# Broken kona Operator..anyone else????



## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

This was a 2012 operator ridden by a smooth expert rider weighing approx. 140 pounds. yikes !!!!


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## eurospek (Sep 15, 2007)

Did warranty replace?


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## foulhabits (Mar 3, 2011)

wow im in at 165-170. That could have gone so bad. Seems it didnt. Im glad.


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## MTBCanuck (May 19, 2011)

Seems like an odd place to crack behind the weld. Too lazy to look up spec, dpes Kona still use scandium frames?


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## Gemini2k05 (Apr 19, 2005)

I've seen a pretty gnarly rider who's 220, mid pro, total plow rider, and his operator is holding up just fine. Must've just been unlucky.


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## saturnine (Mar 28, 2007)

it's always the smooth, light riders that crack the frames, isn't it?


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

Gemini2k05 said:


> I've seen a pretty gnarly rider who's 220, *mid pro*, total plow rider, and his operator is holding up just fine. Must've just been unlucky.


mid pro??? Please....


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## Tim F. (May 22, 2006)

Do he do that "just riding along..."? Seems a pretty common accurance.


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## MOJO K (Jan 26, 2007)

Looks like the ziptie isn't tight enough...causing excess cable-slap against the down tube


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## arkon11 (Jul 26, 2009)

pffft it's a Kona.


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## Gemini2k05 (Apr 19, 2005)

SHIVER ME TIMBERS said:


> mid pro??? Please....


You so silly.


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## toni31 (Jul 22, 2012)

Well, a broken bike is a broken bike, I guess it happens, maybe the frame was invalid, who knows...

Nothing the warranty replacement frame cant fix


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## Khartik (Nov 16, 2011)

Is there a dent on the other side of the frame? Looks kinda like the crack was caused by a lateral force. Like in a crash or something.


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## MOJO K (Jan 26, 2007)

Khartik said:


> Looks kinda like the crack was caused by a lateral force. Like ...


...Like cable slap?


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

toni31 said:


> Well, a broken bike is a broken bike, I guess it happens, maybe the frame was invalid, who knows...
> 
> Nothing the warranty replacement frame cant fix


hopefully they are better then my chainstay replacement...what a fricken pain and costly too....another rider just gave a way his too...because you could buy a complete kona at wheelworld at a cheaper place then a replacement


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## aedubber (Apr 17, 2011)

My Kona held up perfectly fine , im 200lbs with no armor , and im not the smoothest rider lol .. 

From that pic im assuming he must of been hitting some serious drops with it ? How did it happen..


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## 006_007 (Jan 12, 2004)

Roof rack incident?


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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

006_007 said:


> Roof rack incident?


riding


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## thesacrifice (Mar 12, 2004)

220lbs here and mines holding up so far. Tell your little buddy to warranty the frame and use the saved money for some food.


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## myarmisonfire (Mar 28, 2005)

Khartik said:


> Is there a dent on the other side of the frame? Looks kinda like the crack was caused by a lateral force. Like in a crash or something.


Yeah. I think that hitting a tree would cause a crack like that!


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## gticlay (Dec 13, 2007)

Meh, all aluminum frames will break at some point. Some frames have a flaw that makes it happen quicker. That's why they come with a warranty.


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## 1soulrider (Jan 21, 2004)

Looks like the same area of the frame where all those intenses were breaking a couple years back.
You have a very rigid junction of tubes as the tt dt and ht are all welded together. There is stress on the tubes just before they all come together as they are more flexable than the joined tubes.
Not that it should break, but it is easy to see why it could break there.


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## kidwoo (Aug 11, 2004)

It's also where the butting stops.

........and where I've seen at least one of almost every single kona dh bike ever made fail.


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

SHIVER ME TIMBERS said:


> This was a 2012 operator ridden by a smooth expert rider weighing approx. 140 pounds. yikes !!!!


Smooth Operator. Sade's BACK.


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## dbabuser (Jan 5, 2004)

So are you saying that frames last longer if you don't shave?


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## gticlay (Dec 13, 2007)




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## SHIVER ME TIMBERS (Jan 12, 2004)

Iggz said:


> Kona go boom
> 
> ]


yeah baby


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

dbabuser said:


> So are you saying that frames last longer if you don't shave?


Well duh.


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## Iggz (Nov 22, 2006)

Scythe said:


> That has to be one of the best pics I've seen on this forum.


It was an honor to deliver


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## myarmisonfire (Mar 28, 2005)

MTBCanuck said:


> Where is her underwear? Gross.


Underwear is for people who don't wipe their ass.


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## Deerhill (Dec 21, 2009)

Pancake butt - YouTube


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## Guy.Ford (Oct 28, 2009)

Scythe said:


> That has to be one of the best pics I've seen on this forum.


Photo was shopped do a search


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## arkon11 (Jul 26, 2009)

This thread is golden.


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## MTBCanuck (May 19, 2011)

Nothing like daylight through a box. There. I said it.


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## howardyudoing (Mar 31, 2010)

NFSW.....there should be a warning before you click in. lol


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## half_man_half_scab (Mar 7, 2006)

Subscribed


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## Iceman2058 (Mar 1, 2007)

Ah yes. The famous train gap.


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## WTF-IDK (Feb 23, 2009)

SHIVER ME TIMBERS said:


> This was a 2012 operator ridden by a smooth expert rider weighing approx. 140 pounds. yikes !!!!


Looks flexy.


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## Uncle Cliffy (Jul 7, 2006)

Wow. Epic derailment guys. (not that I'm complaining inbeforethelock)

Back on topic:


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## gticlay (Dec 13, 2007)

Let me guess, "Just Riding Along"! 



Uncle Cliffy said:


> Wow. Epic derailment guys. (not that I'm complaining inbeforethelock)
> 
> Back on topic:


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## toni31 (Jul 22, 2012)

Are we allowed to post broken specialized bikes?


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## dth656 (Feb 12, 2009)

does anyone have close up photos of the failure surface? it might be possible to tell what the failure mode was (i.e. shear failure versus tensile failure, for example).

in the pictures that uncle cliffy posted, it seems like something caused the material (i'm assuming some sort of aluminum alloy) to exceed its yield point, and move into plastic deformation. the pix that SMT posted showed failure w/o deformation. it's possible that it could be a combination of material defect (change in alloy microstructure due to welding) and also design defect (stress spiking beyond the yield point of aluminum in a load case not foreseen by the engineer)

File:Stress v strain Aluminum 2.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## gticlay (Dec 13, 2007)

dth656 said:


> does anyone have close up photos of the failure surface? it might be possible to tell what the failure mode was (i.e. shear failure versus tensile failure, for example).
> 
> in the pictures that uncle cliffy posted, it seems like something caused the material (i'm assuming some sort of aluminum alloy) to exceed its yield point, and move into plastic deformation. the pix that SMT posted showed failure w/o deformation. it's possible that it could be a combination of material defect (change in alloy microstructure due to welding) and also design defect (stress spiking beyond the yield point of aluminum in a load case not foreseen by the engineer)
> 
> File:Stress v strain Aluminum 2.png - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


And if there's a shiny rub spot anywhere where the tubes came apart, it means that it had cracked previously, then failed catastrophically later.


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## thrower78 (Dec 11, 2006)

Looks like the result of a large lateral force, like the forks slamming into the tubes in a big crash or frame hitting an object. If it was from the stresses of normal riding would you not expect the crack to be on the top or bottom. 
Hopefully you will get a replacement, I am waiting on the outcome of my own warranty claim at the moment except mine is a coilair


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## toni31 (Jul 22, 2012)

thrower78 said:


> Looks like the result of a large lateral force, like the forks slamming into the tubes in a big crash or frame hitting an object. If it was from the stresses of normal riding would you not expect the crack to be on the top or bottom.
> Hopefully you will get a replacement, I am waiting on the outcome of my own warranty claim at the moment except mine is a coilair


This is 2011 coilair?

How did this happen?

Looks like warranty case to me.


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## gticlay (Dec 13, 2007)

thrower78 said:


> Looks like the result of a large lateral force, like the forks slamming into the tubes in a big crash or frame hitting an object. If it was from the stresses of normal riding would you not expect the crack to be on the top or bottom.
> Hopefully you will get a replacement, I am waiting on the outcome of my own warranty claim at the moment except mine is a coilair


From your picture, it looks like it broke where the gusset ends - if you inspect closely, there's likely an issue with the weld somewhere - cold, pinholes, or some other type of "stress riser". Also likely that it cracked first and you'll the rub marks to prove it.


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## thrower78 (Dec 11, 2006)

Correct 2011 coilair, done a massive amount of riding on it in the last 4 months including mountain of hell and megavalanche, it has had 3 straight months of european bike parks and tracks. 
I was at Leogang leading up to the world champs, first ride down the hill on the hangman 1 track all good. Second ride hit the first big patch of roots, large cracking sound lost the rear end all over the place went down hard in the roots. Thats basicly it, it has cracked straight through the lower edge of the weld, it could not be more on the weld seam. Hopefully kona will pick up the tab so to speak, as it was only purchased in Feb and only ridden from June to now.


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