Boy killed on "kit bike"

Tazio

MacRetro Rider
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Sad story about a young lad killed in an accident on his newly built bike. A bit of an odd one as his family seem to be blaming the bike shop that checked it over before the ride to make sure the brakes were OK. Obviously the bike shop owner is standing by his work. I find the fathers comment about the brakes being firmer after the trip to the shop confusing, surely that would be a good thing or does he mean you had to be more firm with the levers??

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 98118.html
 
Tragic, but...

Family just back from the US - maybe the brakes were put back to 'traditional' english front brake on the right and the poor sod was pumping away at the left lever (thinking it was the front) and just skidding...?
 
Apparently there was no braking involved at all. The weird thing is that the LBS claims he only worked on the rear brake and both brakes failed. The family said both brakes felt "firmer".

Either way, the LBS can't be entirely to blame. If they weren't 100% confident in the brakes, they shouldn't have allowed that bike anywhere near the road. Passing the blame is easy.
 
Maybe when he built it he just didn't tighten the cable clamp bolts enough and both cables slipped when he used the brakes in anger. If the bike shop only replaced the main cable on the rear, it only goes as far as the bridge. The bike shop owner may have replaced that cable properly but not have checked that the straddle cable was clamped up properly on the cantilever, and also not have checked the front brake at all. It should be pretty evident by examining the bike though.
 
Dave_H":16uxsl6g said:
Tragic, but...

The family, who had recently returned to Britain from the United States where Kadian’s mother runs a chain of bicycle shops

Odd


not saying this is the case but the US are reknowned for sueing everyone and everything.

we don't know how the brakes failed so until then it is speculation.
 
According to a BBC report the cable clamp on the front brake was found to be loose, or at least not tight enough. Apparently the back brake couldn't be inspected.
 
One of the things I was trying to flag up but didn't want to be too specific about was the use of the term kit bike.

I'm sure every person that posts on here has bikes they have built from scratch. And often from new frames bought from suppliers or individuals on here.
 
Two things spring to mind..........if they felt 'much firmer' it may have beeen that the slack was taken out of the cable and barrel ajuster wound out so the brakes 'bit' as soon as the lever was pulled ie no modulation or real power..........

or as above the cable slipped through ..........or if v's noodle not seated proper, so did the wheels come out before the tragic ride.....? lots of ex customers we saw couldn't put a wheel back in a frame and had trouble with noodles seating correctly.
 
I saw this yesterday evening, and have been thinking about it on and off all day, partly because I started fixing my own bikes when I was about the same age. A very sad story indeed, but I think there are way too many facts missing to be able to work anything out. It seems pretty obvious that the brakes failed, but from reading the article, the lad built the bike himself (unsupervised?) then took it to the LBS to get it checked over. Did the LBS know he'd built it himself? Were they asked to check the whole bike, knowing that he'd just built it himself? If he only asked them to check the rear brake, then maybe they didn't even look at the front, and if he'd not built it properly then it would have left the shop like that. If an LBS is asked to fix a rear brake, are they also to be expected to check the whole bike for other faults? some things are easy to spot, but a cable clamp that's not fully tight might not show itself until you pull really hard on the brakes a few times and the cable pulls through. On a steep hill, only having the back brake won't be enough to stop you, especially if it's not adjusted properly, so maybe the front failed, and the back didn't? It also appears he wasn't an experienced rider (as much as you can be expected to be at that age) - he was standing on the pedals, not trying to drag his feet on the ground, on a tyre, etc... His mother running a chain of bike shops doesn't have to mean she knows what she's doing - running a shop and fixing bikes are two completely different things, although many LBS owners can do both of them very well. And what is a kit bike? To mean, that means a kit of parts that you buy and assemble - not the same as buying each part separately and putting them together. A "kit" would have instructions, a guide to follow, safety information...

Just a tragic accident that might have been avoidable, but then most of them are.
 
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