by mrgray on Wed Aug 10, 2016 12:16 am
i had an experience the other day which is pertinent to this thread.
using extralite streeters on a steel fork on a new custom bike.
no lawyers lips.
after a 25 km ride i was crossing the street out the front of work. i rode down the gutter and was on the road, crossing it, riding at walking pace. on the other side i would have to jump up the gutter and i popped a mono in anticipation (practice i guess). much to my surprise my front wheel then came off. as i came down i sort of bounced the fork off the wheel, then went down for real onto the fork and over the bars. i was able to use a karate technique i learned as a child to absorb the impact (i landed on my face). crushed the helmet (kask vertigo: recommended) and didn't lose any teeth (yippee!). wheel rolled off as i lay sprawled.
so obviously i assumed that i am an idiot and hadn't clamped the skewer properly. however i happened to crash in front of the LBS. so took the bike straight in. they clamped it up and went to hang the bike on the FW to address later. wheel fell off.
i had used the skewer to great effect on my other bike but it certainly didn't seem to work with the steel custom fork too well. i do note that the streeter has a limited clamping area and in hindsight i have noted bearing noise when using it previously.
anyway today i get the stitches out (ended up having surgery under general at emergency for facial gashes). with time i've concluded i was pretty unlucky but also pretty lucky (could always have been worse if a car was involved).
3 things:
1. going down gutter might have flexed fork a bit and unclamped it - then again LBS demonstrates this was not necessarily required
2. happened to have 19 mm tyres on wheel and brakes set a bit wide - unusual setup for me and it meant brakes did nothing to hold wheel on as they would have if i had been on my usual 25 mm tyres and close set brakes
3. no lawyers lips (which i wasn't aware of)
anyway i'm understandably a bit traumatised and for the moment, over lightweight skewers. from now on it will be campagnolo and dura ace 9000.
Last edited by
mrgray on Wed Aug 24, 2016 4:43 am, edited 1 time in total.
Bobo S&S Steel Bike - 7.5 kg
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