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Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 1st 03, 06:26 PM
John Morgan
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Default Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?

So, my question is: has anybody who actually rides mountain bike with
any frequency (such as the amb crowd) experienced this phenomenon or
heard of anybody loosing a wheel? If so, any serious injuries? Is
the sky really falling or can we get back on our bikes and ride?


I would like to offer the first response to this question. I think the QR
scare is ********. A simple look at ratios can tell you that out of the
millions of riders with the disc brake/QR setup, there are only one or two
documented cases of it happening. Crashes happen every day due to equipment
failure and rider error... moreso the latter. There's nothing to get
excited about here, folks.

-John Morgan


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  #2  
Old September 1st 03, 06:29 PM
Doug Taylor
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Default Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?

The boys (the girls are too sensible, it seems) in rec.bicycles.tech
are going at it once again on this subject, with the tech heads and
roadies basically saying that you are taking your life in your hands
if you use disc brakes with QR's and regular dropouts on the theory
that the QR eventually will come loose under force of the front brake
and your wheel will pop off.

So, my question is: has anybody who actually rides mountain bike with
any frequency (such as the amb crowd) experienced this phenomenon or
heard of anybody loosing a wheel? If so, any serious injuries? Is
the sky really falling or can we get back on our bikes and ride?

--dt
  #3  
Old September 1st 03, 06:55 PM
The Nelson Paradigm
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Default Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?

"Doug Taylor" wrote in message
...
| The boys (the girls are too sensible, it seems) in rec.bicycles.tech
| are going at it once again on this subject, with the tech heads and
| roadies basically saying that you are taking your life in your hands
| if you use disc brakes with QR's and regular dropouts on the theory
| that the QR eventually will come loose under force of the front brake
| and your wheel will pop off.
|
| So, my question is: has anybody who actually rides mountain bike with
| any frequency (such as the amb crowd) experienced this phenomenon or
| heard of anybody loosing a wheel? If so, any serious injuries? Is
| the sky really falling or can we get back on our bikes and ride?
|
| --dt

Don't own a Disc myself, but none of my customers have ever had this kind of
problem. Granted, we don't have really long downhill courses in NC.

I think the whole thing is a bunch of hogwash. Every single picture I've
ever seen looks a lot more like a mis-adjusted skewer to me.


---
__o
_`\(,_ Cycling is life,
(_)/ (_) all the rest, just details.
The Nelson Paradigm =^o.o^=
http://intergalax.com

Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.512 / Virus Database: 309 - Release Date: 8/19/2003


  #4  
Old September 1st 03, 07:29 PM
bomba
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Default Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?

Doug Taylor wrote:

So, my question is: has anybody who actually rides mountain bike with
any frequency (such as the amb crowd) experienced this phenomenon or
heard of anybody loosing a wheel? If so, any serious injuries? Is
the sky really falling or can we get back on our bikes and ride?


Do you remember a guy posting here called Russ Pinder? Well, he's
currently in a wheelchair.

  #5  
Old September 1st 03, 08:39 PM
Super Slinky
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Default Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?

bomba said...

Do you remember a guy posting here called Russ Pinder? Well, he's
currently in a wheelchair.


But the web site in his honor says that the cause of the crash can never
be known. Besides that, even if it was wheel ejection that caused his
crash details are lacking. What fork was he using? Was it one of those
Pace forks that don't have retention lips? Maybe the skewer just broke.
Maybe the dropouts broke off the lower legs.
  #6  
Old September 1st 03, 08:45 PM
deluxe model
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Default Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?


"Super Slinky" wrote in message
t...
bomba said...

Do you remember a guy posting here called Russ Pinder? Well, he's
currently in a wheelchair.


But the web site in his honor says that the cause of the crash can never
be known. Besides that, even if it was wheel ejection that caused his
crash details are lacking. What fork was he using? Was it one of those
Pace forks that don't have retention lips? Maybe the skewer just broke.
Maybe the dropouts broke off the lower legs.

Do you check/tighten your skewers before every ride? I certainly do.

  #7  
Old September 1st 03, 09:16 PM
Super Slinky
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Default Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?

deluxe model said...

Do you check/tighten your skewers before every ride? I certainly do.


I don't, but I probably should. I switched to non-quick release skewers
about a month ago. I always considered quick release to be a solution to
a problem I never had. It's no big deal to carry an allen wrench and it
makes it tougher for a thief to steal your wheels. Don't have QR on my
seat collar either.
  #8  
Old September 1st 03, 09:52 PM
Westie
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Default Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?


"Doug Taylor" wrote in message
...
The boys (the girls are too sensible, it seems) in rec.bicycles.tech
are going at it once again on this subject, with the tech heads and
roadies basically saying that you are taking your life in your hands
if you use disc brakes with QR's and regular dropouts on the theory
that the QR eventually will come loose under force of the front brake
and your wheel will pop off.

So, my question is: has anybody who actually rides mountain bike with
any frequency (such as the amb crowd) experienced this phenomenon or
heard of anybody loosing a wheel? If so, any serious injuries? Is
the sky really falling or can we get back on our bikes and ride?

--dt


Most likely more than half of the people out there that ride 'mountain
bikes' have never heard of this issue and wouldn't know where to find a
'quick release skewer' on their bikes if they had to. Many of the pure
recreational riders and Dewbies that I know just aren't interested in
regular equipment checks. They'll check it if it happens, otherwise
ignorance is bliss and they'll ride it 'til it breaks.

With so many amateur riders out there it's amazing that front wheels aren't
falling off left, right and centre. And not from braking forces - just from
lack of proper adjustment.
--
Westie


  #9  
Old September 1st 03, 10:59 PM
Alex Bird
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Default Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?

Doug Taylor wrote:

So, my question is: has anybody who actually rides mountain bike with
any frequency (such as the amb crowd) experienced this phenomenon or
heard of anybody loosing a wheel? If so, any serious injuries? Is
the sky really falling or can we get back on our bikes and ride?


This is my first post to this group, sorry it's a bit grim.
I saw a tv programme 3-4 years ago here in the uk, about a kid in the
west-country (SW England). His front wheel came loose and _somehow_
the forks ended up in the back of his skull. They showed the x-rays,
a few more millimetres and he would have been dead. Yes, he was fine,
after some medical attention. I think I've checked my quick release
every time I've got on my bike since I saw that...

Why would discs be more likely to release the wheel? This makes no
sense to me.

Alex
  #10  
Old September 1st 03, 11:12 PM
bomba
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Default Disc brake front wheel ejection: fact or fantasy?

Super Slinky wrote:

Do you remember a guy posting here called Russ Pinder? Well, he's
currently in a wheelchair.



But the web site in his honor says that the cause of the crash can never
be known.


True, I don't think anybody will ever know for certain exactly what
happened. However, he and his friends are under the impression that the
disc / dropout phenomenon exerted itself on that day.

Besides that, even if it was wheel ejection that caused his
crash details are lacking.


What details? The tribute website is not there to debate the causes of
the accident, nor comment on the disc / dropout issue.

What fork was he using? Was it one of those
Pace forks that don't have retention lips?


No. He'd actually swapped from a set of Pace for exactly this reason.
He was riding Fox forks, I believe.

 




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