Touch wood I’ve been lucky. The worst I’ve had is the puncturing the spare and the second spare tube and having not patches and by myself. 6 mile walk to car as they were v new and shiny rims and i couldn't face riding on them. A lesson i only had to learn once. Everything else on the trail has been bodge-able.
Bike Forum
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Worst mechanical you've ever had?
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Posted 2 years ago #
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Snapped frame i guess, tried filling it with grass and bracken to hold it together like they did in mbuk (with innertubes) but it didnt work
Posted 2 years ago # -
Not serious per se, but the repercussions were annoying...
I had an STI lever fail on my road bike, dropping me into the 11t sprocket on Christmas eve 2007, at about 6 o clock, while I was 35 miles from home on the wrong side of the South Downs. Turns out you can ride up Bury Hill in a 39/11 if you really really want to. Luckily it was the less steep side!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Never been stranded too far from home – yet. My left hand crank arm fell off on a commute a couple of weeks ago, a bit odd as it’s been on there for 11 months. Fell off coming across the moor in the pitch black, luckily the bolt didn’t go too far or I could have had an 8 mile walk home. Had a puncture and resultant inner tube issue that has meant a 2 mile walk/scoot in the pishing rain.
Split the rim on a bike with v brakes but my wife picked me up fater that one.
QR exploded on a mates front wheel when he was riding home from work – lost all the bits and had to walk about 10 miles.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Does being hit by a car count? I didn't finish the ride
Posted 2 years ago # -
eggbeater pedal falling off spindle.
was able to limp home as the body stayed in my shoe and I could slide it onto the spindle and pedal gently.
still have a scar on my calf from the spindle end when it first came off.
Posted 2 years ago # -
None, just a snapped frame & long walk.
The thing with mechanicals is that I tend to know when somethings going, and I prefer to replace before it's too late.Edit; An SPD once fell apart.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Second time I did Paris-Roubaix sportif someone road into the back of my bike and put the mech into the rear wheel. I walked to the end of the Pave section, borrowed a hammer to straighten the gear hanger and singlespeeded the bike. 53x17 or something similar. Then road the remaining 100miles and pave or so in a single gear and ended up about 5mins behind my mates.
Posted 2 years ago # -
An old X7 mech decided to wrap itself around my cogs when a stick went through the spokes. It was right at the top of the first climb on a Moel Famau epic. I stopped before the whole thing ripped off at the bolt. Amazingly we managed to bend it back into place and it survived the downhill back to the carpark.
Arsed up what should have been an all day-er. The other brave souls carried on without me.Posted 2 years ago # -
Pulled the axle forward in the track end on the drive side of my track bike. I was about to enter the far banking at the Manc velodrome at the time, up on the blue line. The wheel jammed against the NDS chainstay, which locked it up, and stopped me feet turning in the process. I pointed it down the banking MTB-style, and managed to hold it until I got down t the concrete where I hopped off.
Big black tyre mark on the track. Big brown skid mark in my shorts.
Posted 2 years ago # -
@ tonyg2003 That would have made me mildly annoyed, probably to extent of cursing under my breath somewhat.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Snapped a few frames etc which are obviously serious, but i think my most annoying was having a sudden drop in temperature in the peaks and all the wet snow / slush on my bike turning to ice and freezing up absolutly everything including front mech, rear mech and freewheel.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Bolt came out of smallest chainring and wedged itself against the bottom bracket, the only way I could free it off was to remove the chainset......Guess what, no chainring removal tools......15 miles from home.......one Pi**ed off Mrs came and collected me from the pub!!!
Posted 2 years ago # -
I had a stick in the back wheel of my then 2 week old 853 Inbred. I was going at walking pace and the wheel did 1/2 a turn before I stopped.
Damage -
Knackered X9 mech
Bent chain, several links
And this -
The hanger bent outwards, opening up the dropout and so far inwards it locked the cassette, so I coundn't even SS it. (On the left hand pic you can just see the silver gougw caused by the cassette on the inside of the hanger) 4 mile walk back.
I bent that straight again, filed off the burrs and sprayed it black.Then sometime later to the same bike -
Chiainsuck killed the chainstay. So I got Argos to put a new one in and had it resprayed.
Then a couple of weeks ago, I bent the hanger again, towing a trailer offroad. Not so bad this time! Bent it back AGAIN!
It's fair to say that frame has seen some action!
It's also fair to say, it's a keeper. I love it.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Well that won't get sold here secondhand!
Posted 2 years ago # -
ripped off the rear mech hanger earlier this year had to walk 10 miles home ...didn,t get in untill 1.30 am what a night ride that wasn,t.
Posted 2 years ago # -
6 punctures on one 18 mile ride. Fortunately exactly the number of puncture patches I had with me.
Oh and a snapped frame while just riding along at Strathpuffer.
Joe
Posted 2 years ago # -
Well that won't get sold here secondhand!
LOL! Fair comment, but it's had it's 15 mins of fame, so most people know that frame on here anyway. And it's been properly repaired. The hanger is fine.....
Not for sale anyway.....The offending trailer, on the day in question! Trailer full of mince pies and mulled wine!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Chain link started opening, somehow the derailler and hanger got bent around into the spokes:
Chain snapped
Derailler cage bent
Hanger snapped
Spokes broken
Walk home
Posted 2 years ago # -
When my frame snapped I just thought the bars had moved. Wasn't until I got off and looked at my bike and realised I had a 71 degree head angle, only 71 degrees the wrong way. A bit like a halfords built bike looks!
Posted 2 years ago # -
oldgit - I didn't mention. I was slowing down to avoid someone who had gone down when their stem snapped in half. PR is carnage at times!
Yep I was mildly annoyed.
Posted 2 years ago # -
chain snapped and rear mech went into spokes:
bent mech hanger (steel frame)
bent dropout
Collapsed freehub
bent chainring
snapped chain (obviously)
twisted rear mech
and a cassette that, although I could never quite pin point the issue with, never worked quite right afterwards.That was my first, and last, SRAM chain
Posted 2 years ago # -
I think I was having issues with my 853 at the same time, all logic was saying it can't be the frame, but it was that flippin tight clearance at the chainstay that or the colour.
Posted 2 years ago # -
tonyg2003
Always next year though
Posted 2 years ago # -
I think I was having issues with my 853 at the same time, all logic was saying it can't be the frame, but it was that flippin tight clearance at the chainstay that or the colour.
It's the clearance, no doubt about it. The slightest chainsuck caused HUGE problems. I used to replace middle rings a lot too...
The new stay is a different shape at my request: Straighter! No more chainsuck since. None at all even on really worn rings.
Posted 2 years ago # -
oldgit. Didn't stop me. I've done it twice more. All 275km. Strangely addictive.
Posted 2 years ago # -
That's good news.
BTW that camouflage doesn't work.Posted 2 years ago # -
PeterPoddy - my inbred (vert dropout) cracked in exactly the same place - it hasnt gone all the way through - about 5mm left - is it worth repairing? What is approx cost?
Posted 2 years ago # -
PeterPoddy - my inbred (vert dropout) cracked in exactly the same place - it hasnt gone all the way through - about 5mm left - is it worth repairing? What is approx cost?
I'll not lie, it's not cheap.
Mine was all done to the highest standard at Argos cycles in Bristol
New stay, £70. Paint, £120. Transfers (Under the laquer) £20......Posted 2 years ago # -
Never had a truly calamitous mechanical, touch wood.
Completely seized a rear hub once in the Pentlands, wrecking it (how the **** do you do that?). It was only a mile walk and a phonecall to the missus, though.
My very first ride with UST was a disaster - at Glentress with a pair of Hutch scorpions IIRC. The bead wasn't seated right and once on the trail kept slowly losing air. Super tight to get the tyre off, so ended up pinching both spare inner tubes in a cack-handed attempt at fix the problem. Was new to Scotland at the time, so didn't know Glentress at all. Took me about 2 hrs to get back to the car from the bottom of Deliverance because I didn't know the way.
That was in 2002, and I've not had a single problem with tubeless since. Guess I got them all out of the way in a oner - quick way of learning that sealant is a good idea.
Posted 2 years ago # -
My square taper cranks decided that the wear and tear of many miles and the falling of the crank would be justified 15 miles home which did not impress my mate.
Posted 2 years ago # -
The worst I'v had so far is ripping a rear mech off and having to single speed the bike for the remainder of the ride
Posted 2 years ago # -
does a femoral neck fracture count as 'mechanical'?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Riding London to Brighton a few years back and my rear wheel had some exceedingly loose spokes that I'd noticed the night before. Did nothing about it and throughout the ride coudl hear various pinging noises, which were spokes releasing themselves from their nipples. Bent and tucked the now free spokes back into the wheel thinking I can make it...
Anyway, bottom of Ditchling Beacon, another spoke goes, catches the rear mech and pulls the whole lot including the mech hanger into the rear wheel. Cue major wheel explosion and lots of swearing from me.
Stood there for about 3 hours waiting for apickup to take me to Brighton. Eternal thanks to the house that I was stranded in front of for giving me tea and biscuits and to my riding buddies who welcomed me with a cold beer when I finally made it to Brighton!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Gibbon snapped his st4 on the Transrockies with more than 50k to go, still finished the stage though.
Posted 2 years ago #
Topic Closed
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