Warning: I trashed a good frame using a turbo trainer

[ultrazenith]

I know there are much worse things going on in the world right now, but the cherry on the cake today was finding a crack in the seat tube of my favourite frame, one that I build into what is pretty much my perfect MTB, and which being steel I assumed it would live forever, perhaps even outliving me. Alas, no.

 

[brocklanders023]

Re:

Using my one bit of exercise a day I’ve been getting out on my bike more than in the last couple of years. Think I’ve found a crack in my main bike. :x Hoping the warranty covers it though. Bad times.

 

[The History Man]

Re: Today I found a large crack in my favourite frame

So which one is it? Not the Rourke?

 

[ultrazenith]

Re: Today I found a large crack in my favourite frame

Yes, it's the Rourke, unfortunately. There's a 1.5 inch crack running down from the tip of the pointy end of the upper seat tube lug.

 

[The History Man]

Re: Today I found a large crack in my favourite frame

You know what I’m going to say about your seat post setup................

 

[ultrazenith]

Re: Today I found a large crack in my favourite frame

You know what I’m going to say about your seat post setup................

The annoying bit is this is a 22" frame so I've never needed to push the limits of seat post length or insertion. The current post has 130 mm of insertion and 230 mm of post exposed (frame to saddle rails). The only thing I've done differently recently is I0ve had it set up on a turbo trainer due to illness and now the lockdown. I wouldn't have expected use on a turbo trainer would be more punishing to the frame than normal off road riding, but it has crossed my mind that on the turbo there's essentially no shock absorption (normally from the tyres) since the turbo frame is rigidly attached to the rear wheel axle. Never heard of anyone else's frame failing due to turbo trainer use, though.

Ultimately, I'll have to ship the frame over to Rourke to have the tube replaced ... at that point I'll have to decide whether to get the head tube replaced with a more modern diameter, whether to change to discs, and whether to choose a different paint job.

On closer inspection the drive side chainstay also has a crack running four fifths of the way around the tube, where it joint the drop out plate. Damn :evil:

 

[The History Man]

Sounds bad. Gutted. Lovely bike.

 

[madjh]

In a turbo trainer? The one that doesn´t use rear wheel or with rear wheel.

 

[rwm1962]

What a sad way to go.

 

[ultrazenith]

Yes, a very sad way to go. We spend many hundred of miles together exploring the forests of Northern Portugal over the years.

But I'll get the cracked tubes replaced, in the near future.

In a turbo trainer? The one that doesn´t use rear wheel or with rear wheel.

The type that uses the bike's own rear wheel (with a special skewer).