Downward spiral?

oddy74

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/generaln ... payout.php :?: :?:

supersonic

I think this has been mentioned before on the forum. IIRC, the overall consensus was that bars should be checked regularly, and replaced every two years.

cunning-stunt

The judge said there were only two possible causes for the accident.
He said either Mr Ide lost control and crashed, or the handlebar was defective.

Or the silly bugger did a 10 foot drop.

I hate seeing this sort of thing.
I choose to ride and push my limits and gear,and accept all associated risks.
If something breaks I accept I was probably pushing it beyond its limits,if I break it's my own sodding fault.
What's next? Fall off on a bridleway and sue the council because it was 'too rough'?
Sue DMR next time you get pedal slash from your V12s?

In this current era of H&S stupidity,the last thing we need is people sueing manufacturers on the offchance of getting a payday.

If you ride,accept the risks and responsibility IMO.

god1406

"The company said it was just as likely the handlebar had sheered off when it struck the ground, or Mr Ide's body when he fell"

ha. that sounds likely

ride_whenever

"showed the left handlebar had fractured and sheered off."

So who has a left and right handlebar?

I don't think we have the full story, they could be liable if they had failed to check for stem burrs when assembling and over-torqued the bolts causing a weak spot for a fracture.

Although definitely H&S madness.

oddy74

cunning-stunt wrote:

I hate seeing this sort of thing.
I choose to ride and push my limits and gear,and accept all associated risks.
If something breaks I accept I was probably pushing it beyond its limits,if I break it's my own sodding fault.
What's next? Fall off on a bridleway and sue the council because it was 'too rough'?
Sue DMR next time you get pedal slash from your V12s?

In this current era of H&S stupidity,the last thing we need is people sueing manufacturers on the offchance of getting a payday.

If you ride,accept the risks and responsibility IMO.

This is exactly what I thought when I read it.
Why is it always someone elses fault? Who is to say this gentleman hadn't adjusted his bars and overtightened the stem bolts? Or did he have the correct tyre choice for the conditions? Admittedly the south downs isn't exactly Whistler but when the chalk is wet you may as well cycle on ice!
H&S gone mad.
I believe we all know and respect the risks of our chosen sports and pastimes and should take some responsibility for ourselves.

Jimbob_no5

was it the right handlebar for what he was doing? if he fell and landed on the bar then it was probably his fault that it broke, what it doesn't mention is how much sheered off

Nick Dastardly

I snapped a handlebar once. Was doing my paper round (years ago!) and pulling away from traffic lights the left hand side just came away in my hand. Dread to think what could've happened if I was landing a jump or something. Did I run off and blame the shop I bought the bars from? No, I'm sensible enough to know that things break after prolonged use and I was lucky that it happened on the road and not doing something daft.

There's so much wrong with this country these days. Viva la revolucion!

toasty

It's a stupid case in that he blatently just fell off and blamed the bars I agree.

Just to even out the argument a bit though, it's exactly this sort of court case that keeps manufacturers on their toes with quality control. The trend has always been shaving off as much weight as possible, if companies were free to do this without risk of backlash we'd be in a stupid state now.

Why have you instantly assumed he's over torqued his bolts and jumped off huge drops? Assuming it's gone through court and he's won I'd assume it was a manufacturing defect or at least a possible weakness. Potential lawsuits are the only reason companies do voluntary withdrawals and replacements.

Take some Cannondale Lefty forks last year for example:

The notified product poses a serious risk of injuries due to a possible failure of a fork.

Cannondale has received 15 reports of the bicycle forks separating, including five reports of injuries including a broken collarbone, broken ribs and bruises. All accidents were reported in the US. So far, no accidents reported in Europe.

These were all withdrawn sharpish.

The handlebars thing is obviously an extreme case, hence being raised like this. This sort of thing isn't rare though and needs highlighting to avoid the "no, sorry we've never heard of that happening before" syndrome.

Besides, I don't think Marin are going to lose any sleep really are they. This is nothing like the "no win, no fee", I fell over on the wet floor at work tosh you see a lot of now.

bikeperson45

Very conviniant, he can't remember...

cunning-stunt

Toasty wrote:

Why have you instantly assumed he's over torqued his bolts and jumped off huge drops? Assuming it's gone through court and he's won I'd assume it was a manufacturing defect

Why are you assuming he hasn't?
Who's to say the judge had any mountain biking experience?
Conveniently,the (supposed) lack of memory secured the deal.
There are people out there (here??) you could convince that the Forth bridge is made of lead.


The day mountain bikers start claiming off everyone for offs is a bad day indeed.
Who owns the land most of the trail centres are on?
Forestry Commision right?
Get a dozen idiots claim off them for crashes and win and all of a sudden trail centres aren't the good thing they were made out to be.

If you're a biker and you fall,it's your own bloody fault IMO.You knew the risks and accepted them as soon as you rode.

If you are one of these people who claim,please tell me so I can abuse you and belittle you in front of everyone.

DarkStarr

either way im off to buy a new bar

Anonymous

This is insane, I agree that if you fall off it's your fault. You should also accept that componentry will fail in use at some point.

stumpyjon

Yep, quite agree - the manufacturer / retailer should only be liable when it can be very clearly proved to be their fault, either obvious evidence of a defect or a item was blatently sold as being capable of something it was, e.g. an XC bike sold for jumping.

They have so little control over how a bike part is used, how it is maintained and even then if you crash it's likely you'll exceed the loads the component is designed to cope with. This shouldn't let the manufacturers off the hook for shoddy quality control or design, but they shouldn't get hammered everytime someone does something stupid (or even has a genuine accident - in mountain biking it happens).

I'm mored worried about the Trail centres / access rights over this sort of claim culture though, the manufacturers will probably tuff things out (it's their core business after all) but for the land owners and Trail Centres they may just decide to give up if people start sueing them over accidents.

supersonic

The judge states very clearly:

"either Mr Ide lost control and crashed, or the handlebar was defective."

either/or

Therefore is he really "entitled to conclude that ATB Sales was liable"?

Absolutely not. No evidence to support the plaintiff.

clarkson

to be honest, it was probably his fault he crashed anyway. too fast, not concentrating, too cocky or whatever. these things happen, and as a mountain biker you should expect to have an off every now an then. handlebars also break sometimes when peopole crash; i dont see why this wally is claiming and blaming. it just goes to show what a sad state of affairs this 'blame society' is in.

cunning-stunt

I could fall off tomorrow and smash my bar intentionally with a big metal rod to claim a fast buck.
I hate this...if you ride you know the risks,both from terrain and what your gear can handle IMO.

Before you know it,mountain bikes will be sold with stabilisers thanks to Lembits like the dude in question :evil:

schmako

What greedy bawbag would do that. Shouldn't ride mtb's if they're going to do that anyway.