63
How is this damaged aluminium frame likely to fail?
Sorry. It's not going to fail, it has failed. It's no longer ridable. The head tube is near vertical making the steering very unstable and the front wheel has been pushed back and will overlap with your toes. The frame tubes are not dented they are buckled and severely weakened. If you ride it the frame ...
39
To taco a wheel means you've bent it so badly its a write-off and cannot be salvaged through truing.
This is significantly worse than going out of true, because the rim will be creased or torn, spoke holes will be pulled through on the outside of the taco curve. A damaged rim alone is not a taco, there has to be a folded wheel to earn the title.
...
36
The bike will be fine -- the riding conditions are within the specifications of the bike components.
The bigger issue is you -- you don't want to end up damaging joints and what not by overexerting yourself.
34
Warranties exist to protect you, the consumer, against defects in materials or workmanship, not against deliberate damage. The purpose of a bike lock is to help avoid your bike being stolen, so if it has prevented a theft of the bicycle then it has done its job well.
Perhaps you can ask Decathlon and report back to us by answering your own question for ...
30
It seems that this dent belongs in the bike.
Here is a photo of a similar bike. While image is of low quality, the dent is visible:
However, as pointed out by Lamar Latrell in comments, in your second photo the weld to the headtube has a dark spot in it. I cannot tell from the photo, but you or your bike mechanic should check if it is a damage in the weld ...
24
Of course things rust in normal use. Still, rust without moving is worse, as things stick together.
Even if the chain is generously oiled (more so than normal) before storage you'll get rust and probably stiff links. Any gears made out of normal steel will also rust. (A light coating of spray oil will reduce but not stop this. I use GT85 on my outdoor bike;...
21
If it is damage then no one here can say for sure how it happened.
However, it's in the realm of impossible-ish for a dent that severe to happen without paint damage or a clear mark in the paint from whatever did it. It sure looks like it's there intentionally to buy clearance for the steering mast when folded. If folding the bike up corroborates this, ...
20
A very strong rider will put a lot of strain on the bike doing that. Wear on the sprockets will be slightly increased by grinding a small sprocket, but that's not a big deal. What's more significant is that if a part is going to fail (or a worn part is going to skip), it will fail when under high load. A friend of mine has snapped several chains on the ...
18
If you carry a multi-tool which happens to include a chain tool, you could also convert your bike to a single speed. If you do so, you would have to replace the chain afterwards as well (since you shorten it) but in some situations it could get you out of a rural area.
If you do so, carefully select the gear you would put it in, as you won't be able to ...
17
Some locks offer "insurance" where you can get a payout if their lock fails to protect your bike.
Of course there are caveats like "lock must be used" and "thief must leave lock behind" (for inspection for weakness) and so on, and even "lock must be registered with company"
The only places that can tell you details would be the supplier and the ...
17
Two things could happen:
You pump up the tube, and after a while, the side of the tire yields. Usually when you´re sitting on the bike, because that increases the pressure a bit more. Looks like it has the plague or something, develops a well visible bulb. The bulb grows, and after a few moments or minutes poof (or bang if it´s a racing tire at 8 bars) you´...
17
Oh, that frame is done. It’s not worth saving a few hundred bucks now and spending thousands in the hospital later.
Make sure to check over the rest of the bike, especially the fork. It might have cracked from the impact.
16
I think you'll find that the handlebar 'stem' folds to the left, and will line up with the dent when folded.
If the dent is not supposed to be there, my best guess is that the handlebar was folded then, pressed into the frame, perhaps be the wheel and fork being forcibly turned to the left.
The dent just does not look like it's accidental. There are no ...
15
The brake pivot broke off the frame in a very unusual way. A framebuilder may be able to contrive a pretty cheap way of fixing it by putting a new pivot stud in. This would still require removing the paint in the area, but it wouldn't necessarily be that bad.
Minimum prices for framebuilders to even get into repair j jobs are typically in the $100-200 range ...
14
You'll need to very carefully inspect the area around the boss that's been ripped out, as well as your usual second hand frame check. If the bike was ridden after the damage cracks could easily have spread and you might be well on the way to a two piece seat tube. This groove could be the start of a problem, but it's probably just a scar from where the cage ...
13
That's just a light scratch. No issues.
if you are worried that the carbon-fiber composite has been damaged by an impact or scratch, the abrasion is far too shallow for that. It has not even penetrated through the paint.
It's not a crack because cracks do no start in the middle of frame tubes, they propagate from edges or holes.
13
The problem with aluminum is, that it tends to break abruptly. Aluminum can bend under pressure, but it does no stretch significantly under tension before being ripped apart. You get no warning, you simply get a tube or two breaking apart. In this, aluminum behaves much worse than steel which is known for plastic deformation under tension, long before ...
12
Another suggestion: Scooter it.
The bike is functional but the drive train cannot transmit power.
So one solution is to scooter along with one foot on the opposite pedal, and your other foot pushing directly on the ground. This can be uncomfortable, so rotating your saddle ~30 degrees to the opposite side from where you're standing can give your hip ...
12
It still doesn't hurt to contact the manufacturer, but do not talk to as if they owe you anything.
Do an open inquiry and see if there's anything they can do.
Companies can actually do things out of the ordinary and isn't only bound by warranties. Maybe they'll want your lock back to examine how it survived a theft and give you a replacement.
12
A lifetime frame warranty may not require that you have the receipt.
Take it to a Trek dealer and see what they say.
Several of the shops I worked at did frame warranty work with no receipt.
11
Batteries, especially most types of rechargeables don't work well in cold conditions. The chemical reaction that powers the electric voltage does needs some temperature to perform as intended. If you then have a consumer load that requires a bigger amount of power, they tend to drain rather quickly since they cannot set free much energy when cold.
You could ...
11
There are two reasons why it might not work:
The batteries don't like the cold. Many battery chemistries don't like the cold -- notably alkaline, manganese (heavy-duty), and NiMH/NiCad batteries. To test this hypothesis, put your light (or even just the batteries) in your freezer. If your light gets weaker the colder it gets, this is your problem (...
11
A friend of mine broke a crank (the "arm" of the pedal) in the Alps, so yes, parts can fail under load. It's not always the case that cheap parts fail earlier; sometimes they are actually sturdier: she would likely not have broken a cheap steel crank. Besides, I wouldn't be very concerned about my cheap parts to begin with. (I would be concerned about my ...
11
Most rechargeable batteries have a certain voltage threshold below which they will get permanently damaged. Li-ion cells should never drop below 3.0V (slightly higher at 3.2V for LiPo). Smart batteries have integrated systems monitoring remaining voltage and will have a way to at least tell you they're getting too low.
In your case, it seems the system has ...
11
You need to consult in person with someone local to you who can make a qualified recommendation.
"It is Steel so can be welded" is mostly true, but there are always exceptions. A good welder will give you their professional advice. Don't bother asking someone with a stick welder in their garage.
I've personally just got a quote on welding a crack in a ...
11
It's difficult to tell from this picture, but it looks like the casing—the structural part of the tire—has been damaged, so it's just a matter of time before the tire fails completely.
Look at the inside of the tire. If the damage has penetrated all the way through, I would stop riding on that tire. If it hasn't, you might be able to get away with gluing in ...
10
CFC frames are not as fragile as many people seem to think they are. If you got a heavy jolt but didn't feel like you were going to be thrown off the frame is probably fine. I'd be more immediately concerned about the wheels than the frame, and that may be the source of the rattle.
You can examine the frame closely looking for cracks. If it's dirty clean it ...
10
The grooves/enlargement shown at the hub are all normal.
The path to a wheel that doesn't break spokes is use premium quality spokes (DT, Sapim, and Wheelsmith are the usual poster children), set their line properly at the rim and hub, and stress relieve them properly during building. Fatigue breakages are almost universally the result of one or more of ...
9
The first question is "is the handlebar actually bent?". Brake levers/shifters are just clamped onto the bar, and the clamp may have just slipped. It's not clear from the angle of the picture that the bar may be fine but the clamp on the brifter slipped. You can peel back the hood (back to front) and adjust the clamp if this is the case).
If it is ...
9
For similar fine tasks, silk inner gloves are ideal. They are very thin but add a noticeable amount of warmth. Their real benefit comes when you remove the outer gloves and have essentially bare hand dexterity with some insulation. Then you just have to get your timing right to minimise the amount of time your outer gloves are off.
Some people use latex or ...
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