Ouch- Aluminium bar breaks at 55Kph...

Thanks to everyone for their well-wishes and concerns.

Once again, it appears that one of my purposes in life is to serve as a warning to others! :mrgreen:

Riding a bike at these speeds does have consequences if shit gets real - its not speed that kills, its the sudden stop at the end.

The bar was still attached to the bike with a brake cable, shifter cable and magicshine light - would have been fine (well - better maybe) if there was nothing attached and it dropped onto the ground, but it swung like a pendulum on the cables, and got sucked into the front wheel, wedging itself between the tyre and suspension.

Fortunately, here you are covered by Medicare regardless of how the injury was incurred, no matter how stupid or dangerous (a very important thing in Australia!)

The bike was going downhill at the time, being pedalled hard, rather than under power. I've been reducing the power lately (approaching legal) to try and get some more exercise anyway these days.

I don't blame the manufacturer of the bar, as others have said, it was being used outside of its intended purpose, and trying to sue would be expensive, pointless and nigh on impossible in this country anyway.

Photos of injuries are a bit disappointing, I have a large swollen purple and yellow hand, a nasty looking cut with stitches that runs quite a length down the left arm, I'll see if I can get the Xrays...
 
I'd still find a good close pic of the fracture line on those bars interesting. But we get it that you have other priorities at the moment.


When I crashed my ebike,,,, I just said I crashed my bike. Never told my health insurance company shit about it being a motorized bike. They were reallllly dissapointed that nobody in a car had anything to do with it, that they could go after to pay.

But basicly it wouldn't have mattered, the coverage is good for anything stupid you do, skydiving, skiing, skateboard grinding, cleaning your gun while it's loaded, etc.
 
Heath may you heal up quickly and completely.
I do not like to even think of having a handlebar break off while riding.
That is the stuff that nightmares are made of.
What type of helmet were you wearing?
Broken bones suck and all that but a cracked skull can be the end of the road.
Thanks for sharing this ugly story about the unexpected stuff that can happen.
 
Hillhater said:
Sancho's Horse said:
..People here sometimes take some safety risks, which is fine, because they are taking the risks. However, with a situation like this where it is totally unexpected, it may trigger a little more thinking in the areas where it might be a little more easily predicted..
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+1
and i would add that no matter how good your equipment is, there is always the other idiot that you cannot allow for who can ruin your ride.
Remember also the consequences of a crash at 50+ km/hr is very different to a crash at 30 km/hr !
After all is said , riding a cycle at 50+ km/hr is Dangerous ! .
As they say .." better to get there a little later, than not to get there at all "!
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That's true... had an idiot biker today make a head on left turn 3 feet in front of me with no indication that he was going to do so.

This weekend while driving in a parking structure, a true genius almost hits me head on since he was driving on the wrong side holding a phone in hand of course. :evil:
 
:shock: That's the first time I've head of a handlebar snapping, that said I've had some front forks crack on me while riding, luckily I managed to stop before they snapped completely. Get well soon.
Ypedal said:
ouch.... :eek:

Zoom makes crappy forks.. but i'm not sure they make handlebars ( I honestly have no clue.. just sayin ).

rest well and heal quickly.. 8)

**needs pictures.. :mrgreen:

was ( is ) the bike still chained to the tree?
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My Ezee Forza came with Zoom forks as standard, that said they seem pretty solid, but the damping and shock absorbing qualities leave something to be desired.

Would it be worth upgrading these to some more heavy duty forks if I'm consistently doing speeds of 25mph?
 
HypnoToad said:
:shock: That's the first time I've head of a handlebar snapping, that said I've had some front forks crack on me while riding, luckily I managed to stop before they snapped completely. Get well soon.
Ypedal said:
ouch.... :eek:

Zoom makes crappy forks.. but i'm not sure they make handlebars ( I honestly have no clue.. just sayin ).

rest well and heal quickly.. 8)

**needs pictures.. :mrgreen:

was ( is ) the bike still chained to the tree?
Click to expand...
My Ezee Forza came with Zoom forks as standard, that said they seem pretty solid, but the damping and shock absorbing qualities leave something to be desired.

Would it be worth upgrading these to some more heavy duty forks if I'm consistently doing speeds of 25mph?
Click to expand...


iZip Zuma comes with Zoom forks that feel like they are on constant Lock out mode... but they don't have a Lock out option :evil:
 
heathyoung said:
dislocated shoulder, road rash everywhere
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Glad you are "ok"... relatively speaking.

Just did the above dislocation and abrasions to myself about 3wks ago. I was only going about 25-30kph around a corner though when I hit gravel that looked plenty solid, but ended up being like 10cm deep. Whups, BAM! Ow, ow, ow! Popped the shoulder back in myself (that didn't hurt or anything :roll: ), x-rays revealed nothing broken, but there are definitely some snapped tendons or ligaments in there. I ride very conservatively, but have had 2 ebike accidents since 2008. Maybe I'm just unlucky, but I feel like it isn't a matter of if you're going to have an accident, but when.

The nice thing about an ebike though is that I re-straightened the mangled handle bars, adjusted a few other mangled things and just rode back home with one arm and no need to peddle or anything. :lol:

Very minor road rash all things considered... hurt a bit when my better half scrubbed the snot out of it in the shower. :lol: 8)

IMG_1157.JPG
 
Well, maybe a score (or two) of hours in the shop is better than a score of months in recovery.

This guy made his fixie handlebars by laminating hardwood:

[youtube]EBgoDrKO2OI[/youtube]
(via nicobie)
 
Damn Heath, sorry to hear about your accident but good to hear it wasn't much worse. It makes me realise how lucky I was getting car doored last week at a similar speed and picking myself up off the road with only bruises (in part courtesy of kevlar jeans and armoured jacket) What's even luckier was that there was no oncoming car involved. Plowing into the road at any speed can take you out (look at that kid who died in kings cross a few weeks back from hitting his head on the footpath after being knocked out) but adding that to going under a car rarely ends well.

I wonder if your magicshine had any influence on the break ? Mine gets pretty damn hot, I wonder if it repeatedly heated up the cheap aluminium/alloy and caused it to weaken and eventually break at that point? Could just be a coincidence though, it's probably right near the bend in the bar too right ? Which would be a weak point introduced at the time on manufacture anyway
 
Hyena said:
Damn Heath, sorry to hear about your accident but good to hear it wasn't much worse. It makes me realise how lucky I was getting car doored last week at a similar speed and picking myself up off the road with only bruises (in part courtesy of kevlar jeans and armoured jacket) What's even luckier was that there was no oncoming car involved. Plowing into the road at any speed can take you out (look at that kid who died in kings cross a few weeks back from hitting his head on the footpath after being knocked out) but adding that to going under a car rarely ends well.

I wonder if your magicshine had any influence on the break ? Mine gets pretty damn hot, I wonder if it repeatedly heated up the cheap aluminium/alloy and caused it to weaken and eventually break at that point? Could just be a coincidence though, it's probably right near the bend in the bar too right ? Which would be a weak point introduced at the time on manufacture anyway
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Yeah doors are deadly aren't they... Maybe the magicshine did have some influence, it weakened the metal with the temperature cycles, right at the bend.

I'll post up the xrays from todays visit later, ended up with 4" of metal in my arm, not the 3 I thought... and great big incision on the arm to put it all there.

I think travelling at the speed I do is probably a bit stupid in retrospect, should limit myself a bit more. Going to a full suspension downhill rig with a cyclone setup for some bush bashing, the Vectrix might make an appearance on the streets soon too... A least bits shouldn't fall off it... :mrgreen:
 
I wonder if your magicshine had any influence on the break ? Mine gets pretty damn hot, I wonder if it repeatedly heated up the cheap aluminium/alloy and caused it to weaken and eventually break at that point?
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Unlikely... Depending on the alloy, you need to get well over 150 C for a long period , before you have any effect on aluminium alloys...even then all you do is anneal it, making it more likely to bend rather than break.
 
Some photos of the xrays etc - sorry for bad quality, Iphail pics don't resize well.

Interesting about the metal though - 150 degrees is a lot hotter than those lights get.

Xray_resized.jpg
Xray_resized2.jpg
Arm_resized.jpg
 
ouch! best of luck with the recuperation. I bet it will be stronger than ever.

I went over the handle bars about a month ago, and have just started physio for a stretched tendon in my shoulder. it's so minor compared to your injury.
 
mdd0127 said:
This regrettable event should be a warning to all of us who are running an ebike at more than 35 kph/22 mph, that we need to seriously look at everything on the bike, not just the brakes. Is this part up to the road shocks and vibrations of 50 kph day in day out?
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I have protection of the body. I'm also going to buy some protection for my lower parts if I land on it. But the easiest protection is to speed down.

This speed issue came to my mind when I read the newspaper that a MOTORCYCLIST hit an old man in a town-centre and both died.
Speed in town-centre is low
Motorcyclist sure must have had good protection
Motorcyclist vs the old man had a 4:1 ratio of weight = Motorcyclist received 1/4th impact force than the old man.

Why then did both die?

Random unlucky events following each other, which some can be minimized and prepared for, "looked away,(distraction), failed to keep allowed speed, failed to see light change to red, failed to see old man, failed to break for light or maneuver away from old man. Failed to hold on and embrace for impact, failed landing - landed headfirst. Failed arm still stuck in motorcycle ripped off. and more unlucky events..."


higher speed = more likelihood to have a SERIOUSLY BAD OUTCOME if an accident occurs.
 
Everybody need to fall off once or twice at 15-20 mph....just to remind themselves how uncomfortable it is. ( bruises, gravel rash, damage , etc etc)
...Then they can consider the consequences when travelling at double that speed. ( with 4 times the kinetic energy !)
 
Best wishes for a full recovery, and thanks for the heads up.
Sitting here with a cast on my foot (fell off a ladder) looking at my new Bionx equipped, aluminum framed bike, I wonder if, by giving up my 750 Honda, I've jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. I got fed up with the view, looking at car bumpers while sliding on my butt. First time it happened I had the owners manual in my back pocket, and ground through the first chapter. Thirty years and a half dozen or eight crashes later (including one on the oldest motorcycle in Canada, when a handlebar weld failed) I decided enough was enough and went electric. Hopefully the frame I'm using can handle the Bionx's modest power. I will, however, continue to wear a helmet, goggles and gloves. Maybe look into those kevlar jeans someone above mentioned as well. Full leathers on a hybrid electric bicycle is not an appealing alternative, but maybe something between that and Lycra is the way to go. I'm tired of plaster.
 
Looks remarkably like xrays of my left arm (broke over 20 years agao still have steel in it) Although
yours is a tad higher up towards the elbow mine was also a compound fracture had bones sticking out the skin loL
Hope it heals well, i am now just starting to get early signs of arthritis in the elbow doctor tells
me this is often bought on by breaks near joints...few more fish oil tablets and it has gotten better...

KiM
 
Wow Heath, sorry to hear about your injuries, glad you are a helmet-wearer so we can talk about them. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!

-JD
 
It sound like you're on the mend, thankfully nothing broke that can't be fixed.
Ya, steal is the way to go, steal is a lot more springy, and will flex with-ought damage, aluminum won't.
 
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