I laugh every time I see a Cannondale carbon fiber road bike. Repeat the word "synapse" quickly a few times.
The bikes are fine, as such things go. The material is as well applied there as it is anywhere. Its failure mode is well documented. It stands up to a lot. When it is overloaded, it quits instantly. No big deal. The experts have designed with that in mind. Everything will be fine.
Meanwhile, back in the primitive world of metal, a kid brought his well-trodden Rockhopper in for a few service items and did not even realize he'd been riding around with this nearly-complete crack in the frame, about ready to let the bottom bracket drop off:
When I worked in bike shops, it always amazed me that some people wrode their bikes for as long as they did without noticing that anything was wrong, let alone how wrong things had gone.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget the time I took off a rear wheel to true it (as part of a tune up) and the right dropout came out of the frame. This was on an Atala ten-speed, if I remember correctly. I had to wonder how the guy who rode it could even touch the pedals without the wheel shifting, if not seizing against the chainstay. He said that he hadn't noticed any difference in the shifting. Then again, the shifting wasn't so great to begin with!
Haa! I can just see it!
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