an accident until i looked at the back of my wrists and found that they were covered in blood.

wroomwroomoops

They are. But he could have replaced it.

schnee

Not fixed, but I taco'd the front wheel on my Stumpjumper about a year back.

By taco'd, I mean full 90 degree bend. I was going down a steep, steep hill (chest to saddle), slowly, weaving between trees, and hit a while turning the wheel. The bike sort of felt noodly for a second, then sunk down slowly, and I fell over.

heebro

it was a waterford 1" steel cx fork.

mrwhite

just riding along

mrwhite

just riding along

wroomwroomoops

You wanted a more track-like geometry, right?

jacobpriest

are you saying you were just riding along and suddenly BAM! frame collapsed and you went down?

Aeroplane

I remember you telling us about this, that was so hilarious. If I recall correctly, that setup was where your signature came from, right?

Sammyboy

Riding home from the station on my beater geary, flat rear tyre, no means to fix it, in a HUGE hurry, so no chance of stopping. Mashing up a steep hill, I sheared a pedal spindle. Still had to ride home, now with a flat tyre, AND only one pedal.

Cause: I am a straight out animal.

Accident

It was the stock chainring, but it wasn't that worn at all; maybe 2 months of riding max. It was dirty for sure

pitboss

mrwhite, that is one of my fav pics to this day (sorry if there was an injury involved).

and it is a testament to getting your brakes dialed-in properly.

veggiemafia

Wrong thread. You want the "Tight Bikes" thread. This is the "Catastrophic Failures" thread.

n00b.

Mueslix

Didn't realize I had lost a chainring bolt or two, continued pedaling, and bent the whole thing in half. It was just easier to wrench it free of the cranks than to leave it dangling in the wind.

anarchocyclist

Trackstanding at the corner of Central Ave and Washington downtown, looking over my left shoulder for a spot to merge into traffic on Washington. Found my spot and mashed down full force, breaking my drive-side crank in two and flipping myself onto my back. Dragged myself (and my bike, and the remains of the crank which was still attached to my right foot) over to the curb, where horrified lunchtime pedestrians gawked at me. A very nice woman came over and asked, "Are you okay? Do you need any tools?"

"Lady," I replied, "unless you got a welding rig in your purse, I think I'm ****ed. But thanks anyway."

kludge

this thread is scary. im not so afraid of getting hit by a car or a bus. nah, ive managed to avoid that sort of stuff....but having the bike break down on you....or getting into to stupid accidents from goofing off? thats the stuff thats going to kill me eventually.


when i first put my first FG bike together i wasnt so smart about putting a chain on the right way. i take the bike for a spin, get two miles away, hear the master link drop to the ground. next thing i know the chain wrapped it self around the chain stay and around the cog. scary stuff.

cosmo starr

my roommate did this


the worst ive done is snap a pedal