in: Bash; Bash > 2008-06-03;
| # Posted 2008-06-05 09:48:45 | |
| cedarcreek: | If it were at the front of the bike, I wouldn't take the chance, but at the back---maybe.
I've taken three short courses in fracture mechanics, but I haven't used it enough to be confident. If the material is very strong, with limited ductility, I'd worry a lot more. It's more likely some middle-of-the-road alloy that will show a lot of deformation before it lets loose. It's hard to believe that low-volume products like this are designed using esoteric methods of analysis like fracture mechanics. You'd hope they'd at least design for graceful failures---although showing a visible and audible crack without breaking is pretty graceful by anyone's definition. You might sharpie a little mark at the crack tip so you can detect changes. If it's hard to see, you might paint something brittle, like fingernail polish, across the crack tip. |
| # Posted 2008-06-05 10:10:04 | |
| Bash: | Believe it or not, I worked in a fracture mechanics lab for awhile during my engineering studies! And you are absolutely right. My local bike shop used a Sharpie to mark the crack location, but I should put a mark by the tip. My question to the Gary Fisher dealer was how the bikes fail, when they do. It turned out that although they have seen many cracks, they've never seen a break yet. And the crack is low, near the pedals, so in a pinch, I will probably ride it. I would just hate to get stuck in some remote location during an adventure race. It'll be about 4 weeks before I'm back on the rebuilt bike with a new frame. In the meantime, I intend to keep shopping with the idea that this might become my spare beater bike, given all the other parts that are showing major wear. (My previous spare beater bike is living at Hurtn's house at the moment.) |
| # Posted 2008-06-06 09:00:23 | |
| cedarcreek: | Once again, Bash amazes.
I wonder if there is some fun but safe way to take that crack to failure...Hmmmm... If it were mine, I'd either break it or try to get it to my favorite university's metals students so they can play with their SEM and tell me why it broke. It's probably some routine failure mode, but it's a real crack in a cool product and it's aways more fun to work on real problems. They might be appreciative. |
| # Posted 2008-06-06 09:16:41 | |
| Bash: | Given how long it's going to take to replace the frame, I'd better not let any university students play with it just yet! :-) The store called back today to ask for my bike receipt from 6 years ago. Apparently Gary Fisher's wonderful customer support is contingent on me being the original owner of the bike. Wish me luck finding that tiny slip of paper in the sea of paper in our house... |
| # Posted 2008-06-06 23:59:58 | |
| superwes1000: | Are you going to look? Is there any possibility that you would find it? If so, you and my wife can NEVER meet (any more than you have already). |
| # Posted 2008-06-07 03:18:59 | |
| Bash: | I not only found it, I faxed it to them this morning and exchanged e-mails to confirm they received it. Does that mean that J-Ro and I can only be Internet buddies?
For what it's worth, 'Bent was floored that I found it. The mess in my study is truly beyond belief. |
| # Posted 2008-06-09 01:55:34 | |
| superwes1000: | No just the opposite. Forces greater than all of us are at play. You are the sensei. I can't keep her from you than I can keep the wind from the leaves on the trees. She needs to move into your house in the hills to learn. Wax on, wax off.
You can start by healing the wound that was me shredding 11 years worth of phone bills. |
| # Posted 2008-06-09 06:27:10 | |
| Bash: | Only 11 years of phone bills? Actually, I probably only have about 8 years of bills here. I need 7 years for tax purposes, so it's not as crazy as it sounds. However, it might be time to get rid of my high school textbooks. Well, soon, anyway. |
| # Posted 2008-06-09 17:59:11 | |
| bubo: | How about salary and tax receipts from the 1920's?
No, they´re not mine - I´m not that old - but remnants from my grandfather and my uncle, both have been dead for many years. They just seemed to keep every slip of paper that got into the house... and I don´t seem to have been able to throw it out yet either :) |
| # Posted 2008-06-09 20:48:23 | |
| Bash: | OK bubo, you win! |
| # Posted 2008-06-09 20:57:35 | |
| bubo: | ...but on the other hand you´ve got more fractured bike frames than I have - so that should make it a tie ;-) |
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