Worst non-collision induced mechanical failure on a commute?

jonginge

Probably the most hear-stopping was when a brake cable snapped whilst going down a steep hill...

I've also had a seat-tube shear through just above the bottom bracket.

shouldbeinbed

the odd cable has pinged on me but never at a drastic moment and I've had the pin on my frog leg brake levers work itself out but spotted it before pulling on them.

a bunch of spokes let go not long back and I was very lucky to stay upright.

I've had a spd pedal snap off on me & the sharp stump left in the crank gashed my leg as it came round again as I was in mid fall, - I don't recommend trying to stand up on a clipped on pedal on wet tarmac either, I fell over again after disentangling myself from the bike.

my birdy seatpost is now braced with a through bolt as it constantly slips. I've replaced the inner clamps but no joy, LBS cant find anything wrong but in 5 miles I can be riding with my knees going past my ears.

Stupidity related one as a kid. I had one of those yellow horn/loudspeaker things with a CB style corded handset which shook loose whilst whizzing down a hill and into the spokes. I crashed with mangled fingers as instinctively I made a grab for it as it fell.

Kieran_Burns

SickAsAParrot wrote:

Saddle bolt snapped causing me to fall over the back of the bike, had to ride last 2 miles home uphill with no saddle and covered with blood/grit.

A saddle bolt snapped and you were covered in blood and wha...???

Oh! GRIT!

Sorrysorrysorry. I thought I stumbled on one them dirty sites...

jomoj

Seat tube sheared in half on my old steel Bridgestone MB3. I didn't realise what was going on, just that the bike felt mysteriously spongy and made a clicking noise in time with pedalling. Only realised once at work but bandaged it with some gaffer tape (what else?) and rode it home later.

vorsprung

When I used to ride single speed a couple of times on a very cold morning ( and once in the evening) the rear freehub froze up so the pawls did not engage

So pedalling had no effect

Similar coldness doesn't affect the Alfine in the same way but sometimes the gear change freezes up. This isn't quite so bad however.

AidanR

Hmm, I've had a few (though not all whilst commuting).

Chain snapped when on tour in the middle of nowhere (never been so glad to have a chain tool on me in my life).

Rear mech went into the spokes causing me to screech to a halt conveniently in the middle of a roundabout.

Front brake cable snapped on my singlespeed going down a hill by a canal. No rear brake (utter stupidity) so had to ditch it into a wall and nearly ended up going into the canal head-first. Wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the 9 highly amused girls in a rowing boat that I was coaching at the time...

Crank arm fell off at the end of one of my tours (didn't think to check the bolts regularly... error!) which led to a pretty long walk.

The scariest by a long way was when a bolt snapped in a two-bolt stem going down a steep and very busy hill and my handlebars fell away from me. I honestly thought I was going to get quite badly hurt but managed to get it back under control. Needless to say I only ever use four-bolt stems now.

pastryboy

vorsprung wrote:

When I used to ride single speed a couple of times on a very cold morning ( and once in the evening) the rear freehub froze up so the pawls did not engage

So pedalling had no effect
.

I had that happen a couple of times with cassettes (on different bikes). It was one of the reasons I switched to fixed.

condorman

Seat post failing, rim failing and blowing (just after having come down Sydenham Hill!), handlebars snapping and couple of weeks ago top of steerer tube sheered off resulting in face plant. Other than that - nothing really.

16mm

UndercoverElephant wrote:

Less than two weeks ago...

Thats a nasty bit of cable rub!

walkingbootweather

Lost a screw from one of my spd cleats the other day, which resulted in the cleat twisting and not dis-engaging. Comedy moment ensues as I try to remove my shoes without falling over while still clipped in. Then it dawns on me I could have just unclipped the other foot first - it just doesn't come natural to do it that way around.

redvee

walkingbootweather wrote:

Then it dawns on me I could have just unclipped the other foot first - it just doesn't come natural to do it that way around.