kanga
Active Member
Last Friday we had a little incident up in the Sierras, a long way from anywhere.
About five miles into a 26 mile ride down the Cannell Trail, one of our group jumped a small rock, and on landing from about a 1' air, broke his Santa Cruz chainstay and lower pivot:
So faced with a 5 mile hike back followed by 35 miles of road to get back to the bottom, or a 20 mile hike out, we decided to splint it. One of our riders had a spare 12mm through axle, which was ideal for what we needed: a strong, stiff item to splint the broken chainstay. Yep, splint, as in first aid.
Maybe this will do it:
So we proceeded to hold it in place with surgical tape:
Then duct tape and zip ties:
Then Athletic tape:
At first he rode pretty cautiously, walking rocky sections and anything challenging, but after a few miles, and successfully riding the Kidney Punch section of Cannell, he was a lot less cautious:
Still holding up half way down:
We didn't realize it at the time, but he'd also broken one of the pivots. Every time his suspension flexed or he applied the rear brake, the rear wheel would twist in the frame. Turning on the bike was difficult too... a left turn was hard to negotiate because the back wheel was completely out line with the front.
By the time we were half way down the plunge, Joe was still avoiding any big hits, but he wasn't exactly babying the broken bike. He was only a few minutes behind the rest of the group at each re-group.
What could have been a logistical disaster in trying to get out of there sans bike, worked out for the best with a little ingenuity, duct tape and zip ties.... and a 12mm through axle.
BTW, who carries a spare through axle anyway? We were glad someone did, though a seatpost or even a mini-pump would have been the next best thing.
Joe, Making it out the bottom, after 20 miles and 7000' of descent, 1600' of climbing, still rolling and still relatively intact:
About five miles into a 26 mile ride down the Cannell Trail, one of our group jumped a small rock, and on landing from about a 1' air, broke his Santa Cruz chainstay and lower pivot:
So faced with a 5 mile hike back followed by 35 miles of road to get back to the bottom, or a 20 mile hike out, we decided to splint it. One of our riders had a spare 12mm through axle, which was ideal for what we needed: a strong, stiff item to splint the broken chainstay. Yep, splint, as in first aid.
Maybe this will do it:
So we proceeded to hold it in place with surgical tape:
Then duct tape and zip ties:
Then Athletic tape:
At first he rode pretty cautiously, walking rocky sections and anything challenging, but after a few miles, and successfully riding the Kidney Punch section of Cannell, he was a lot less cautious:
Still holding up half way down:
We didn't realize it at the time, but he'd also broken one of the pivots. Every time his suspension flexed or he applied the rear brake, the rear wheel would twist in the frame. Turning on the bike was difficult too... a left turn was hard to negotiate because the back wheel was completely out line with the front.
By the time we were half way down the plunge, Joe was still avoiding any big hits, but he wasn't exactly babying the broken bike. He was only a few minutes behind the rest of the group at each re-group.
What could have been a logistical disaster in trying to get out of there sans bike, worked out for the best with a little ingenuity, duct tape and zip ties.... and a 12mm through axle.
BTW, who carries a spare through axle anyway? We were glad someone did, though a seatpost or even a mini-pump would have been the next best thing.
Joe, Making it out the bottom, after 20 miles and 7000' of descent, 1600' of climbing, still rolling and still relatively intact:
