# Frame FAIL!



## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

i recently totaled my specialized frame. i was coming around a corner and hit a patch of gravel. i knew i wasnt going to make the corner so i slowed down as much as i could before i "bumped" into a a rock wall that wrapped around the corner of the intersection. i hit it about 6 or 7 miles an hour. the bike just hit and then the back tire came up in the air a bit and on the way back down the whole frame just crinkled like a tin can. i couldnt believe it. i didnt even have a scratch or a bruise on me. either this frame is really crappy or defective. it is a specialized rock hopper chromo frame. its supose to be just as strong as regular steel but lighter IIRC. i also want to know if i can get a new frame from specialized? i dont think the frame should have failed before the tire or fork did. thats another weird thing. i hit front tire first head on and the frame and fork are perfectly fine. im still using the tires on my new bike.


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## ferday (Jan 15, 2004)

wow, that's (was i guess  ) a classic!

it's pretty common for a bike to do that when hitting an immovable object at speed...notice it didn't break at the weld
is specialized lifetime warranty? if so, try it and see what happens, but unfortunately i suspect they'll see the damage and say no based on how it was cause. good luck, sucks to lose a frame, good thing you're ok


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## jeffscott (May 10, 2006)

Has you make steel frames lighter the wall thickness must be reduced....this leaves the frame more prone to buckling....


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## sooner518 (Aug 1, 2007)

that sucks and Specialized may very well give you some kind of deal. but that frame is old and you admittedly slammed it head on with an immovable object.


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

yeah already have a "new" bike. it is a Univega from the same year the rock hopper was made. has rock shox on it and an aluminum frame. should hold up much better.


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## whoda*huck (Feb 12, 2005)

Univega777 said:


> ...should hold up much better.


I wouldn't test that theory with any more wall collisions. It took a lot of force to buckle that down tube.


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## blumena84 (Jun 5, 2006)

hope your alright???can always get another bike, not so much with living.


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## guybmoto (Mar 29, 2012)

Welcome to Team JRA.


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## mojavehanna (Nov 26, 2008)

Manufacturers warranties exclude damage caused from; abuse, accident, neglect, etc. etc. This is clearly damage caused from an accident, thus, it is not a warranty. Take it to a Specialized dealer and see what they say, but don't expect much assistance, especially if you aren't the original purchaser / have no receipt.


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## GPRider08 (Aug 22, 2008)

I can't see the pics, but that sounds like a nasty crash. Also, according to the posts of others and you describing it as a steel frame (which I don't think specialized has made for awhile), it's fairly old. So, even if the crash wasn't that hard, as you claim, previous use/abuse could have fatigued it without any real noticeable signs. You can contact Specialized, but if I were you, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for a deal.


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## David C (May 25, 2011)

Just wrap some ducktape around the top tube and bend back the down tube and you're good to go for selling on CL


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

Univega777;9450201 should hold up much better.[/QUOTE said:


> I wouldn't count on it.


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

i was hurt at all. not one scratch.yeah i dont even think ill bother trying to get the frame replaced. there arent any specialized dealers close to me anyways. im using the univega until i get a job and can afford a newer model. or i might just build my own. right now im going to school. so this will do for now. the univega has a way beefier frame. and the shocks in the front will help it not fatigue as much. im a big dude. the rock hopper prolly had a ton of fatigue in the metal. ive heard that chromoly steel is more brittle than regular steel. i was also reading that other people with the same bike have had problems with the frame becoming brittle due to over hardening.

this is my new bike. its even lighter than my old setup. it has power oval tubes. should be much stronger


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## lawfarm (May 14, 2010)




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## AZ (Apr 14, 2009)

I broke one like that and it took much more than a bump. You sure you didn't come up short over a set of doubles or nose it into a ditch?


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

AZ.MTNS said:


> I broke one like that and it took much more than a bump. You sure you didn't come up short over a set of doubles or nose it into a ditch?


this is why i think the metal had serious fatigue. because i didnt have a scratch on me. stayed on the bike the whole time. thing just came to a dead stop real fast. i thought for sure i was going over the handle bars. but i didnt. it was like something just stopped me dead in my tracks. i wasnt going more than 8 MPH max. and there was nothing wrong with anything else on the bike.


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

lawfarm said:


>


lol trolling about what?


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## jeffscott (May 10, 2006)

Univega777 said:


> this is why i think the metal had serious fatigue. because i didnt have a scratch on me. stayed on the bike the whole time. thing just came to a dead stop real fast. i thought for sure i was going over the handle bars. but i didnt. it was like something just stopped me dead in my tracks. i wasnt going more than 8 MPH max. and there was nothing wrong with anything else on the bike.


New bike means fatigue not likely the main cause...

Buckling appears to be the intial failure....


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## Dan K. Farmer (May 13, 2012)

David C said:


> Just wrap some ducktape around the top tube and bend back the down tube and you're good to go for selling on CL


^^ this! Hahah "like new bike for sale"


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## bt (Nov 24, 2007)

hows the garage door frame?


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

bt said:


> hows the garage door frame?


rofl


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## gearwhine (Aug 20, 2009)

bt said:


> hows the garage door frame?


That is most definitely not a break from a typical roof rack/garage door scenario.


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## pixel_nut (Jun 27, 2012)

Wow, you'd think it could have held up from such a small impact...


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## bigbadwulff (Jan 18, 2012)

I'd call that a RIDE FAIL, not a frame fail. Just sayin.


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## jtmartino (Jul 31, 2008)

Univega777 said:


> i was hurt at all. not one scratch.yeah i dont even think ill bother trying to get the frame replaced. there arent any specialized dealers close to me anyways. im using the univega until i get a job and can afford a newer model. or i might just build my own. right now im going to school. so this will do for now. the univega has a way beefier frame. and the shocks in the front will help it not fatigue as much. im a big dude. the rock hopper prolly had a ton of fatigue in the metal. ive heard that chromoly steel is more brittle than regular steel. i was also reading that other people with the same bike have had problems with the frame becoming brittle due to over hardening.
> 
> this is my new bike. its even lighter than my old setup. it has power oval tubes. should be much stronger


Tubing diameter = increased stiffness, not necessarily increased strength. Steel is a helluva lot stronger than aluminum in bike frames in terms of tensile strength and resistance to cracking. Unless the aluminum frame is built substantially thicker, I'd say the steel frame is stronger.

It's highly likely that you had a crack at the weld between your top tube and head tube before you hit the wall, or there was weakness in the joint. Just know that aluminum frames are rarely stronger than steel frames on mountain bikes. Luckily the fork should help you a little if your Rockhopper failure was due to riding issues.


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## Rigid (Nov 27, 2004)

I'd just continue to ride it until it completely fails.


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## Lenny7 (Sep 1, 2008)

bigbadwulff said:


> I'd call that a RIDE FAIL, not a frame fail. Just sayin.


Yeah it's only a frame fail if it's a China direct frame.


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

yeah im starting to think it was mainly leverage that made it buckle. i think that when the back end went up in the air all my weight cantilevered right on the frame. i just didn't realize that just my weight could torque a frame like that. i would rather have had a few bumps a scrapes and saved the bike.


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## SuPrBuGmAn (Jun 20, 2009)

You hit an immovable object hard enough for your back wheel to come up off the ground and you're admittadly a big guy... on a frame that was 10+ years old. 

This is not a bike failure.


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## icecreamjay (Apr 13, 2004)

Pretty sure the down tube is designed more for "pulling forces" which is why the slingshot is even possible. Certainly not designed for riding straight into a stone wall. 

Judging by the headset that frame is over 20 years old. I'd say you (or the previous owner) got their money's worth.


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## ehigh (Apr 19, 2011)

I have one of those frames sitting around doing nothing


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

its still pretty weak. the fork and tire should have bent before the frame did. or at least along with it. the frame was the ONLY damage.


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## ou2mame (Apr 23, 2010)

i'd contact specialized and see if they'll do something, but its pretty old and whatnot.... you never know though, they might give you a frame that requires all new components!


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

i sent them an email they never replied. i would probably have to take it to a specialized shop. the nearest shop is an hour away. so the next time im out that way ill bring the frame. see what they say.


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## Mtn-Rider (May 21, 2010)

Just give the frame as is to this guy, he'll weld it & bend it back then do some stunts with it.


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

i was so hoping for a face plant on the backwords endo down the hill


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## fenderltd (Jun 26, 2012)

At least your ok, but that's pretty wild! I wonder if in time the frame gets weaker the more miles and wear it has on it?


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## HOV (Apr 16, 2012)

Ugh, that no helmet thing with the ladies bike stunt guy had me cringing.


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## rockcrusher (Aug 28, 2003)

Univega777 said:


> its still pretty weak. the fork and tire should have bent before the frame did. or at least along with it. the frame was the ONLY damage.


See this is what you don't want. Admittedly you said it was a small impact at a slow speed. The leverage was pretty intense on that junction but imagine if that was all it took to crumple your front wheel. Say you dropped off a 2ft drop at 10mph or slammed a berm at 22mph. Your wheel and fork are designed to take serious force just as the frame is designed to take serious force. Unfortunately you applied a force to the frame that was in the direction it was designed to take but the wheel and fork were designed to take the force that way.

Thankfully bikes are designed to not fail logically. I would much rather my frame bent and let me get off without injury than have my wheel fold or my fork fold or break, both of which yield much worse crashes.

fork fail:









wheel fail:


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

haha yeah. rockcrusher, that fork fail pic makes me cringe everytime. and then i laugh...


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## MattC555 (Mar 24, 2011)

The frame was most likely cracked before this happened.


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## dstepper (Feb 28, 2004)

Really! So if you ran your car into a wall would you expect the car to be replaced under warranty? 

Dean


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

dstepper said:


> Really! So if you ran your car into a wall would you expect the car to be replaced under warranty?
> 
> Dean


if there is a lifetime warranty on the frame yeah


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## Frozenspokes (May 26, 2004)

Univega777 said:


> if there is a lifetime warranty on the frame yeah


1. Are you the original owner?

2. You are a "big" guy and you hit a WALL with that bike. My guess is that you didn't even have time to stand up, therefore all of the force from the impact was forced to act on you're weight without any dampening effect that coud have been provided by bending you're legs.

3. The damage was caused by a crash, not any form of material defect. Specialized does have a generous crash replacement program. I have used it. But then again, when I took advantage of it, it was for a bike that I purchased NEW and had owned for less than six months, AND I went through my local Specialized dealer which I had PURCHASED the bike from.

4. You need to understand the difference between crash damage and material defect. This is quite obviously crash damage.

Good luck on the Univega.


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## rideit (Jan 22, 2004)

This is more of a life fail. Own your fail.


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## customfab (Jun 8, 2008)

I'm going to to add my 2 cents that completely disagree with everything that's been posted. 

That frame was defective before it left the factory. It never should have made it to paint, never should have had parts hung on it and never should have left the factory. The reason for this is the top tube weld is severely undercut.( undercut is a weld defect that essentially borrows wall thickness from the tube and puts it into the weld bead, creating that trough at the edge of the bead that you can clearly see, thus creating in this case a substantial stress riser) Both the top tube and the down tube welds to the head tube are also twice the size they should be which increases the heat affected zone and increases the chance for a failure like you had. I would absolutely send that frame in for warranty. 

I would have to see the frame in person to completely stand behind my statement but your pictures are pretty clear and I think your due a warranty replacement frame.


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## Univega777 (Jun 27, 2012)

customfab said:


> I'm going to to add my 2 cents that completely disagree with everything that's been posted.
> 
> That frame was defective before it left the factory. It never should have made it to paint, never should have had parts hung on it and never should have left the factory. The reason for this is the top tube weld is severely undercut.( undercut is a weld defect that essentially borrows wall thickness from the tube and puts it into the weld bead, creating that trough at the edge of the bead that you can clearly see, thus creating. in this case a substantial stress riser) Both the top tube and the down tube welds to the head tube are also twice the size they should be which increases the heat affected zone and increases the chance for a failure like you had. I would absolutely send that frame in for warranty.
> 
> I would have to see the frame in person to completely stand behind my statement but your pictures are pretty clear and I think your due a warranty replacement frame.


thanks for the input customfab. yeah i had a feeling this was not suppose to crumple like that. i was reading some things where other people said that the frame was notorious for failures in the frame(cracks and breaks) i did think it was weird how thin the tube wall was right around that crack. im going to take it to a secialized dealer and have them check it out.


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## Gundam168 (Dec 19, 2012)

Univega777 said:


> i recently totaled my specialized frame. i was coming around a corner and hit a patch of gravel. i knew i wasnt going to make the corner so i slowed down as much as i could before i "bumped" into a a rock wall that wrapped around the corner of the intersection. i hit it about 6 or 7 miles an hour. the bike just hit and then the back tire came up in the air a bit and on the way back down the whole frame just crinkled like a tin can. i couldnt believe it. i didnt even have a scratch or a bruise on me. either this frame is really crappy or defective. it is a specialized rock hopper chromo frame. its supose to be just as strong as regular steel but lighter IIRC. i also want to know if i can get a new frame from specialized? i dont think the frame should have failed before the tire or fork did. thats another weird thing. i hit front tire first head on and the frame and fork are perfectly fine. im still using the tires on my new bike.


Doesn't look double or triple butted near the welds...


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## kjlued (Jun 23, 2011)

Univega777 said:


> i recently totaled my specialized frame. i was coming around a corner and hit a patch of gravel. i knew i wasnt going to make the corner so i slowed down as much as i could before i "bumped" into a a rock wall that wrapped around the corner of the intersection. i hit it about 6 or 7 miles an hour. the bike just hit and then the back tire came up in the air a bit and on the way back down the whole frame just crinkled like a tin can. i couldnt believe it. i didnt even have a scratch or a bruise on me. either this frame is really crappy or defective. it is a specialized rock hopper chromo frame. its supose to be just as strong as regular steel but lighter IIRC. i also want to know if i can get a new frame from specialized? i dont think the frame should have failed before the tire or fork did. thats another weird thing. i hit front tire first head on and the frame and fork are perfectly fine. im still using the tires on my new bike.


Well, had something similar happen to me and a tree in a not so high speed impact but on a 2 month old bike. I would have rode away if the bike could have been ridden.

Like I said, the bike was only 2 months old. 
Yours however is not. In fact it looks to closer to 20 years old (give or take a few years)
Guess what, even chromoly weakens over time as does aluminum, steal, titanium, and every other form of metal.

I would say that if it was a new bike, you probably would not see a new frame for free even if you said you barely wrecked as it looks like you hit something hard. 
That being said, it is an old bike so I know you probably won't get anything.

Best bet at this point is to salvage what you want and use the rest to make some bicycle art. 
Seen some pretty good bottle openers and pen holders made with pieces of frame. 
Maybe make a wine rack with the rear triangle. I dunno, let your imagination run wild.:thumbsup:


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## kjlued (Jun 23, 2011)

rockcrusher said:


> fork fail:


Wishes he had a full face helmet



rockcrusher said:


> wheel fail:


Is about to be glad he has a full face helmet.

I agree though, I would much rather have a frame give the way his gave then either of those types of failures.


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## wv_bob (Sep 12, 2005)

kjlued said:


> Guess what, even chromoly weakens over time as does aluminum, steal, titanium, and every other form of metal.


Please provide citation showing proof that metals weaken over time in the absence of other contributing factors.


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## DirtyHank (Jul 2, 2012)

Rigid said:


> I'd just continue to ride it until it completely fails.


Yaa...who needs their junk anyway.

Hank


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

department store failures and wheel taco's!!! i want to see more!!!!


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## kjlued (Jun 23, 2011)

wv_bob said:


> Please provide citation showing proof that metals weaken over time in the absence of other contributing factors.


If it just sits there, not it will not weaken. 
However, I think we all figure that this 20 year old bike was not just pulled off the shelf for the first time.

Even though I didn't go in detail about how bike frames flex through use and how these metals can weaken through repeated flexing, I figured it would have been common sense.

My only mistake in my post was assuming everyone would use common sense in reading it. My apologies. :thumbsup:


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## dru (Sep 4, 2006)

Buddy beaked it in. Even with the crappy welding (I agree on the undercut) the DT buckled 1st followed by the TT/HT separation. I'd say Specialized is going to say 'NO!"

Drew


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

Actually, many metal alloys strengthen over time as the crystals fall in better alignment due to age hardening and stress. I think what you're trying to say is that over-stress could cause it to fail. If it's kept below the fatigue limit, you can cycle it more times than you'll probably ever reach in a lifetime. If it's not, then it's an overload and the strength starts to fall off fast. If it was fatigue, the top of the top-tube where it "cracked" would have microscopic scallops, but that doesn't completely rule out an overload. The absence of the scallops would be pretty good evidence for an overload failure though. Understress failure means it gave way during repeated cycles, because the structure was compromised somehow (design, damage, etc).

It's more common for there to be a void or some kind of inconsistency on the weld, which leads to failure, even if it's still an overstress failure. That it didn't fail on the weld is even more evidence of overstress. And finally, metal tubes aren't all that much of a mystery. If there was some crazy weird grain structure in the tube, it would be obvious to any metallurgist if analyzed, but it's extremely rare for something like that to happen.


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## kjlued (Jun 23, 2011)

So are you trying to say that the more a bike is ridden, the stronger it gets.:skep:

Lets face it, if you take two identical in every way chromoly frames, made at the same time and then put one up on a shelf for 20 years and ride the piss out of the other one for 20 years. Then build the frame of the one that was on the shelf and put the same all new components on the bike that you road the piss out of essentially making the the exact same except one has a used frame and the other has a brand new never used old stock frame, they will be exactly as strong?

Lets not get in to the schematics of the wording and pick a post apart. 
The fact remains that was most likely a very well ridden bike that happened to be hit just right in order to cause a catastrophic failure in the metal. That being said, it could have happened to a new frame too, but the metal of that frame was most likely not as sturdy as the day it was built. 

Geez, didn't know we had to have a disclaimer to every post. 
Maybe I should get a lawyer to review and rewrite all my posts. :lol:


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## peanut09 (Apr 13, 2005)

I had a specialized rock hopper crack in the same place but I found the hair line crack before it failed. I brought it to a specialized dealer and they said it failed because I had my handlebars set to high... Mind you it was set as it came no new parts not raised in anyway. Needless to say I will never own another specialized I was the original owner and it was not crashed.


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

kjlued said:


> So are you trying to say that the more a bike is ridden, the stronger it gets.:skep:
> 
> Lets face it, if you take two identical in every way chromoly frames, made at the same time and then put one up on a shelf for 20 years and *ride the piss out* of the other one for 20 years. Then build the frame of the one that was on the shelf and put the same all new components on the bike that you road the piss out of essentially making the the exact same except one has a used frame and the other has a brand new never used old stock frame, they will be exactly as strong?
> 
> ...


That's where it's subjective (depends on the material obviously). Aging of alloys can make it stronger, and if it's really staying within the designed limits, it's plausible. If the other one just sat on the shelf, aging might be similar and just moving it around and stressing it within the tolerance should help to knock some more of the grains in alignment, but that's probably not measurable IF it happens. If "ride the piss out of" means you are trying to break it and ride it as hard as possible, then probably not and I agree that will happen mos of the time. The amounts that these are likely to be real is admittedly infinitesimally small, but my job now is accident investigation and just because something has been "used a lot" doesn't mean it's going to fail. What really matters are the limits of the design, that was what I was trying to indicate. No structure just ups and fails because it's "been a while" since it was made. There are always good reasons why. They reasons are often more obvious and easy to discover than one might think.


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

the price one pays sometimes for department story quality and cheap over seas manufacturing. not saying they are all bad, sometimes you get what you pay for and sometimes you get more then what you pay for... granted it should have had the " not made for off road use" sticker on it, not even weighing 100lbs. soaking wet i broke the rear shock mounting plate on the main frame of a Univega DS600 going down a ski mountain. the welds on both lower plates cracked, the plates spread apart and were pushed into the fame. i then upgraded to a Schwinn 4banger which proved to be 10x's stronger


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

now lets see come Cannondale's! i hear they used to have a frame failure or two


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## ArmySlowRdr (Dec 19, 2003)

funny thing you mention the not made for off road use sticker. i've had a bike somewhere along the line whose manual mentioned that fact. and it was a popular off road bike heavily advertised in the enthusiast mags--can't remember whether it was the speccy, giant or trek but one manual said that. lol. lawyers try to cover any future legal trouble with all sorts of hous-pocus language. and any department store bike that looks like a mountain bike should not be able to bear such language either. make it look like a frikkin road bike if there's a chance it will fall apart across the first root it encounters !


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

shwinn8 said:


> the price one pays sometimes for department story quality and cheap over seas manufacturing.


Were huffys any better when they were made over here?


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

do they fall under department store quality or less expensively built over seas quality?


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## customfab (Jun 8, 2008)

Gundam168 said:


> Doesn't look double or triple butted near the welds...


Frame tubing butts are measured in tenths of millimeters. Your not going to see where they are with the naked eye.


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## Berkley (May 21, 2007)

Univega777 said:


> if there is a lifetime warranty on the frame yeah


A little background on the specifics of "lifetime" warranties. Many lifetime warranties guarantee the product from manufacturing defect for the _product's_ usable lifetime under normal use.

In this scenario riding into a brick wall at speed is not considered normal use for a bicycle, so rather understandable if they don't warranty it. Even if they do, few of the existing parts will work on the new frame anyway.

The usable life of the product is a little more iffy, but it basically says that your **** isn't gonna last forever. It's gonna stop functioning at some point and that when it does, they're not gonna give you another one for free.

Manufacturing defects are a little more complicated. But can also be pretty simple.


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## Bat Guano (Dec 20, 2010)

breakage sucks no matter what the vintage


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## shiggy (Dec 19, 1998)

customfab said:


> Frame tubing butts are measured in tenths of millimeters. Your not going to see where they are with the naked eye.


I addition to the butt tapers being on the inside of the tubes.


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## supersedona (Dec 17, 2012)

The notion of age/life affecting the strength of the alloy is a little of a misnomer. As the metal goes through it's service life sub-stress limits, the term is age-hardening. That is different from tempering or toughening and more akin to brittleness. So for the example cited with 2 old frames, one on the shelf and one in use, the one on the shelf will have a lower hardness/brittleness level at the point that the in-service one reaches its fail point. In a strictly theoretical sence(impractical) that aspect can be reset by anealing and heat-treatment per the given alloy's requirement given that cracks have not formed. 

When I was in aircraft school we had to do hand-forging of aluminum sheet stock into teardrop round forms with hammers and sand bags. It was remarkable how easily one could reach the fatigue limit of the aluminum by being too afraid of hitting it. Heavy hits could move the metal to shape with much less chance of cracking it, but if it wasn't yet cracked we could torch it and let it cool to reset the brittleness. 

That particular frame looks, as stated by a previous poster, to be a bad upper weld/heat zone but it also looks like it buckled at the downtube at the braze on point. While that was not as much a heat affected zone as the full welds, I imagine it could have had some play on the area especially if it was welded instead of brazed.


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## dwnhlldav (Feb 2, 2006)

jeffscott said:


> New bike means fatigue not likely the main cause...
> 
> Buckling appears to be the intial failure....


I'm guessing that's early to mid 1990's rockhopper? I started selling/wrenching on Specialized and the rockhopper was a threadless headset by that time.

That thing lived a good life and died while being ridden. Lay it to rest and move on. Yeah, you weren't going fast, but you went head first into a wall on a nearly 20 year old bike. There's no abnormal failure with this one.


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

my 3rd grade drawing of it's failure analysis. hitting the object with lack of front suspension forced a back and upward motion of the head tube causing the down tube to buckle. The energy through the steer tube and threaded headset applied enough forward force at the top of the headset bearing/cup to pull and tear the top tube away from it's self.


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## DirtyHank (Jul 2, 2012)

peanut09 said:


> I had a specialized rock hopper crack in the same place but I found the hair line crack before it failed. I brought it to a specialized dealer and they said it failed because I had my handlebars set to high... Mind you it was set as it came no new parts not raised in anyway. Needless to say I will never own another specialized I was the original owner and it was not crashed.


What year Rockhopper? (I ride one) I could easily see it happening to the earlier models with the round tubing (does look sort of anemic) and for sure they should have replaced your frame.

Thanks,

Hank


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## winchboy (May 2, 2006)

My 10 year old bike broke because I ran into a wall.
Oh yeah the manufacturer should replace it.


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## DirtyHank (Jul 2, 2012)

My bad...

Hank :thumbsup:


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## peanut09 (Apr 13, 2005)

DirtyHank said:


> What year Rockhopper? (I ride one) I could easily see it happening to the earlier models with the round tubing (does look sort of anemic) and for sure they should have replaced your frame.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Hank


I can't remember the exact year it was the last year they had the round tubeing for the Rockhopper and it cracked less than 2 years later with very little use. I gave it to a metal scrapping place since I didn't want someone to try to ride it and have it fail.


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## Berkley (May 21, 2007)

winchboy said:


> My 10 year old bike broke because I ran into a wall.
> Oh yeah the manufacturer should replace it.


With a quill stem and rigid fork, more like 15-20.


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## Jayem (Jul 16, 2005)

Yep, noticed it's a Rockhopper, one with a quill stem is like 1994ish? Pretty sure those had threadless by about ~96.


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## DirtyHank (Jul 2, 2012)

peanut09 said:


> I can't remember the exact year it was the last year they had the round tubeing for the Rockhopper and it cracked less than 2 years later with very little use. I gave it to a metal scrapping place since I didn't want someone to try to ride it and have it fail.


Definitely a good idea.

Too bad though hope you have a real nice bike these days and you don't slam into any walls.

Hank


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## peanut09 (Apr 13, 2005)

DirtyHank said:


> Definitely a good idea.
> 
> Too bad though hope you have a real nice bike these days and you don't slam into any walls.
> 
> Hank


I went with a Yeti this time since Specialized doesn't stand behind their product, they lost me as a customer for life after my experience. Not saying I think in the OP's case they should replace but I just find it odd that this frame cracked in the same place as mine started and all I did with mine was ride it around town when I was overseas.


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## ProfGumby (Feb 27, 2008)

Jayem said:


> Were huffys any better when they were made over here?


A friend informed me that, at one time, Huffy used to make bikes....my experience with them started in the late 70's and they were shiite then..

Back on topic, if it were me I would go through the dealer and see what Spesh says...maybe you can get a "crash frame' deal, maybe not. if you do get a deal, you will most likely end up with a frame that you will need mostly new parts for...maybe they will offer a discount on a current bike?Maybe not...

This is one reality of mountain biking...stuff breaks. Sometimes ya gotta replace stuff out of your own pocket. And if you were/are the original owner and you got like 20 years out of an all original bike, Holy Christmas Man! What more can a guy expect?

And consider this...steel will bend and crack....but tends to stay together. Aluminum tends to fail catastrophically. Meaning, one second your bombing down a hill the next your bikes in 2 pieces and your sucking on a tire at 20mph...


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## Vespasianus (Apr 9, 2008)

Jayem said:


> Yep, noticed it's a Rockhopper, one with a quill stem is like 1994ish? Pretty sure those had threadless by about ~96.


That is a 95. I had the same bike in grey. From the looks of it, it was an extra large frame. No?

I always thought that those old Rockhoppers were damn near unbreakable. You still see people ridding them around.


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## pimpbot (Dec 31, 2003)

*Uh...*



shwinn8 said:


> the price one pays sometimes for department story quality and cheap over seas manufacturing. not saying they are all bad, sometimes you get what you pay for and sometimes you get more then what you pay for... granted it should have had the " not made for off road use" sticker on it, not even weighing 100lbs. soaking wet i broke the rear shock mounting plate on the main frame of a Univega DS600 going down a ski mountain. the welds on both lower plates cracked, the plates spread apart and were pushed into the fame. i then upgraded to a Schwinn 4banger which proved to be 10x's stronger


What makes you think this was a department store bike? It's a 15-20-ish year old Rockhopper, pre-threadless headset.

Oh, and you misspelled 'Schwinn' in your username. Mega-LOLz. :lol: The funny part is you have three bikes to look at to get the correct spelling. 

Yeah, any bike can fold like that if you hit the front end the right (or wrong) way. Cheaper bikes (above WalMart grade) would probably take the hit better than more expensive frames, considering they typically aren't made to be light.

Ha, and a 4Banger is strong? Perhaps you haven't see the string of cracked ones on this site... well, maybe that was the old mtbr.com sitem pre 2003 or so when they switched over to the new format. All I can say is, watch your technique, keep the frame clean so you can keep a close eye on it for cracks.

https://forums.mtbr.com/gt/schwinn-4-banger-cracked-frame-100829.html


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## shwinn8 (Feb 25, 2006)

Did you hurt yourself typing all of that and finding them pictures? I could waste time myself hunting threads and pictures to post with cracked Cannondal's, Kona's, and others that have had failures... Everything has a potential to fail. Some failure rates happen to be higher then others. I would have expected an " Electrical Engineer " such as yourself with all that schooling would know that. and your screen name isn't anything special either


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## abelfonseca (Dec 26, 2011)

rockcrusher said:


> wheel fail:


That rotor seems to be holding up just fine.


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## Berkeley Mike (Jan 13, 2004)

You guys are killing me. 

The frame broke when it was finally, after 15 years of assorted use/abuse, ready to fail.

Suck it up and move on.


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