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Old bike bites dust, old rider avoids same fate.

715 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  MB1 
#1 ·
I was lucky on my commute home last night, when my rainy-day commuter and errand bike ended its long career in a fashion that cause me only inconvenience, not injury. It's an old (circa 1970) Atala city bike that belonged to the father of a friend of mine, who was going to toss it out before I rescued it several years ago and converted it to a drop-bar fixie for commuting, shopping, etc. It has served well with minimal attention and maintenance, carrying all kinds of loads in all kinds of weather.

Last night I was grinding up one of the few short hills on my commute, when the front end suddenly went very loose. I was going slowly enough that I was able to stop without crashing, Inspection revealed one fork end completely snapped off the leg, the metal apparently just gone from fatigue (no visible rust on the chrome fork). The other end was half cracked through, so if there'd been more stress the whole wheel likely would have disconnected. I'm darn lucky it didn't happen when I was spinning 120 rpm in traffic trying to beat a light.

It would be tough to find a replacement fork with the proper rake, but I thought at first I'd try. On more reflection, and a little inspection, I just don't trust the old steel frame any more. Time to check the garage sales and thrift stores and find another conversion project, I guess. Easier than repairing a busted face. I feel lucky.

Inspect your bike occasionally, especially the critical structural bits. There was probably a visible crack growing well before this incident, but I never saw it. I got lucky.
 
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