[HardtailHack]

I was wondering how many parts and how much money I have done in parts in the last four or so years when my riding started getting a bit more agressive.

Here we go-

Intense Tazer HT Cracked at seat tube top tube junction
Corsair Maelstrom Cracked on bottom of seat tube, may have been like that since new
On-One 456 Bent frame and cracked on chain stay
Syncros DS28 Taco'd on a front wheel landing
Pace Fighter Cracked at bond
Manitou Black punched the bush out of location
Kowa 160ss Three steerers loose in crowns
Controltech House carbon bar cracked at clamp area
Pro Vanderham bars Bent when forks bottomed
Atomlab Cr-Mo bars Bent two sets, one bent checking for travel the other bent upwards while pedalling
Middleburn cranks Bent two sets, they are ****!
Race FaceAltas XC cranks Bent while riding XC on my DH bike.
DMR Ex Type cranks bent
Dark Cycles Arachnid pedals Bent axle
Burgtec Penthouse MkIII Snapped axle
Magura Julie Brake Caliper Snapped mounts
Saddles X3 at least bent or broken rails
.243 Seat Post Snapped Two head mounting thingies
FSA CR-MO Headset Cracked 3/4 of the way around the lower cup
Hope 150mm Axles Snapped two
Maxle Bent when Hope axle snapped
Deore Cranks Bent, knew it was going to happen but they were free so didn't care.
Strailine Pinch Stem Too flexy for me, got stess marks everywhere after a crash.
Cane Creek Headset(not sure on model) Busted lower bearing
Corsair Maelstrom Snapped pivot bolt


I missed last years race season so the list would have grown a little bit I think, all my bikes seem to be pretty indestructible now so 2012 will hopefully see few parts added to the list.

Is my list pretty normal, or is everyone else a bit easier on their gear?

 

[no skid marks]

Jenny Craig, thems the breaks.

 

[HardtailHack]

True true, the scales said 24% of me is fat if I was lighter my bones may hold up better too, ha ha.

 

[norbar]

I wish I have seen the list when I was a junior and my father was giving me **** about destroying stuff. You kill waay more stuff than I do. Still to kill a frame.

 

[insanitylevel9]

my list is to long to type it averaged to close to 400 a month for like 6 months last year.

 

[OffCamber]

Your screen name is self explanatory now

 

[insanitylevel9]

if if you actually new me it would e even more apparent.

 

[Deano]

been doing MTB on/off since mid 90s, i honestly cant rem all the stuff i broke.

these days, its mostly wheels and bars, for odd reasons never deraillieurs.

and shifters.. bars and shifters have been my main expense..

and underwear..

 

[bizutch]

Fight Club!

 

[Downhillbiker23]

I broke alot of derailuers this year for some reason. I had shop instal them most of the time. Not sure why I just ended up breaking lots of derailuer
I have broken rims, flatted obviously
blown fork seals
I blew the caliper on my old hayes nine brake during windham GES practice
Then I broke the lever on my elixir CR

 

[time-bomb]

Do fingers count as parts?

 

[Dogboy]

Do fingers count as parts?

I was going to say, a big toe and two fingers. Never broken any bike parts riding DH for the last 7 years or so.

 

[manhattanprjkt83]

i never understood why people like to talk about how much stuff they have broken...with the way stuff is made now if you are breaking lots of things, it's you not the bike.

 

[HardtailHack]

i never understood why people like to talk about how much stuff they have broken...with the way stuff is made now if you are breaking lots of things, it's you not the bike.

I'd love to say I believe you but I don't, the bike world is full of crap gear and over the years I have broken a lot of it and now I know what works for me and what will last with my lack of style/ability.

All of the cranks were done while on a hardtail, after seeing all the BMX guys send it to flat I went to Profle cranks and have never had a problem since.

As to liking talking about it, if had the choice of thousands of dollars still in my pocket or talking about it in a thread like this I would happily have the money.

So it seems insanitylevel9

 

[WestCoastHucker]

one of at least every part. more of at least half of them...

 

[WestCoastHucker]

i never understood why people like to talk about how much stuff they have broken...with the way stuff is made now if you are breaking lots of things, it's you not the bike.

as you well know, some of us have been at this for about 15 years. parts weren't always as sturdy as they are now...

 

[StabprimoMonkee]

some hubs
5 frames
5-10 sets of bars
5-10 sets of cranks
10+ seat posts
20+ pedal pairs
20+ rims
blew some shocks
some stems
****load of brake levers
and a truck of rear derailleurs

I have broke each and every part of the bike at one time. Never broke a fork tho.

And indeed in the last couple of years, derailleurs, seatposts and pedals have become really good.

 

[leprechaun]

Never broken anything, but i found this on the side of the trail.

 

[BrayDownhill]

I was going to say, a big toe and two fingers. Never broken any bike parts riding DH for the last 7 years or so.

Never broken anything other than body parts in 7 years?? Either your not doing it right or you have never crossed a black cat or smashed a mirror......etc

No idea of parts I've bust but after riding XC DJ and racing DH for 13 years I don't ever want to tally it up, financially I'd probably be looking at the cost of a nice villa in the alps.

 

[Jm_]

You start making a list and then you realize it's pointless. There's too much stuff to try and list and I'd be forgetting way too much. I've never broken a fork chassi I think, but trashed damping internals many times. Most of the broken stuff was from it being under-designed by a relatively small company IMO. Never have broken any body parts though, and at this point I am LONG overdue.

 

[cjm102]

Every body has broken parts, from under engineered components, to that time you went arse over tit showing off to your mates. Not trying to hyjack the thred, but i would love to see that one part that broke under exceptional circumstances, or the most recient part that only lasted a few runs.





I'm on holidays and need some good reading material.

 

[Jm_]

I'm not exactly sure what you are saying, but I think the point is that there are components that are adequately designed that are used outside of their fatigue limits and life. If a 15 year old aluminum hardtail frame breaks, it's not because it was under-engineered or designed necessarily. If someone breaks some saint cranks, as I'm sure has happened, again it's not because they were under-designed in terms of failures per volume most likely. I think that's mostly what I'm talking about, products that have an inordanate number of failures per volume produced, and the ones that fail as a result of NORMAL intended use.

If I'm interpreting correctly, derailers would be a good example of what you speak of. Derailers are ripped off of bikes ALL THE TIME at SoMo, and they never stand a chance. Yes, they hold up to some hits. Yes, with the thru-axle style it has a better lifespan. Yes, shimano has "designed out" a little bit of this with the shadow style, but with the kinds of speed and hits these things take, they are going to fail and it's going to be outside of what was intended for the product. You just can't hit someting exposed at that speed and have it stay attached, nor would you want it to. So sheared pedals, derailers, chainguides and other parts are fairly common, and they are definitely outside of what was intended. On the other hand, go back many many years to circa 1998-99 when SRAM first introduced their derailers with the carbon-knuckles (before the "alien" style), which were a significant weak point and they wouldn't hold up to use that might have been considered to be "normal" (I broke my fair share of 9.0 and 9.0SLs). I think this still tended to happen on the alien style for a little while, and it was finally brought under control with the next generation. So products will obviously fail, but some from under-engineering more than exceeding limits. Again, I tended to notice the former more with companies that didn't seem to have the R&D of larger ones.

 

[IH8Rice]

Not trying to hyjack the thred

or spell korrectly

 

[cjm102]

Yep, well poor quality manufacturing would have been a better choice of words. Im not a man who lives and dies by the statements I make on a forum, and certainly not by spelling ability
Sure I've seen some cases of poor engineering, in most cases it probably comes down to poor quality manufacturing. but I'm not going to argue as I'm not an engineer or a manufacturer.
Most of the time where I see a manufacturing/design flaw is on first generation products, like you said its a common knowledge that some manufactures do little r&d and unfortunate its left to us as riders to do field testing, left for us to find a weak point, then they redesign or adjust the next generation.
There is a story behind every broken part, I just wanted to hear a few stories and see some photos to go along with the list of parts being posted. Wasn't trying to take over the thread and send it in a different direction crack on.

 

[chup29]

lets see....

10+ deraillers in the last 5 years or so (3 in 3 days, i kept leaning too much in one specific berm and kept smashing them on a stump...then i got smart and took out the stump hahaha)
4 maxles
1 x9 shifter
v10 upper link
2 sets of elixer brakes (both got warrantied, then i got shimanos)
crankbrothers mallet 1 (snapped the axle after 3 months, they forgot about my warranty claim so i got some shimano dx's - thank god for that!!!)
i pretty much instantly knock my wheels out of true with cutties but then i just re-tension them
gone through a few boxxer motion control dampers

theres a ton more nitpicky stuff but mostly im hard on wheels and deraillers and suspension - always tweakin and fixing that stuff haha

 

[jackalope]

To me, it usually comes down to 3 things -

1.) Overall skill level of the rider. Could be Cam Zink, or a hack who likes to land to flat and case big gaps, or an average rider who generally rides within their skill set. If you're the latter, I would guess/hope you don't break too much stuff.

2.) Quality of the equipment. If you're on appropriately designed and spec'd frames & components, things should hold together for the most part.

3.) How many runs you put in during a given season. Myself and dogboy don't spend much time on DH bikes, so we certainly limit our opportunities to break stuff.


That said, I don't really count knocking off derailleurs, busting up shifters, breaking Mallet cleat cages, or bending brake levers. That just comes with the territory IMO.

 

[insanitylevel9]

i also do a lot of dumb things

 

[stoney]

Everything. I used to do wReck & Destroy for a few sponsor companies. I think I'm 4-5 frames in...

 

[gonefirefightin]

speed limits
state laws
federal laws
jaws
noses
hearts
Hymens

 

[demo 9]

one of at least every part. more of at least half of them...

12345

 

[Da Peach]

1 cracked frame. No idea how.
3 or 4 rear derailleurs
3 or 4 hangers
2 chains
1 set of levers rendered more or less useless
1 rear shifter (mainly caused be me trying to "fix" it) Springs and parts everywhere!!!

HARDCOAR!

 

[ustemuf]

hmm let me think.. little over 2 years riding:

a cannondale Moto frame cracked on downtube - first mountain bike broke in 3 months.
Truvativ Holzfeller Crank arm bent
Truvativ Howitzer BB bearings seized (same inicident as above)
a couple of chain rings
broken tons of grips from crashing - mauled.
probably about 6 rear derailleurs all SRAM X9 or X0
probably 3-4 derailleur hangers
broke a couple of X9 shifters
went through a couple SRAM PG980 + 990 cassettes.
two Twenty6 F1 DM stems
a couple pairs of Holzfeller handle bars
one pair of Boobars
one Avid Elixir CR brake lever/master cylinder exploded
a couple WTB seats.. a rocket V and a Devo.
also broke a fizik seat.
Vivid Air shock blew up twice
probably tweaked about 8 or so avid G3 rotors
broke a MRP Mini G2 assembly, and tweaked the backplate.
i've only busted one chain, kmc x9sl that was super old.
i've gone through wheels like no other...a pair of 823s.. 729s, sun mtx 31s, sun mtx 33s, sun eqs, WTB laserdisc DH
busted a DT Swiss Hugi FR rear hub

i think thats most of my damage report so far .. if i can remember all the crashes!

 

[nh dude]

You guys break a ton of stuff. Things tend to wear out due to overuse hub bearings/du bushing other "wear parts" instead of catastrophically break for me. Basics like bending a bar in a dh crash or wrenching a axle on a pedal are typical and I can count on happening eventually. Completely blowing up wheels or snapping bars, frames, cranks in one shot is a bit different and may suggest something else. This year I did blow up a mrp g2 guide after repeatedly smashing it for 4 months on the ground before I upped the bottom out on the rear shock. But whose fault is that? Specialized for making a super low bb, Mine for being lazy about the bottom out adjustment? Or MRP for making a weak guide? I dont' know who to blame FAK!

 

[HardtailHack]

Just out of curiosity has anyone broken a Saint rear mech? I have snapped the mech hanger on my bike but the mech was fine and my hanger is pretty burly.
It seems that most people seem to break X9-X0 rear mechs, they are too dear in Australia to snap a few times a year.

 

[BigBoi]

Just out of curiosity has anyone broken a Saint rear mech? I have snapped the mech hanger on my bike but the mech was fine and my hanger is pretty burly.
It seems that most people seem to break X9-X0 rear mechs, they are too dear in Australia to snap a few times a year.

Good question. I hear about rear mechs breaking all the time but always thought I just had good luck.
I have ridden a Saint for 3 years now and never had an issue.

 

[fortenndu]

i never understood why people like to talk about how much stuff they have broken...with the way stuff is made now if you are breaking lots of things, it's you not the bike.

I disagree, give me a part and a weekend at a bike park and I'll break it for you.

 

[ZoRo]

 

[bdamschen]

1 Elbow
1 hand
1 tooth
... and I think I'm on my like... 120th pair of testicles.

 

[norbar]

To me, it usually comes down to 3 things -

1.) Overall skill level of the rider. Could be Cam Zink, or a hack who likes to land to flat and case big gaps, or an average rider who generally rides within their skill set. If you're the latter, I would guess/hope you don't break too much stuff.

2.) Quality of the equipment. If you're on appropriately designed and spec'd frames & components, things should hold together for the most part.

3.) How many runs you put in during a given season. Myself and dogboy don't spend much time on DH bikes, so we certainly limit our opportunities to break stuff.


That said, I don't really count knocking off derailleurs, busting up shifters, breaking Mallet cleat cages, or bending brake levers. That just comes with the territory IMO.

Exactly. This year what was somewhat suprising I had quite a lot of riding time. 4 weeks in big bikeparks including 2 weeks of Morzine/PDS/Champery plus some local track time. Im not super heavy (around 70kg w/o gear) or jump stupid big stuff but I tend to pick brainfart lines and love rough tracks. Used to kill lots of parts in the old days but now with good parts. Not much. Managed to break my finger and really stress my spine and 3 months later break my collarbone and destroy my helmet yet my bike this season had ZERO killed parts. Yes my twenty6 pedals went bald, I lost 5mm of travel in my boxxer wc due to dust, lost 2 bolts off my chain guide 2 times on a drift to rock hit and tore one ust tire (not the sidewall). That is it.

Im suprised that with modern parts people manage to destroy their gear with modern parts that are much more durable than 5+ years ago. Either they ride much harder than me or crash more than me but the latter is really not that probable. I wonder if maybe a wiser gear choice/better maintanance/wheelbuild(and keeping tension) would reduce it because right now it seems it is easier to brake a bone than a part in my bike that costs over 100$

btw. I was really suprised when I saw this since I didnt feel the hit (a broken collarbone might have worked as a diversion)

 

[ocelot]

Aiiiigggghhtttt

2011:
1 x Chromag Fubar OSX
1 x Selle Italia SLR
1 x Azonic Outlaw rim
1 x 32mm RS Boxxer Lower
1 x Pair ODI Rogue grips
1 x 661 Evolution Carbon helmet

2010:
1 x RS Vivid Coil
1 x RS 32mm Boxxer Motion Control cartridge
5 x Derailleur Hangers
1 x SRAM X9 rear der

2009
1 x Derailleur Hanger
1 x wrist