My Pedal Cranks Came Off In Traffic!

Anonymous
Anonymous Posts: 79,667
edited August 2008 in MTB general
Well last night I was cycling home and came to a round a bout... pulling out,,1 pedal,, 2 pedals, 3 pedals, CRUNCH... the left pedal crank (my push foot) came clean out of the socket... nearly feel off my bike... had to rescue it from busy traffic! Nearly got run over!

Now this is a little tale of woe isn't it.. however when I got it home and promptly took it to the HALFORDS store I picked it up from not a week ago, the guy was very very very appologetic...basically the bolt in the middle had been chewed and the secondary safety nut which is supposed to hold it in place came off also... Is this a small percentage?

Mine is a Boardman Comp 08 edition......anyone else has anything like this happen? I mean was it them or just a manufacturer error that is 1% chance of happening.

They guy fixed it up, tested really well, gave me a free toolkit.. and I will be getting the new boardman Comp 09 bike in 6 weeks as a straight swap, so at least I will have something to ride in our 2 days of summer. :)

Anyone else had this sort of near death experience?

peace

GmanUK101

Comments

  • dirtbiker100
    dirtbiker100 Posts: 1,997
    ha ha ha oh dear I read the subject and thought "I'll make a funny reply about whether it had been bought at hellfrauds recently" ah. it was.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    ha ha ha oh dear I read the subject and thought "I'll make a funny reply about whether it had been bought at hellfrauds recently" ah. it was.

    you mean you've had this sort of thing happen to you or anyone you know.. I mean it's funny now.. but staring down the bonnet of a BMW Mini wasn't great at the time :)
  • dirtbiker100
    dirtbiker100 Posts: 1,997
    I'd have thought that about once every week maybe? I read a thread where someone has had a bike from halfords fall apart on them and something told me this was going to be this weeks treasure :)
    If I ever come across someone who has bought a bike from a halford I shall very stongly recommend that they check *all* nuts bolts etc are done up and secure. It happens far too much i swear.
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    Sounds pants. Snapped a rear wheel shimano XT spindle once, while pullin onto a major roundabout in rush hour - almost made the news. In fairness the wheel /spindle was 13 years old! More recently my crank came off on an off road descent, just after it had been into my LBS to have a bashguard fitted. No injuries again.

    I would certainly check over the rest of the bike. Thing is with Halfords that some staff are good, other's aren't - there is a lack of consistency. But in fairness I've had problems with small local bike shops too, as described above.
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    man that sucks... although that number of years is quite good going... going to go over bike with a fine tooth spanner..

    also i've noticed the good guys in Halford bike hut wear the halfords clothes and the monkeys wear the Brittsh Mountain bike team racing tops...no consistency as you say.
  • papasmurf.
    papasmurf. Posts: 2,382
    Are they Truvativ cranks on the boardmans?
  • cool.hwhip
    cool.hwhip Posts: 24
    This didnt happen to me, but rather an old friend so i can laugh heartily, but would probably have been terrifying for him.

    Back in my days of being a boy scout (it was only about 7 years ago but still) we all went out on a bike ride to the local woods. We were going downhill when we heard a high pitched wail come from behind us. We looked behind and somehow (i still wonder how this happened) he had managed to separate his handlebar and stem from the headset. So he went flying past us with his hands - still gripping above his handlebars - above his head screaming. I would have hated this to have happened to me, still would, cant really think of something much worse happening on a bike. Luckily (and we dont know how) but he had the sense to pull the brake levers and slow down before hitting the deck at quite a 'safe' speed. He was find and the bike was fixed and he carried on.

    Another great story is when my friend was trying to show off to some girls, popped a wheelie and, due the fact he hadnt checked his bike before he left, forgot he hadnt tightened his front wheel properly which subsequently rolled casually down the road. After the forks returned to earth he just completely ate warm tarmac. Oh, and looked like a complete moron, causing the girls to hide a cheeky laugh. Good times.

    Just thought i would share
  • dunker
    dunker Posts: 1,503
    i'm wandering if the box halfords receive from boardman has the crank arms already attached? usually they are ar'nt they? if that's the case it's maybe boardmans fault and not halfords? though it does'nt take 2 minutes to check torques on crank bolts does it, something halfords bike mechanics could do easily before selling the bikes.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    papasmurf. wrote:
    Are they Truvativ cranks on the boardmans?

    Yeah that's the fellas
  • heez29
    heez29 Posts: 612
    dunker wrote:
    i'm wandering if the box halfords receive from boardman has the crank arms already attached? usually they are ar'nt they? if that's the case it's maybe boardmans fault and not halfords? though it does'nt take 2 minutes to check torques on crank bolts does it, something halfords bike mechanics could do easily before selling the bikes.

    Yeh they come on, but all crank bolts should be tightened! hell i do it. (im a halfords employee)
  • supersonic
    supersonic Posts: 82,708
    Pedals and cranks fall off because they have not been torqued correctly. Check them periodically.
  • redvee
    redvee Posts: 11,922
    Broke a chain on major roundabout as I was pulling away and ended up on the deck on front of the traffic. Took refuge on the roundabout and composed myself and then had to walk 1.5 miles to the LBS who allowed me to use their chain tool as the nearest LBS wouldn't :x
    I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.
  • lost-time
    lost-time Posts: 549
    papasmurf. wrote:
    Are they Truvativ cranks on the boardmans?

    I've had this problem with two different bikes.
    1st was with my old Trek Remedy...went to LBS for new BB as I was working and it was easier for them to do it for me whilst I was at work. That very night the left crank arm came off in the woods...they replced it but it has worked loose nearly every ride since even if torqued...I don't ride that bike now so I never got round to putting lovely XT cranks with the two allen key bolts on it.
    2nd bike was when I upgraded the Meta to XT and put the RaceFace (similar type of fitting to the truvativ) cranks on the 456. Low and behold they worked loose on the 456 so guess what...? Yep some LX cranks with the same fitting as the XT were soon on it instead.
    I would NEVER have that truvativ/RaceFace style of crank again.
  • stumpyjon
    stumpyjon Posts: 4,069
    My daughters pedal fell off her tag along in the middle of Delamere forest, she's only 4 and got quite upset. I was grumbling to myself about Edingburgh Cycle Coop as we searched in the undergrowth for the pedal until I remember I'd assembled it :oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:
    It's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission.

    I've bought a new bike....ouch - result
    Can I buy a new bike?...No - no result
  • I have truvativs and this also happened to me, last friday, had a real stinker of a day at work, jumped on the bike to cycle the 8 miles home and about 15 mins into my journey my peddaling felt not quite right, looked down and off came my pedal crank and just as that happened it began to rain...I didnt know whether to laugh or cry given the day I had just had...so off I set along the canal where I evetually came to a farm house which luckily enough has a garage on site..in I went to ask if they could stick it back on for me...they done it no probs and off I went...

    lessons learned I learned..

    check things are on properley more often and correctley tightened and have the correct tools with you - you may not use them for 8 months but that 1 time you do makes it worthwhile...
    I am a newbie to this but learning more and more each week...