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news
rear wheel fail2.pngWhat happens when a carbon track disc wheel fails?
Carbon fibre is an amazingly strong material, but sometimes (thankfully very rarely these days) it can fail. But when it does, it usually goes in dramatic and spectacular style. Such as this moment when a carbon disc wheel disintegrated during a 200m flying track sprint.
The spectacular crash happened to Team GB's Matthew Crampton at the Coupe de France Fenioux Piste event held on the Saint-Quentin-En-Yvelines velodrome recently. We don't know the details of the incident and what actually caused the rear wheel to fail. Was it a puncture that initiated the total destruction of the wheel, or was it another cause? It looks like hthe aluminium rim separates from the carbon disc, which could perhaps suggest a delamination has occured.
Thankfully Matthew was okay and he's seen picking himself up off the track, presumably a bit bemused at the whole incident.
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
Latest Comments
- Keykey1985 56 min 36 sec ago
He wasn't brake-checking me, he was trying to get me to stop. Nothing good would have come from me stopping.
- PRSboy 1 hour 14 min ago
It was designed around 28mm tyres but there's lots of clearance and could certainly take bigger tyres.
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A dinosaur version is shurely for the kiddies. Myself I'd like The Hindenburg. There may be The Freisian, filled with methane rather than hydrogen,...
- Rendel Harris 1 hour 18 min ago
No evidence on the video of any interaction between themselves and the cyclist so possibly they simply didn't get the reg number?
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When I see SLOW HORSES I always think ah, so this is where the ones I bet on are kept...
- ktache 2 hours 6 min ago
The proximity to the Transport Research Labs at Crowthorne means that the area often gets weird new stuff.
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No great mystery in either case, surely? Both US politician and the motor trade say "choose us and your life will be better and easier!" And other...
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theres an attitude I encounter alot locally, and demonstrated in bucket loads by drivers on my commute home tonight, that cyclists shouldnt be on...
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If the chains snap that is lack of build quality or material.....
- Hirsute 6 hours 40 min ago
"Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but one sinner destroys much good."
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8 comments
You know, the more I see, the more nervous I get about this new fangled plastic stuff!
I wonder where the 5k euros mavic asks for this wheel go... items of that price cannot fail!!
Other image
Ci-KTRsWYAA4gBG.jpg
If you look at the images of the wheel, I'd say the carbon has somehow come away from the rim at one point and then it has let loose.
Ci-KTRwWgAEa7Y3.jpg
It looks like the rim came off first, and after a few metres, the rest of the wheel followed suit.
Surprisingly safe, managed to stay upright whilst losing a lot of momentum. I wonder what it did to the track surface.
Although imagine being a visually impaired rider on a tandem when the front wheel fails in the same way!
https://youtu.be/Ngv7Iu3y1o0
Impressive that the captain kept the bike upright for so long.
Is that Barney Storey (Sighted Pilot) and Neil Fachie (Blind Stoker)? Not that it is that important, but, it would be nice to know who to applaud.
Exceptional skills on display to mitigate the consequences of the event. Bravo!