liveforphysics
100 TW
I know we have tons of threads here about broken spokes/wheels etc.
That means many of you will have some cool carnage pictures to share.
I will start. I did this today on deathbike, riding back carrying lunch in my left hand, putting along about 60mph, decide to see if I can make myself go WOT (wide open throttle), don't know if I got to WOT or not, back of the bike starts bucking and fishtailing wildly. I'm wearing a t-shirt carrying lunch, I did have a full-face helmet on. I just held on (to my lunch and the bike), did the counter steer dance and rode it out on the flopping bent sprocket teeth with the rim/tire just loose and bouncing/bucking in there. Not a scratch, and I ended up coasting far enough on the sprocket to make it clear to the front of my work where my co-workers were impressed but not surprised, and carried my lunch and helmet while I dragged the bike back inside.
I had really expected a high speed rear wheel failure would be harder to ride than that, or rather that a mangled sprocket with a rim/tire bouncing around freely would be more difficult to control at speed, but it was a kitten.
My rim doesn't even seem bent though, and only a single spoke is actually broken, the rest all failed by pulling through the garbage mild-steel washers I put in the rim's over-sized eyelets. 440ft-lbs of torque at the rear wheel lasted for about a year on that sketchy washer wheel build. I'm pleased.
I'm sure some of you guys will have better pics with wadded up rims, so let's see'em!
That means many of you will have some cool carnage pictures to share.
I will start. I did this today on deathbike, riding back carrying lunch in my left hand, putting along about 60mph, decide to see if I can make myself go WOT (wide open throttle), don't know if I got to WOT or not, back of the bike starts bucking and fishtailing wildly. I'm wearing a t-shirt carrying lunch, I did have a full-face helmet on. I just held on (to my lunch and the bike), did the counter steer dance and rode it out on the flopping bent sprocket teeth with the rim/tire just loose and bouncing/bucking in there. Not a scratch, and I ended up coasting far enough on the sprocket to make it clear to the front of my work where my co-workers were impressed but not surprised, and carried my lunch and helmet while I dragged the bike back inside.
I had really expected a high speed rear wheel failure would be harder to ride than that, or rather that a mangled sprocket with a rim/tire bouncing around freely would be more difficult to control at speed, but it was a kitten.
My rim doesn't even seem bent though, and only a single spoke is actually broken, the rest all failed by pulling through the garbage mild-steel washers I put in the rim's over-sized eyelets. 440ft-lbs of torque at the rear wheel lasted for about a year on that sketchy washer wheel build. I'm pleased.
I'm sure some of you guys will have better pics with wadded up rims, so let's see'em!