Photos of cracked carbon bikes!!

[durianrider]

Post your photos here.

I will get the ball rolling...

 

[eljimberino]

Looks like it snapped at the base of the seat post. The seat tube is too long/high. Were you seated?

 

[elapid]

I would have thought that the seat post was too short and acted as a stress riser.

DR would not have been riding this bike. I would imagine that he is trying to reaffirm his choice for a bamboo bike and this is one way to surreptitiously tell all the cyclists out there riding carbon bikes that they are wrong to ride carbon. DR is usually not that subtle though, so maybe there is a higher cause here?

 

[pedaling squares]

I think DR posted this same photo last year, and received ample feedback about the seat post being short. What is it called when you do the same thing and expect different results?

 

[Parera]

Yay for carbon fear mongering.

 

[42x16ss]

I would have thought that the seat post was too short and acted as a stress riser.

DR would not have been riding this bike. I would imagine that he is trying to reaffirm his choice for a bamboo bike and this is one way to surreptitiously tell all the cyclists out there riding carbon bikes that they are wrong to ride carbon. DR is usually not that subtle though, so maybe there is a higher cause here?

Very strange. Especially considering he is now racing on a carbon Madone

 

[ElChingon]

Very strange. Especially considering he is now racing on a carbon Madone

I'd of thought he'd of already eaten it considering its carbon.

 

[biker jk]

Which insecticide do you use on the bamboo frame to keep the termites away?

 

[elapid]

Very strange. Especially considering he is now racing on a carbon Madone

I saw DR had ordered another bamboo bike (maybe his last one was eaten by termites or a giant panda ), but find it strange that he is now racing on a carbon bike considering all the bad mouthing he gives people who ride and/or race on carbon bikes.

 

[DirtyWorks]

Seriously though.

Is Trek going to accept it as a warrantied failure?

Is the seat post the one that came with the bike? More specifically, why isn't the post long enough to go down below the top tube? Or, am I just being old-fashioned.

 

[elapid]

Seriously though.

Is Trek going to accept it as a warrantied failure?

Is the seat post the one that came with the bike? More specifically, why isn't the post long enough to go down below the top tube? Or, am I just being old-fashioned.

I didn't realize, but this has apparently been the topic of another thread so maybe we can find the answer there. My presumption, as wild as it may be, is that for whatever reason (weight weenie or otherwise) the seat post has been cut short. If this is the case, then the seat tube above the top tube is not designed to withstand those kind of forces and would likely not be covered by warranty. If the seat post was the same as supplied with the bike, then someone else has failed and it should be covered by someone, whether it be Trek or their LBS. My two cents.

 

[Benotti69]

there is a website dedicated to broken carbon.

 

[kuoirad]

there is a website dedicated to broken carbon.

http://www.bustedcarbon.com/

(Unfortunately, it seems to be dead...)

 

[Bustedknuckle]

http://www.bustedcarbon.com/

(Unfortunately, it seems to be dead...)

Nope, worked for me...great site for all those 'carbon is THE answer' crowd.

 

[Parera]

http://www.bustedcarbon.com/

(Unfortunately, it seems to be dead...)

I like how that busted carbon seems to originate from over torquing or crashes. Meanwhile I believe it was Peaty who ran the same enve carbon rims for 2011. Terrible material, that carbon...

 

[kuoirad]

Nope, worked for me...great site for all those 'carbon is THE answer' crowd.

Sorry - not dead as in "I can't get to it" but dead as in "it hasn't been updated in over a year"...

 

[ElChingon]

Nope, worked for me...great site for all those 'carbon is THE answer' crowd.

Actually a better site for those who are stuck in "steel is real" land as their choices are dwindling each day, puts the fear in them to just quit.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Actually a better site for those who are stuck in "steel is real" land as their choices are dwindling each day, puts the fear in them to just quit.

Yep, too bad a steel frame will last 2-3 owner's lifetimes...and the what 30-40 current steel frame makers..yep, scarce.

Asian carbon, made in 3-4 factories, is a much better choice, plus the $2000 decals that go on them.

 

[ElChingon]

Yep, too bad a steel frame will last 2-3 owner's lifetimes...and the what 30-40 current steel frame makers..yep, scarce.

Asian carbon, made in 3-4 factories, is a much better choice, plus the $2000 decals that go on them.

Yea, my steal frames are all I beams or some kind of steal item in the world still forming rust. Meanwhile for some odd rason some of my carbon frames are more than 10 years old and still being ridden as a proper bike. I know totally not what you've been told or been missinformed about, sure has made me feel like there might be some data that people have slide under the carpet.

 

[Bustedknuckle]

Yea, my steal frames are all I beams or some kind of steal item in the world still forming rust. Meanwhile for some odd rason some of my carbon frames are more than 10 years old and still being ridden as a proper bike. I know totally not what you've been told or been missinformed about, sure has made me feel like there might be some data that people have slide under the carpet.

??Huh??

10 years old? They are practically new.

 

[Jeremiah]

Yep, too bad a steel frame will last 2-3 owner's lifetimes...and the what 30-40 current steel frame makers..yep, scarce.

Asian carbon, made in 3-4 factories, is a much better choice, plus the $2000 decals that go on them.

What about Chinese Carbon. I haven't seen one busted one. They're like $400, shipping included.

They're just bikes.

Steel's good. Al, ti, whatever....


WRGAS? Ride whatever for a year or 20, buy a new one.

 

[Hugh Januss]

In 42 years of riding, racing, working in bike shops/owning one, I have ridden bikes made of every type of material except Ti (tried one once, like a noodle, but I am 6' 1" 170/180). The only frame material I have never broken is carbon. I have bent steel and aluminium in crashes which would have most likely broken a carbon frame, but only the metals have failed on me from stress, fatigue, improper welding or brazing or bad workmanship.
To say there is no difference between a cheap carbon frame and a high end one is just silly, like saying Tange Prestige and Schwinn Continental gas pipe are comparable.

 

[Benotti69]

Someone should see if they track down a picture of the orbea of Ricardo Garcia’s (Euskaltel-Euskadi) spectacular crash from stage 3 of the Dauphine. That bike got a right going over bouncing down the road.

 

[DirtyWorks]

I have never broken is carbon. I have bent steel and aluminium in crashes which would have most likely broken a carbon frame, but only the metals have failed on me from stress, fatigue, improper welding or brazing or bad workmanship.

There's no question that a carbon frame's ability to withstand specific fatigue is higher. None. That's never the issue to people even vaguely informed.

The issue remains the catastrophic failure characteristics. Secondarily, carbon is not general purpose the way an alloy is. So the chance of failure during a crash is much greater. Finally, let's say a carbon frame is crashed, it's possible for delamination to occur out of sight and then comes the catastrophic failure.

To say there is no difference between a cheap carbon frame and a high end one is just silly, like saying Tange Prestige and Schwinn Continental gas pipe are comparable.

Hugh, we're talking $200 out the door for an older layup and $500 out the door for a more difficult layup and different materials. Right now the bromance is on though, so it's possible to get much more per unit.

It is possible to argue real differences between a $200 carbon and a $500 carbon frameset. The differences simply aren't as great as gas pipe vs. Prestige.

 

[Franklin]

??Huh??

10 years old? They are practically new.

Oh my..... you how that you have no sense of bicycle history whatsoever and yet you harp on materials.