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Carrera vengenace saddle snapped

Carrera74Carrera74 Posts: 3
edited November 2018 in Commuting general
I bought a Carrera Vengenance bike from Halfords just over 12 months ago. Whilst this bike has been brilliant with no problems I have however been involved in a serious accident very recently as the saddle bolt snapped in half through the thred in mid cycle. I ended up in the hospital with a dislocated foot, 2 breaks to my ankle and a broken leg. It is very clear there is some sort of design fault here, i am only 13 stone and the bike is used about 3 miles a day to work and back! If anyone else has had something similar or heard of this I would appreciate a response as I am currently taking legal action against Halfords in the hope this sort of accident does not happen again.

Posts

  • supersonicsupersonic Posts: 82,708 Lives Here
    Sorry to hear about your injuries. How often did you check the bolt for torque and condition? This is part of the seat post mechanism by the way, not the saddle, and something that needs checking periodically.
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  • Carrera74Carrera74 Posts: 3
    supersonic wrote:
    Sorry to hear about your injuries. How often did you check the bolt for torque and condition? This is part of the seat post mechanism by the way, not the saddle, and something that needs checking periodically.

    I hadn't once checked the bolt, wasn't advised too and this is nota serviceable part either. As bike isn't used for off road or major biking surely post mechanism should be more secure, 1 bolt isn't vey secure if it does go wrong.
  • supersonicsupersonic Posts: 82,708 Lives Here
    Most manuals advise to check bolts periodically, and to keep parts clean and maintained. Bolts are serviceable in the way they can be cleaned and greased - dirt from the back wheel can get into the mechanism, corroding it. I check my saddle/seatpost bolts at least once a week as the last thing I want is the saddle coming off mid ride.

    Another thing is that you are out of warranty, which may or may not have an effect if you proceed.
    GT ZASKAR CARBON TEAM

    VOODOO CANZO

    Come and see me at https://www.facebook.com/biketyke/
  • gentlegreengentlegreen Posts: 23
    Very sorry to hear of your nasty accident and very bad luck indeed and a handy reminder of what can happen.

    One of the two bolts on my Rockshox suspension post failed on the way home after many thousands of miles, then a year later the alloy clamp itself failed - luckily in both cases I stayed on the bike - I should have been prepared for the second incident because the saddle had been creaking as I hoiked the bike over the door sill on a daily basis.

    The rail on a cheap saddle recently failed on me after only a couple of years on the bike - yet again I failed to take note of the creaking. :oops:

    This has made me wonder if I should improvise an emergency secondary clamp seeing as my new one has only one bolt ... especially since I weigh over 18 stone.

    (The one component failure that put me on the road and came very close to seriously injuring me was my steel steerer rusting through after 9 years and 17,000 miles of daily commuting and being too timid to service that part of the bike - I now periodically treat the replacement with WD40 and have a loose plug in the bottom...)
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  • Robabilly1950Robabilly1950 Posts: 2
    I too recently purchased the carrera crossfire electric bike. And twice the saddle bolts just snapped cycling home. I returned the bike to halfords. Charlton. And got my money back so gutted because the bike was a really good bike made uphill journeys easy thinking it is a design fault with the weight of bike. Etc I'm only about 13 stone hope your recovering from your accident well thank Rob
  • cooldadcooldad Posts: 32,599
    After 6 years he's either recovered or dead. As he hasn't logged in since posting, who knows. Or cares, really.
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  • Robabilly1950Robabilly1950 Posts: 2
    Sorry didn't notice the date that is a long time
  • slowbikeslowbike Posts: 8,498
    Robabilly1950 wrote:
    I too recently purchased the carrera crossfire electric bike. And twice the saddle bolts just snapped cycling home. I returned the bike to halfords. Charlton. And got my money back so gutted because the bike was a really good bike made uphill journeys easy thinking it is a design fault with the weight of bike. Etc I'm only about 13 stone hope your recovering from your accident well thank Rob

    Seems a bit drastic - ditching the whole bike for the sake of a seatpost/saddleclamp/saddle fault?

    The issue could've been exacerbated if regularly lifting the whole bike by the saddle too ..
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