Concerning frame toughness; Why today I took a spill on the atlantis (the first accident in a very long time). I was doing about 25mph by my guess, crossing a bridge around 7am. It's early in my commute, and I wasn't really paying attention in the dark morning light. Turns out we had a healthy amount of moisture last night, and that combined with temps in the low 20s subsequently covered the whole bridge with a layer of ice. Usually I don't have to be in so early, so I was totally surprised to have it suddenly be this bad and was barely awake at that point anyway. Well, down went the atlantis and myself. My helmet broke in two, and I slid for nearly the entire length of bridge. First time I've broken a helmet--I took the brunt of the impact on the side of my head. The body is fine, I was completely covered in cold weather wear and slide freely on the ice. The Atlantis seems to be well too--I spent a few minutes rotating the stem back into alignment (it had twisted about 90 degrees), remounting the chain, and bending the metal fenders away from the wheels. It bounced down the bridge with me. I'm going to pull the fork tonight, to make sure I didn't bend it, but it spins like new in the headset--I can't see any bend either, but it's worth checking out (anyone want to share tips for inspecting for possible frame damage like that?). Rode the last 10 miles in, and didn't feel anything to be wrong (once my dizzy head began to clear out anyway, at first I figured the alignment was totally messed up).
I'm glad I didn't seem to have hurt myself. The bike is a tank. Thanks Rivendell, erik On Mon, Nov 24, 2008 at 1:13 PM, J. Burkhalter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Great story Mike, you dropout crusher you. Glad you're okay, and I'm > glad you were on a Riv when that happened. > > All this got me thinking about Yehuda Moon. I bet he keeps plenty of > hose clamps and assorted metal sleeves in his saddlebag! > http://www.yehudamoon.com/index.php?date=2008-03-17 > > On Nov 23, 5:23 pm, Mike <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I headed out on my Ram today after making some changes to it earlier > > in the week. The changes being trading out the 32 Pasela's for Ruffy > > Tuffys, putting on cloth bar tape and stripping away the heavy seat > > bags for a burrito wrap. Since getting the bike last year I had only > > ever run Pasela's on it and pretty much always had fenders and some > > kind of saddlebag. Since I now also have an AHH I wanted to make the > > Rambouillet a little racier. > > > > I headed out and the ride certainly felt different but the bike > > remained comfortable. The tires seemed to make a huge difference in at > > least feeling fast and their design inspires more cornering confidence > > than the Paselas. > > > > I was pedaling along thinking about all this, and some other cycling > > related things, when the bike started to make a weird noise. I checked > > the cranks and BB but everything seemed find. I got back on it, rode a > > short distance (25ft or so) and the noise persisted along with a > > feeling of springyness. I thought maybe I had broken a spoke. As I was > > checking I noticed that my chainstay was broken all the way through. > > It could easily be pulled apart. The bike certainly couldn't handle my > > 190lbs. Of course this was like the one ride I didn't bring my phone > > on. Some cyclist stopped when they noticed me walking my bike along > > Skyline. I was able to borrow a phone and leave a message for my wife > > but was pretty much stuck walking home, a good 10 to 12 miles > > including down a 4 mile descent. I did not trust the bike to even be > > able to safely coast down the descent. > > > > As I was walking along one of the cyclist returned on his scooter with > > some pipe clamps and some metal sleeves. These were used to support > > the stay so that I could pedal home. It worked great. Because I use > > Silver shifters (friction) I was even able to get clean shifts as I > > pedaled home. > > > > Check out the fix: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/3054058334/in/set-721576098... > > > > And the crack: > http://www.flickr.com/photos/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/3054058864/in/set-721576098... > > > > I've sent an email to Grant and will contact RBW tomorrow about how to > > warranty the bike. I feel confident that RBW will take responsibility > > and address the issue. I am bummed that my ride was cut short and > > bummed that a bike that has brought me so much happiness has had this > > happen. It hasn't been crashed or used to jump garbage cans. It did > > sustain a ding to the top tube a month after I bought it but that > > would have no bearing on what happened today. > > > > I related all this not to belittle Rivendell, it's just one of those > > things that happened, but because it was so great that with a simple > > fix I was able to ride home. And how great is that that a stranger > > came and found me to assist me. And how about friction shifting? If I > > had STI or Ergo shifters I'll be it would have been off because the > > rear wheel was out of alignment with the frame. > > > > Luckily I have a new AHH in the basement which I love but I was really > > excited about my Rambouillet today as I started my ride. It felt like > > a whole new bike. > > > > One other thing. I was one of those people who was critical of the > > Betty Foy headbadge. Grant wished a pox upon us. Look what happened! > > > > --mike > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
