To V20c as a lifelong DF roadie

[gaspi101]

Please don't ride with this makeshift "repair". I have worked on repairing carbon fiber aircraft with a licensed mechanic. To repair a tubular structure like this you need to make a scarf joint. That requires sanding down each side on a sharp angle to expose the fibers, then adding a new section between them with the same carbon fiber fabric layup and the same or a compatible epoxy resin. It also requires a jig to get it back in alignment. It's not worth the effort for such a small part like this.

You didn't do any surface prep, and you didn't replace the broken fibers. The epoxy alone has little breaking strength. If it brakes you will lose control and crash again. So you are putting yourself and others at risk.

Thanks, braced it with several metal clamps and it held for 23 miles yesterday just fine. It’s not a high-torque part when riding slowly…replacement arrives Thursday, and won’t be riding until then. Appreciate the heads-up.

 

[Frito Bandito]

I understand your desire to get out and ride the new toy. I'd probably do the same. 1 good thing about being so low is that during crashes most of the time it results in road rash which is the lesser of 2 evils. But getting into the +20mph range stuff starts to get real, so give it a few days to practice low speed turns and figure 8s in an empty parking lot to improve your handling. That way you won't look like the idiot I am at traffic lights or stop signs

 

[Don1]

or die

 

[DavidCH]

Whenever I deck a vendetta the boom takes a shock as does the handlebar. If the repair isn't toughened enough , it won't be the handlebars that take the knock but yer leg. Why not wear some kevlar shorts if you like going fast?

 

[trplay]

Hmm, you don't even need handlebars to race in tonights ZRL. Seems like a sensible place for that rig until the proper parts come in. Just saying.

 

[Andreas]

Hi Gaspi,

thanks for the compliments. But your bike is a beauty as well, it looks so clean with the absence of cables. If I'm sure that the handle bar position is final, I may optimize the cable routing a bit.
The build was less tricky than expected. Some evenings after work and a Satureday and it was almost complete. There were moments of despair, but in the end I always found what I did wrong.

First, buy some pedals with clips like SPD immediately, and loosen the screws so that they are easy to get in and out....

Yes, I realized already while riding, that with SPDs it should be much easier to conrol the bike. But while doing very narrow figure-8s I still need to have the foot in 0.2 sec on the ground. So I think Iˋll replace my current cleats with some new multi-directional ones for a while.

Second: Raising your neck and shoulders 5cm from the neck rest while pedaling will immediately increase stability....

You're completely right. This is what I learned already after the first 3 curves in the parking lot And on the road, as soon as I approach some traffic, my shoulders are automatically going up.

Anyway, here is me and my new friend John on today’s ride, both of us on our Vendettas.

Wow, great to have another Cruzbiker to ride with directly from the start.

My first experiences: in climbs I have the best control over the bike, balancing seems easier if you have to push harder. If this is how cleats will feel, then I'm very optimistic.
Although I'm trying to go very slowly at the moment, I "accidentally" got a Strava PR just because I felt more safe not to get to slow in that climb ;-)

Hope your V will get fixed very soon.

 

[Andreas]

Lucky indeed. I got in touch with https://cycles-bentoline.com/ a few months ago, and was told they didn't have anything left.
Maybe language barrier. That should have been my bike!

Tinker, I'm sorry for you (hmm, really? ;-). But you got bentoline correct, my luck was probably that you did not try "the other" French dealer, did you?
Don't be sad, be happy to have a better choice of parts (axle, flat mount) and nice internal wiring once you figured out how to install it.
Or do you want to swap?

 

[gaspi101]

Thanks, braced it with several metal clamps and it held for 23 miles yesterday just fine. It’s not a high-torque part when riding slowly…replacement arrives Thursday, and won’t be riding until then. Appreciate the heads-up.

Ok not true, it’s tuesday and I went out for a ride around the neighborhood by myself as soon as i got home…10 minutes, was the idea….2 hours later…almost missed dinner! damn this thing is so much fun

 

[gaspi101]

Hmm, you don't even need handlebars to race in tonights ZRL. Seems like a sensible place for that rig until the proper parts come in. Just saying.

Thanks but after spending an hour trying to put the front wheel back on, I’ll wait for the second-hand baccheta i just bought to put on the trainer…Hope I never get a flat because holy moly, i was not prepared for the whole thing to come apart like that…

 

[vosadrian]

Thanks but after spending an hour trying to put the front wheel back on, I’ll wait for the second-hand baccheta i just bought to put on the trainer…Hope I never get a flat because holy moly, i was not prepared for the whole thing to come apart like that…

It gets easier with practise and also there is a cable tie mod you can do that keeps everything together. I find it easier with di2 so the derailer can be disconnected.

I saw you photos of the damaged boom above. It is a little disconcerting to see that. Not sure if the breaking is safer (breaking to reduce impace to rider) or not (exposed sharp carbon). Has anyone ever bent the older aluminium boom from similar impacts?

 

[Derek]

I understand your desire to get out and ride the new toy. I'd probably do the same. 1 good thing about being so low is that during crashes most of the time it results in road rash which is the lesser of 2 evils. But getting into the +20mph range stuff starts to get real, so give it a few days to practice low speed turns and figure 8s in an empty parking lot to improve your handling. That way you won't look like the idiot I am at traffic lights or stop signs

Agreed. I crashed at 21mph on the v20 last year and will never walk the same.

 

[Frito Bandito]

Agreed. I crashed at 21mph on the v20 last year and will never walk the same.

I was scared to click the ">" after the "Well, don't go to those places pic. Hope you can still cycle the same though

 

[gaspi101]

Agreed. I crashed at 21mph on the v20 last year and will never walk the same.

Yowza! That looks pretty horrible! Can you say a little more about the accident? how did it happen? Hope you are on the mend.

 

[Derek]

Yowza! That looks pretty horrible! Can you say a little more about the accident? how did it happen? Hope you are on the mend.

Rode early (4am start) while it was still dewy and foggy out. I think all that moisture condensed on the cool metal bridge I went over, and it acted like a sheet of ice. My wheels immediately slid sideways out from under me, and my foot which was clipped into my pedal, caught the vertical edge of the grating and rolled the my ankle at 100x the force of a normal ankle rolling. My ankle broke into 4 pieces (1 of which popped out through my skin) and my fibula spiral (butterfly) fractured. It was a pretty unreal situation that took all of 3 seconds from
start to finish. In the end, the bike flipped over me and landed in front, and I had to 1 legged/armed crab walk my way over to the guardraIl while splinting my flopping leg with my other arm. I’m now considered MMI which is medical jargon for “as good as you’re gonna get”, which is fine. I can tell when storms are coming based on how my ankle feels, it hurts first thing in the morning, and stairs are a little difficult, but otherwise I’m alright. Rode a century in under 5 hrs this summer which I couldn’t do before my injury. So, I’ve overcome the setback to my riding.

Take it from me, you don’t want to risk another 20mph crash. They can go much worse than your last one!

 

[vosadrian]

Ouch!!

 

[Andreas]

Hi Derek,
thanks for sharing your experience, which steers my euphoria as a newcomer in a healthy direction.
I hope that one day it will heal completely.

Can anyone explain to me why my yesterdayˋs reply to Gaspi is stuck in the following state?
"This message is awaiting moderator approval, and is invisible to normal visitors."

 

[Randyc3]

A

Yeah I was looking for that in Home Depot but they didn’t have…They said this would hold very strong…will see! Final product is not too pretty but I hope it holds for a week or so of light use. View attachment 13925

Please don't ride with this makeshift "repair". I have worked on repairing carbon fiber aircraft with a licensed mechanic. To repair a tubular structure like this you need to make a scarf joint. That requires sanding down each side on a sharp angle to expose the fibers, then adding a new section between them with the same carbon fiber fabric layup and the same or a compatible epoxy resin. It also requires a jig to get it back in alignment. It's not worth the effort for such a small part like this.

You didn't do any surface prep, and you didn't replace the broken fibers. The epoxy alone has little breaking strength. If it brakes you will lose control and crash again. So you are putting yourself and others at risk.

Glad to hear you are ok. TransAm is totally correct. Please do not ride with this fix. It is very risky and will fail sometime soon(another aircraft guy’s opinion). If you want to do something, send a picture to Calfee and have them provide an opinion on the fix or if it is even possible. Stay safe.

 

[Gary123]

Rode early (4am start) while it was still dewy and foggy out. I think all that moisture condensed on the cool metal bridge I went over, and it acted like a sheet of ice. My wheels immediately slid sideways out from under me, and my foot which was clipped into my pedal, caught the vertical edge of the grating and rolled the my ankle at 100x the force of a normal ankle rolling. My ankle broke into 4 pieces (1 of which popped out through my skin) and my fibula spiral (butterfly) fractured. It was a pretty unreal situation that took all of 3 seconds from
start to finish. In the end, the bike flipped over me and landed in front, and I had to 1 legged/armed crab walk my way over to the guardraIl while splinting my flopping leg with my other arm. I’m now considered MMI which is medical jargon for “as good as you’re gonna get”, which is fine. I can tell when storms are coming based on how my ankle feels, it hurts first thing in the morning, and stairs are a little difficult, but otherwise I’m alright. Rode a century in under 5 hrs this summer which I couldn’t do before my injury. So, I’ve overcome the setback to my riding.

Take it from me, you don’t want to risk another 20mph crash. They can go much worse than your last one!

Are u still riding cruzbike?

 

[gaspi101]

Rode early (4am start) while it was still dewy and foggy out. I think all that moisture condensed on the cool metal bridge I went over, and it acted like a sheet of ice. My wheels immediately slid sideways out from under me, and my foot which was clipped into my pedal, caught the vertical edge of the grating and rolled the my ankle at 100x the force of a normal ankle rolling. My ankle broke into 4 pieces (1 of which popped out through my skin) and my fibula spiral (butterfly) fractured. It was a pretty unreal situation that took all of 3 seconds from
start to finish. In the end, the bike flipped over me and landed in front, and I had to 1 legged/armed crab walk my way over to the guardraIl while splinting my flopping leg with my other arm. I’m now considered MMI which is medical jargon for “as good as you’re gonna get”, which is fine. I can tell when storms are coming based on how my ankle feels, it hurts first thing in the morning, and stairs are a little difficult, but otherwise I’m alright. Rode a century in under 5 hrs this summer which I couldn’t do before my injury. So, I’ve overcome the setback to my riding.

Take it from me, you don’t want to risk another 20mph crash. They can go much worse than your last one!

Last year a friend of mine was sprinting up one of the many draw-bridges here...we call the metal surface "cheese-graters" for a reason. It was wet, he went down face first. It was gruesome, he's still not back. Those metal bridges, especially when wet, are a menace. Sorry to hear about your accident, can't have been easy. Congrats on coming back strong. Makes me wonder, per capita, are Cruzbike crashes more common than DF bike crashes...is anyone aware of any statistical analysis about this? I hate to hear these horror stories always, but I'm particularly concerned when I'm still not comfortable riding at 18mph+, and can't seem to do that in a very straight line yet.

 

[gaspi101]

Glad to hear you are ok. TransAm is totally correct. Please do not ride with this fix. It is very risky and will fail sometime soon(another aircraft guy’s opinion). If you want to do something, send a picture to Calfee and have them provide an opinion on the fix or if it is even possible. Stay safe.

I appreciate it, don't worry, brand new replacement arriving in the mail tomorrow.