Lifted from Pinkbike. This would never, never happen in an MX race or a ski race, yet somehow bike manufacturers have created this aura of BS about their kit being space age, pioneering, amazingly advanced etc. It isn't, it's 2011 and bits are still snapping randomly on the trail! Things are no different from 1994.
The thing is this stuff makes our sport look completely Benny Hill, ridiculous, a farce. The sport is really being held back by the equipment.
/rantoff
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Along similar lines
Too right, I'm well held back by my kit.
bits are still snapping randomly on the trail!
Err, no they aren't
That's not just "a trail" is it?
It's a downhill race. Which is a bit different.
I'm held back by dh tyres while riding uphill if you overtake me 😀
and those Manitou forks are quite old aren't they?
jhw does have a point though.
I wonder how many pictures there are of motorcross or enduro bikes falling apart "randomly" or under intended use.
jhw: 😯
LoCo: 😯 😯 😯
Who built the forks (as in put them together), who serviced them, were they factory fresh or had they been ragged for a season and left to rot over winter?
Have they broken or just dismantled themselves, I can't see from the picture?
In case you haven't noticed; a MX bike is a significantly different beast to a mountain bike and I've seen broken skis and faulty bindings in top level ski races (on the tellybox).
A DH Race on a DH Bike though, it shouldn't happen.
If you will put your forks on upside down though....
[url= http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=motorcross+bike+forks+snap&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7ADFA_en#hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ADFA_en&tbm=vid&sa=X&ei=K1_JTeP3B4idOpaw7eYH&ved=0CDsQvwUoAQ&q=motocross+bike+forks+snap&spell=1&fp=3a71ab308462f2e9 ]These[/url] are the google results for Motorcross bike forks snap
I love the fork oil spraying up into his face in the shot, great timing by the photographer
DH bike = 40-50lbs?
MX bike = 250lbs+
Bit more room for the MX bike to be 'overengineered' than the DH bike.
Julian the slomo of the fork lowers and wheel going past him 😯 exactly
Very poor rant. Proper spelling, no capitals, exclamations, etc and worst of all the pic does nothing to prove the OP's point, only that in some cases, the circumstances of which we know nothing about, a fork can snap.
Must try MUCH harder.
I've seen the forks on a superbike break in a superbike race.
At least the guy's got his brakes on - that'll save him.
A DH Race on a DH Bike though, it shouldn't happen.
Racing is the hardest thing that any bit of kit has to cope with. It's being proper ragged, right on the limit. And no-one knows the history behind that pic and the video. Has the bike been crashed previously, thus weakening the forks? Have the forks been properly maintained/serviced/checked? Is the rider any good or is he some ham-fisted muppet who's been ploughing through rock gardens with all the finesse of a 3-legged donkey?
Look at any sport where kit is right on the limit - F1 for example. You still see cases of engines blowing up etc.
Lifted from crash.net. This would never, never happen in a fishing tournament or a sponsored silence, and yet car manufacturers have created this aura of BS about their kit being space age, pioneering, amazingly advanced etc. It isn't, it's 2011 and suspension is still failing randomly on the track! Things are no different from 1894.
The thing is this stuff makes NCAAP "safety" ratings look completely Benny Hill, ridiculous, a farce. Etc., etc., etc.
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How many F1 cars fail under intended use?
Stuff breaks under hard use, deal with it.
EDIT: damn my slow typing!
cool picture but nothing ever breaks in any other sport/industry does it?
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Doesnt matter how much your sports budget:
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And then move onto one of the most highly regulated industries and play spot the missing engine:
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and sometimes things are not your fault but cause you to suffer a failure:
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That picture though and LoCo's video doesn't show the true picture. In the video it looks as if the fork lowers just drop off the uppers (not done up properly) and the in picture a whole host of things COULD have happened to the forks. They could even had visable cracks and the rider thought 'ah they'll be alright' and had not consolted the engineering experts on STW!!
For an even more analogous F1 connection to those forks breaking, there's Seb Buemi's accident last year - total front suspension failure at 170mph under braking.
ohh that AA191 over banked crash makes me shiver....
Quite an old photo from the OP.
The snapper managed to get quite a few frames IIRC, so you could see the accident unfold.
How do you know he didn't just buy those forks off cynic-al after he had 'improved' them?
Video of snappage...
Can you really compare MX and skiing with DH? latter have much more predictable/consistent courses, speeds and impacts AFAIK. Weight certainly less of an issue on MX bikes and components are built to withstand weight of the bike which is way more than the rider.
And it's "specification" rather than "tolerance" that you appear to be complaining of 😛
I have seen a CCM in two parts, not what the designers intended.
If you look at that video xiphon posted, the stanchions seem to come away intact. It looks like the uppers and lowers separated rather than anything snapping, so probably most likely a poor mechanic.
Think his damping may be adrift now.
*slow claps jhw again*
I like the way he's still got the front brake full on. To stop the wheel running away?
On the video on pink bike someone suggests the bolts in the lowers were lose, Which would explain it..
To top it all off,that fork oil is a bugger to get off your clothes,just ask my missus
Just in case anyone's forgotten about this minor issue:
(love the way he keeps steering 😉 )
My money's on user error with the fork snappage too. I'm sure you can see more from the other photos, but the fact that only the very top of the lower legs look damaged makes me think they were barely attached when it all went tits up
I wonder how many pictures there are of motorcross or enduro bikes falling apart "randomly" or under intended use.
if you want to ride a bike of the weight of a motorbike it will be indestructible by a cyclist in normal use. At the weights we ride stuff will break when ridden on the limit [ ignoring the multiple list of causes on the vides]
I know what thought was going through that guys head...."Oh F..."
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D'oh double post
Entertaining read. OK OK I digress.
But seriously juxtapose the photo above with this BS on Rock Shox's (for example) website:
[i]RockShox was born out of a belief that the mold was meant to be broken. We know one size does not fit all. We know even the longest rides are too short to worry about your equipment. Our patented designs push the limits to bring the utmost in performance, control and adjustability to every product in our line. From our Motion Control damping to the easiest to use thru-axle on the market, the Maxle, we believe race-proven technologies shouldn't just be for racers. Being on the leading edge of technology isn't just our history. It's our future.[/i]
Oh come on! Not just the mold that's broken, etc., etc.
I'll get my coat.
jhw, you are quite the drama queen aren't you? Ever considered a career in the west end?
From what I can gather the lowers detached from the uppers. Personally I've never known a fork fail that way from proper use. Incorrect assembly perhaps. Nothing to do with tolerances or anything like that. Accidents happen, user error etc.
I have litterly snapped a snowboard riding through a snow filled ditch. Stuff happens.
I like the way the F1 driver tries steering away from the barrier with no front wheels. 😀
And in the far less exciting and weight conscious world of trucks and buses; propshaft bolts shear, propshaft UJs fall apart, clutches fall apart, half shafts snap, hub reduction gears burst open, diffs fly apart and punch their way out through the casing, springs break, axles crack, chassis crack...
Yeah, I love the drama. So what's the difference between "tolerance" and "specification"?
Lawyer caught out blagging it with engineering terms not properly understood...
The specification is what it's designed to, eg, 'The forks will withstand a force of x N with no more than y mm of deflection at the drop outs'
Tolerance is how tolerent the design is to variation. This variation can be manufacturing things, like the torque used to assemble it, or what range of sizes the parts are (the +/- bit in a dimension) but it could also be how it's used.
As has been mentioned above, without knowing more it is impossible to say whether the failure was due to design, tolerances, manufaucture or misuse.
Stuff breaks. Your assertation that it doesn't break in other sports etc has been proven wrong.
So, given that stuff breaks in all sports, hobbies and machines around the world, what is your point?