[Closed] Snapped fork steerer - anyone ever seen this happen?

😯

Ham fisted overtightening of stem?

Snapped a one inch steerer at the crown BITD but never at the top like that... *doffs hat* well done sir!

overtightened stem bolts?

How tight was the stem done up and how much steerer was in the stem?

How much steerer was in the stem was my first thought but if you look closely, you can see that the open back of the stem itself is still filled in with the snapped off steerer.

Valves out of line with tyre logos?

I can see that now I have had a closer look.

Star fangled nut damage inside the aluminium steerer?

What kind of forks were they?

What forks are they?

Have the forks been on another bike with a longer headtube and a Chris King headset which has scored the steerer tube right where it has now failed?

😯 That is odd.
I would have though that overtightened bolts would cause a clean shear, not the shape of the the break shown (but that's guesswork on my part)

Possible that weather had something to do with it? Maybe some water got in there, froze, and caused extra pressure?

I asked the same question about what kind of forks they are. I don't recognise them (this despite my geeky encyclopedic knowledge of bike kit!) 😀

I asked the same question about what kind of forks they are. I don't recognise them (this despite my geeky encyclopedic knowledge of bike kit!)

Ahhh Watson, a clue!! The hunt is on!! 😉

 

Er... how do you quote? 😉

you need to close the quote with

but back on topic. never seen one like that...

you need to close the quote with but back on topic. never seen one like that...

Thanks!

It will polish out 😯

I've snapped my road bike mid steerer JRA.

The fact I'd ridden it down the beast the day before might have had something to do with it though.

It is cracking season! Don't ride your bikes!!!!!!! 😯 😆

far too many spacers under the stem imo

Nice to see someone else on an Enduro Elite

Did the same a couple of years ago coming off Blencathra:

[img] http://www.flickr.com/photos/parkedtiger/8411140136 [/img]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/parkedtiger/8411140136/

Apologies - it's not too clear an image, but the steerer broke just above the star fangled nut in a very similar fashion to the OPs. Forks were 140 Bombers, about five years old; no other signs of damage from the SFN and the stem bolts weren't overtightened.

thisisnotaspoon - Member

I've snapped my road bike mid steerer JRA.

The fact I'd ridden it down the beast the day before might have had something to do with it though.

Good effort 😀

Did the same a couple of years ago coming off Blencathra:

That picture looks like it was taken at night. Fair play for riding up and down Blencathra on a night ride!

From the picture that could be an old Manitou Sherman/Travis/Nixon fork?

Was the headset delievered a day late due to snow? That's probably your problem.

Seen several of forks having done that, usually due to scores, earlier damage crash/bad installation or actual material defect.

lights too powerful..

Too many spacers. Correct amount = 0.

That picture looks like it was taken at night. Fair play for riding up and down Blencathra on a night ride!

Night time = no walkers 😉

If he takes off the spacers he can keep using that fork 😈

This happened to my riding buddy a few months ago (Darkcyan on the forum). The steerer on his Fox Talas forks snapped in the same place with a very similar looking tube breakage. Incidentally he was also using a Chris King headset although there was no evidence that it had casued any damage or scoring to the steerer tube. Since the tube was now too short to use with his frame he had to send the forks back to Mojo to have the whole fork uppers replaced; they come as one unit steerer, crown and stantions. I don't think this was mega-expensive and was far more economical than replacing the forks, especially as they serviced them at the same time. The breakage occured landing a small log jump but certainly nothing that should cause a steerer failure. More importantly he wasn't injured!

Yep i had exactly to same mate!....
Christ knows how....was your mate using a headlock bolt through thingy instead of star fangled type topcap????.... if stearer was a tad too long the headlock would effectively squash headtube when tightening the capbolt,thus cracking headtube....thats the theory i came up with re mine anyway......i cut damage off stearer & sold fork as was perfect after damaged part removed from steerer,& bought nother pairv forks with longer steerer....what a pisser it was!.... new years eve 2 yr ago i discover it..ARRGGGHHHHH!

There's some left take the stackers off an cut it straight then just put stem on front end will just be lower

you were lucky. My alu steerer tube snapped 100mm up from the fork crown within the headtube, I have a false tooth and about 48 stitches because of this, about 25 inside my mouth and the rest on my face. Plus a hatred of a certain fork manufacturer.

ti_pin_man - Member
you were lucky. My alu steerer tube snapped 100mm up from the fork crown within the headtube, I have a false tooth and about 48 stitches because of this, about 25 inside my mouth and the rest on my face. Plus a hatred of a certain fork manufacturer.

^^^^^^ OUCH!

Is there a nail in the tyre?

Seriously though, no idea other than stuff that's been suggested. Good effort though.

Thanks ti_pin. Now I'm going to get the sh1t's about my steerer tonight 🙁

That's real interesting.

Is your post a "just out of interest post"? or are you looking to determine the reason for failure for a warranty challenge?

I would be interested to know how old the forks are. If you have a good macro lens a close up of the fracture surfaces would be very useful to provide some clues as to the reason of the failure. when things like this happen, its always tempting to put the two pieces back together to see how they fit, however this can destroy some of the "evidence" which tells the tale of the failure.

Snapped fork steerer - anyone ever seen this happen?

once.

messiah - Member

Star fangled nut damage inside the aluminium steerer?

was the culprit - either that or just a total coincidence that the crack lined up with the star-nut.

Is your post a "just out of interest post"?

It was; I don't know the person who owns the bike, I am just connected to his mate who posted the picture through another friend.

Nevertheless, your post has stimulated some discussion and also brought to light similar problems which others have had. Would be interesting to know just how many steerers are failing like this.

ahwiles has mentioned that that his star fangled nut was the culprit in his case. Sounds highly likely. Overtightening of these can put an indent into the inside of the steerer, this can serve as a crack initiation point and lead to this type of failure.

dday, the fork manufacturer said these need to be serviced annually, its the steerer tube ffs, what exactly do you service on a steerer tube. My belief is that the steerer simply failed. Its worth a check of the steerer every now and then IMO.

I could post the picture of my face but people will have just had lunch.