I too have always been highly skeptical of both the likelihood of such an accident, and the efficacy of 'breakaway' stays in preventing them. No less renowned cycling curmudgeons than Jobst Brandt AND Grant Petersen advocate their use, but I never have (used them), and I've never had a problem. I put this concept firmly in the same basket as cable hanger catchers and lawyer tips on forks. Perhaps if you've had it happen to you, you may well feel differently about it....
Sam Alison Prague, CZ
-----Original Message----- From: Raoul Delmare [mailto:Raoul.L.Delmare@worldnet.att.net] Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 5:15 PM To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org; Bruce C. Subject: Re: [CR]fender/mudguard question
I'm sure that somebody has been hurt this way , in the past , somewhere , sometime .
Personally , this does not seem a grave , nor an imminent , danger to me .
The idea is that something ( a stick , trash from the side of the road , etc. ) . . . Something will find itself trapped between the front tire , and the front fender . This will prevent the wheel from turning . There will be an instant full skid of the front tire . If all of this stress bends and buckles the front fender enough to interfere with the down-tube of the bicycle frame , then the rider will only be able to steer to one side , and not to the other .
Result ; an accident , followed immediately by reaching for the cell-phone and "speed-dialing" the favorite class-action-lawsuit attorney-lawyer .
So , take a close look at an SKS / ESGE front fender . Visiting the Rivendell web site is a quick way to take a close look at one , if you don't have one lying around somewhere .
http://www.rivendellbicycles.com
http://www.rivendellbicycles.com/
See the black plastic things which connect the stainless steel stays , to the front fenders ??
Those black plastic things are actually a sort of "quick-release" . If too much force is applied , the stays simply pop out of those little black plastic things , and the fenders flop around loose !!
Of course , even with the fender popped loose from the stays , you COULD still actually fall down .
Fall down while riding a bicycle ? Horrors ! Who ever heard of such a thing ?
Quick Henry , the class-action lawsuit !!
( no , I'm not old enough to remember ads for "Flit!" , but I always did like Theodore Seuss Geisel , "Dr. Seuss"
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/
Raoul Delmare
Marysville Kansas U.S.A.
> In the recent Riv e-mail update, a refence is made to the fenders that
were
> to be used with the new Quickbeam single-speed bike that Riv is
> planning
to
> produce. (Keeper of the flame?) Grant says that he had to change the
> supplier because the mudguards he wanted to use had no "quick-release"
> feature. I have used Bluemel in the past (wish those red ones didn't
> get sent to the Salvation Army in '85) and have Planet Bike ones on
> the
Woodrup
> and the tandem...but I can't see any quick release feature that would
> supposedly reduce the chance of serious injury. Since I do plan to use
> Bluemels in a restoration, what should I be aware/afraid of? Is the
> original hardware dangerous and if so, how? thanks!
> Doug Wagner
> Richmond,KY,where Indian Summer is over and the wool will come out this
> week-end.
>
>
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