I was so lucky where this happened, check your alloy parts guys..this failure faceplanted me

Gary

Old Tartan Bollocks
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Mar 29, 2018
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the internet
Yeah. I think you need to change your title.
Perhaps something along the lines of...

Don't expect £6 bars from ali Express to last 5 years

Also... how exactly are you expecting folk to "check for fatigue"?
From the look of the raw alloy mark on the clamping surface of your bars you run your nail across at 2:42. They've either been overtightened in the stem clamp or they were a terrible fit to begin with.

Glad you're ok

Looks like you're riding a £70 Ali Express fork as well... if that's the quality of the whole bike you've converted to an Ebike I'd be-rethinking the whole thing TBH
 
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Bobbobby

Active member
Nov 7, 2018
84
159
United Kingdom
Yeah. I think you need to change your title.
Perhaps something along the lines of...

Don't expect £6 bars from ali Express to last 5 years

Also... how exactly are you expecting folk to "check for fatigue"?
From the look of the raw alloy mark on the clamping surface of your bars you run your nail across at 2:42. They've either been overtightened in the stem clamp or they were a terrible fit to begin with.

Glad you're ok

Looks like you're riding a £70 Ali Express fork as well... if that's the quality of the whole bike you've converted to an Ebike I'd be-rethinking the whole thing TBH
yes, I was waiting for...shxt cheap bars, what do you expect.
I actually expected the forks to fail, never thought of the bars.
 

lightning

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2021
715
410
UK
Why does the video go black at the point the bars break?

That's scary though, l am thinking of all the cheap bikes l've ridden over the years and never thought about the bars snapping.
 

Bobbobby

Active member
Nov 7, 2018
84
159
United Kingdom
Why does the video go black at the point the bars break?

That's scary though, l am thinking of all the cheap bikes l've ridden over the years and never thought about the bars snapping.
i wasnt recording, I walked around a bit dazed before turning it back on.
i use a mouth mount and put in my pocket between shots
 

lightning

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2021
715
410
UK
My friend bought a fairly cheap mountain bike from a local discount bike store, the top blew out of one of the fork legs and flew right past his face, fortunately missing him.

The bike store provided a complementary new bike, the next model up in the range. The bike wasn't THAT bad, it was a branded make and not a £150 junker. But with a cheap fork that likely wasn't up to off road abuse.

l guess that cheap components are to be avoided, as already suggested.

Glad the O/P didn't suffer any harm from the failure of the bars, that could have ended very badly.
 
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Bobbobby

Active member
Nov 7, 2018
84
159
United Kingdom
Well, you might have a case against the cycle manufacturer if the bars snapped, cheap bars or not.

Were they original to the bike, or aftermarket?

My friend bought a fairly cheap mountain bike from a local discount bike store, the top blew out of one of the fork legs and flew right past his face, fortunately missing him.

The bike store provided a complementary new bike, the next model up in the range. The bike wasn't THAT bad, it was a branded make and not a £150 junker. But with a cheap fork that likely wasn't up to off road abuse.

Sold as a "mountain bike" though. The replacement bike has been fine.
aftermarket ebay specials.
they lasted 5 years..so cant complain really
 

apac

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
Aug 14, 2019
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glad you made it home in one piece. Maybe it's time to get some Renthals?
 

Zimmerframe

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Jun 12, 2019
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And prefer to type factual information rather than utter nonsense.
I've found that to be far less fun ...

Obviously not in this case as it turns out the bars were aftermarket and not original to the bike.
@Bobbobby did say that it was aftermarket, cheap and 5 years old in the video ..

It could also have broken/weakened if it was over tightened.

More important was the one handed steering with the other hand braking with the remote control - I think this could be a fun new sport..
 

Mikerb

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
May 16, 2019
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Weymouth
Take note of the grade of alloy when you buy your new bars. Not all ally is created equal! You get what you pay for as always. The leverage force on the bars with a fat bike is greater as well.
 

Zimmerframe

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Take note of the grade of alloy when you buy your new bars. Not all ally is created equal! You get what you pay for as always. The leverage force on the bars with a fat biker is greater as well.
That's not a very nice thing to say. I'm sure @Bobbobby is perfectly proportioned.

Fortunately he can carry on making cool video's for us to watch.
 

lightning

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2021
715
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UK
Thank you for the kind comments.

l guess my advice wasn't properly thought out.

Have a nice day.
 
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Zimmerframe

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Were they original to the bike, or aftermarket?
Well, you might have a case against the cycle manufacturer if the bars snapped, cheap bars or not.
Don't expect £6 bars from ali Express to last 5 years
l've been involved in product litigation for thirty six years, and can promise you that what l wrote above is anything but nonsense.

⚡ - you can't possibly take that tract surely ? If you watched the video then all of your comments were irrelevant ??? I know @Gary can be fairly direct in his comments, but then isn't someone saying the OP should look into litigation whist completely ignoring all the presented facts, just asking to be called out and put their hand up and say "oops, sorry, I didn't have the sound on" ?!?
 

lightning

Well-known member
Apr 5, 2021
715
410
UK
Yes in the end you are probably right, l didn't read the original post properly, l just looked at the video and took it on face value.

l've updated my various posts to remove the inaccurate comments, where possible.
 
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RustyIron

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Jun 5, 2021
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Holy cow! Glad you're ok. Aluminum fatigues, for sure. Carbon does too, but not as quickly. But I suspect the main cause of the failure isn't that the bars are made of aluminum, but that the aluminum was alloyed with bat shit.

Frames, bars, wheels, stems, seatposts--they're all critical structural components that need to have the logo of a legitimate manufacturer of mountain bike parts.
 
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mtb-steve

Member
Nov 4, 2021
113
98
Cumbria
This used to be a big problem years ago when Rethal aluminium bars first came out for motorbikes, they used to snap at the clamps and it was because the clamps had a sharp edge, this causes a stress point leading to the break seen in the video, I've seen it loads of times.
All you need to do is make sure there is a slight chamfer or rounded edge on the clamps, always check this on any stem or bar clamp.
By the way, overtightening the clamp shouldn't bother the bars as they're a round tube, you'd have to go super tight to crush the tube and the little screws just aren't capable of providing the force before the threads strip. However it's never a good idea to overtighten the screws beyond the spec.

Steve
 

RustyIron

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Jun 5, 2021
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La Habra, California
This used to be a big problem years ago when Rethal aluminium bars first came out for motorbikes,

I wasn't aware of this. Aluminum bars were becoming a thing back when I was riding. I wasn't walking around with thick wads of tens and twenties in my pockets back then, so aluminum was out of the question. In those days, cromoly was what most guys ran. Even so, I'd regularly bend them. More affordable bars were available, but they'd turn to pretzels pretty quickly. On the bright side, we could sometimes bend them back into something that vaguely resembled their original shape.
 

maynard

E*POWAH Elite World Champion
I wasn't a fan of the way you held the useless bar in your hand . I would of taped that shit to the bike and carried on . Not shore if i would of worked out too jamm A piece if wood in the bar like someone suggested. I would of placed my right hand over the headset . But yeah loving ur sense of adventure and positive attitude. Reminds me of me when I got my first eeb . Girlfriend. Car . Job .
 

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