pinguwin
Retro Guru
In another thread, Jez wrote:
I thought I posted this picture before but if not, here is a picture of an earlier Klein that wasn't just damaged, it was most definitely death. Had it cracked 30 seconds later when I would have been bombing down hills instead of on flat ground, it could have been the death of me.
The bike was in a crash and was checked out, all was well. Two days later going around as S-turn on a college campus, I couldn't make the second half of the turn, the bike wouldn't respond. I was going straight for a big rock but couldn't avoid it. I hit the brakes and slowed down before impact. I heard a "plink" and the bike sagged. I looked down and noticed a bit of damage.
The downtube weld was faulty. There was weld bead on the head tube & down tube which held the bike together, but the two tubes never joined and cleanly separated. You can see the clean mitres on the down tube, hardly a welding disturbance to be seen I suspect that the down tube joint had failed just as I was turning, causing me to be unable to complete the curve. When the front wheel hit, the top tube ripped in two and looking at the damage, it was most definitely torn in two.
When I looked down, first I laughed, then I cried, then I said, "Eh, might as well" and laughed. Two years later I was talking to a friend and he said, "Do you remember how we met?" I said, "In the computer labs." "Nope. Remember the three people sitting by the rock when you crashed your bike? I was one of them."
I thought I posted this picture before but if not, here is a picture of an earlier Klein that wasn't just damaged, it was most definitely death. Had it cracked 30 seconds later when I would have been bombing down hills instead of on flat ground, it could have been the death of me.
The bike was in a crash and was checked out, all was well. Two days later going around as S-turn on a college campus, I couldn't make the second half of the turn, the bike wouldn't respond. I was going straight for a big rock but couldn't avoid it. I hit the brakes and slowed down before impact. I heard a "plink" and the bike sagged. I looked down and noticed a bit of damage.
The downtube weld was faulty. There was weld bead on the head tube & down tube which held the bike together, but the two tubes never joined and cleanly separated. You can see the clean mitres on the down tube, hardly a welding disturbance to be seen I suspect that the down tube joint had failed just as I was turning, causing me to be unable to complete the curve. When the front wheel hit, the top tube ripped in two and looking at the damage, it was most definitely torn in two.
When I looked down, first I laughed, then I cried, then I said, "Eh, might as well" and laughed. Two years later I was talking to a friend and he said, "Do you remember how we met?" I said, "In the computer labs." "Nope. Remember the three people sitting by the rock when you crashed your bike? I was one of them."
