My cycling disasters, or revisting a broken saddle bolt
In time anything and everything can break or wear out. If you are lucky it'll be graceful and well-timed; if unlucky it'll be catastrophic.
Just to illustrate the point herewith a set of images. They date back a few months but if you don't watch my Flickr stream you may have missed 'em. Basically I was in a good place, riding almost every day and building up for the road season. Roughly 50km a day but adding on intensity and speed to a good base of 3 months of long steady distance training. I had earlier broken/bent the clamps that hold the saddle rails to the seatpost (an incident involving roadworks, alas) and had fitted the replacements. The bolt was original, a 2-year-old part. That was a mistake. The bolt snapped whilst I was hammering over some corrugated road, luckily only 2km away from home. I presume it was either faulty or weakened by the earlier incident, or simply over-tightened; or all of the above. As this has happened before (way back in 1987 or so, and a luckless 30km from home) I am careful not to over-torque bolts. So who knows. It broke. Which brings to mind my list of broken bike bits. Spokes. One at a time (preferred) or multiple (avoid!). Little or no warning before the "twang" but a spongy feeling in corners could be a sign. Avoid other riders and their pedals, too.Saddle rails. Uncomfortable. Little or no warning, maybe a creak.
Saddle clamp. Creaky. Little or no warning.
Saddle bolt. Catastrophic. No warning.
Seatpost. Catastrophic. A weird, sloppy, flexy feeling just before the corner that I didn't make it around.
Teeth. Mine and also the teeth on the rear cogs. Annoying. Little or no warning, watch for chain slip.
Freewheel. As in the ratchet inside the cluster, so you are suddenly in permanent freewheel. Can be awkward. Little or no warning, listen for new noises.
Chain. Sticky, skippy, bent, broken. Visual inspection helps, also listen out for skipping, slipping sounds.
Steerer. As in the expander bolt that snapped. Not easy to steer without steering. No warning. Don't over-tighten. Not a problem with current headsets and steerers but the steerer itself may snap.
Cables. A brake cable and a rear derailleur cable. Awkward. Visual checks will help, remember to look in the hidden areas. And a sloppy cable isn't always fixed by tightening.
Tyres. Exploded, punctured, delaminated, cut, sliced. You-name-it. Visual checks help but sometimes it just happens. Although I've never done it (touch wood) handlebars may also snap, usually where they clamp. It doesn't look pretty. I'm sure there's more but that'll do for now.
