Had a scary near miss
Fennixxi
Posts: 2
I had just bought a new bike recently, and before I had even went out on it - had paid someone to check it over to make sure it was safe and everything was tightened securely (since it is my first bike since I was a child). I rode it after for about 30 minutes, and everything seemed okay at first.
But this morning I was leaving for work, and as I went around the corner, the steering started to go wobbly and I couldn't control it, and I fell onto the road, in front of a bus. Luckily I was not injured and the driver had seen me, stopped the bus and checked I was okay but I think I went into shock. I noticed the stem had came out of my bike. I was just starting to gain some confidence with using my bike on the road, and this has really shook me up.
The person who checked it over originally came round to check it after I contacted him, and told me that this had never happened before, and that he couldn't explain why it had happened since he'd screwed it tight. I just feel scared of riding it again now, I was so worried about falling on my bike and now it has happened and I don't even understand why. If I knew it was my fault, at least I'd know how to make sure it doesn't happen again, but when I don't know what went wrong, I feel so unsafe at the thought of riding it again. There were some items in the basket, but not many or that heavy, surely that wouldn't have caused this?
I really don't know how I can build up the confidence to ride it again, when I'll be fearing that it'll fall apart again.
I really was enjoying riding my bike until this happened.
But this morning I was leaving for work, and as I went around the corner, the steering started to go wobbly and I couldn't control it, and I fell onto the road, in front of a bus. Luckily I was not injured and the driver had seen me, stopped the bus and checked I was okay but I think I went into shock. I noticed the stem had came out of my bike. I was just starting to gain some confidence with using my bike on the road, and this has really shook me up.
The person who checked it over originally came round to check it after I contacted him, and told me that this had never happened before, and that he couldn't explain why it had happened since he'd screwed it tight. I just feel scared of riding it again now, I was so worried about falling on my bike and now it has happened and I don't even understand why. If I knew it was my fault, at least I'd know how to make sure it doesn't happen again, but when I don't know what went wrong, I feel so unsafe at the thought of riding it again. There were some items in the basket, but not many or that heavy, surely that wouldn't have caused this?
I really don't know how I can build up the confidence to ride it again, when I'll be fearing that it'll fall apart again.
I really was enjoying riding my bike until this happened. 0
Comments
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I feel for you - something like that can really shake your confidence. And you do need to keep riding - it is just too good a thing to miss out upon.
How long after purchase did this happen? And what was your relationship to the guy who checked it over?
I would be straight back to the Bike Shop where I bought it. You have a contract with them and one of the major sections is a warranty (from the Bike Shop - ignore it if they say the manufacturer does not cover this; you have a sles contract with the bike shop that the law protects whether they like it or not) that the bike is fit for purpose and from your account it clearly wasn't / isn't. This warranty lasts for years (6 in Eng Wal NI and 5 in Scot) - but is easier to use sometimes if it is a short time from purchase.
Maybe take some pictures and post so the members know what has happened - there are some real experts around here. When did you buy (exact dates as law is in flux at present)? When did this happen? Have you spoken to Bike shop?0 -
Either it wasn't screwed in properly, a bolt was missing altogether or a bolt snapped (the latter being quite unlikely unless it was snapped when being tightened).
It's not something that should happen - there are far bigger things than your bike that rely on bolts and rivets that never fail.0 -
You don't state who it was who you paid to check it - was it actually a bike shop / bike mechanic?
In all likelihood they didn't do the assembly check properly and the bike itself was not at fault.0 -
I've had a similar thing happen where the bars have come loose from the stem. Tightened up as tight as they would go and they still came loose. Some Loctite sorted it.pastryboy wrote:Either it wasn't screwed in properly, a bolt was missing altogether or a bolt snapped (the latter being quite unlikely unless it was snapped when being tightened).
It's not something that should happen - there are far bigger things than your bike that rely on bolts and rivets that never fail.
I've got different bars/stem now with no Loctite and not had a problem. The top pivot bolt on my FS MTB kept coming loose no matter how tight I did it up. Again, Loctite sorted it out.
It seems to be one of those things that sometimes happens. We find the same problem with steel buildings supporting cranes at work (but sometimes it's not a problem).
TLDR: Loctite0
