You know that feeling something isn't quite right ...

[mickle]

That'll buff out.

 

[Racing roadkill]

That’ll polish out.

 

[Threevok]

All you need now is someone to point and say "There's your problem!!!"

 

[classic33]

Had the seat tube fail in roughly the same area. Going downhill the bike suddenly felt flexible.

Got to the bottom and checked, the split was visible at the front of the tube. A further 1/4 mile on, pushing it, the split was complete. Roll of duct tape from tescos used to secure it in place.

 

[ColinJ]

Had the seat tube fail in roughly the same area. Going downhill the bike suddenly felt flexible.

I saw a cyclist walking his bike on a local audax event. I stopped to see if I could help and he explained that the bike had felt a bit wobbly on the 20% descent we had just done so he stopped at the bottom to see what the problem was ...

 

[Andy in Germany]

@Alien8 : Ouch. I'm glad you came out unscathed.

I once had a break where the bottom bar met the headset, as I came down down from a wheelie. As the bike only had one bar this brought a stop to any riding on that bike. I had fortunately done the wheelie from a standing start.

Had the seat tube fail in roughly the same area. Going downhill the bike suddenly felt flexible.

Got to the bottom and checked, the split was visible at the front of the tube. A further 1/4 mile on, pushing it, the split was complete. Roll of duct tape from tescos used to secure it in place.

How long did you ride on it afterwards?

 

[ColinJ]

Yes, @Alien8 - I'm glad that you didn't end up like the bike!

My bikes have had various mechanical problems over the years which could have led to disaster but I escaped injury...

• I overtightened a stem bolt which ended up pulling the thread out of the stem at the bottom of a descent. The handlebars rotated through 90 degrees but I managed to stop without crashing.
• I snapped a crank once but again managed to stop without incident. (The 5 mile one-legged ride home after that was pretty tiring!)
• Another potentially dangerous damaged crank was spotted when I was cleaning the bike...
  
  
  If that had broken when I was standing on the pedals then it could have been nasty.
• I broke a seatpost and had to cycle back standing up, with my saddle in my jersey pocket. Fortunately I was at the top of a hill only 2 miles from home at the time.

 

[classic33]

@Alien8 : Ouch. I'm glad you came out unscathed.

I once had a break where the bottom bar met the headset, as I came down down from a wheelie. As the bike only had one bar this brought a stop to any riding on that bike. I had fortunately done the wheelie from a standing start.



How long did you ride on it afterwards?

Just long enough to get home on it. At a much slower speed than usual.

 

[Ian H]

I saw a cyclist walking his bike on a local audax event. I stopped to see if I could help and he explained that the bike had felt a bit wobbly on the 20% descent we had just done so he stopped at the bottom to see what the problem was ...

View attachment 441532

Who drilled holes in the front of the fork blades just under the crown?

 

[kevin_cambs_uk]

This happened on my way in today.

Looks like I'm in the market for a new fixed-wheel commuter if anyone has recommendations?

I do love your Avatar of Alien8 , but I love all the ACG games, I still have them all in their boxes!

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Cripes @Alien8, I can't bring myself to like that OP, glad you're uninjured!

 

[colly]

On the plus side..................your chain looks like it won't be slack.

 

[ColinJ]

Who drilled holes in the front of the fork blades just under the crown?

Indeed! (Though I think that was the back of the fork?)

 

[I like Skol]

What make/model of bike was/is this, I can't see it anywhere in the thread?

Just had to retire my Ali commuter due to a crack so feel your pain. On the other hand, it's new bike time

 

[Alien8]

What make/model of bike was/is this, I can't see it anywhere in the thread?

It's a NoLoBi frame that I built up about 4 years ago.

I did crash it back in January, so maybe that was the start of the problem, but I've put another 6/7k miles on it since then.