K2 / Proflex Riders Group
General => Tech Forum => Topic started by: Carbon_Kiwi on March 24, 2003, 01:03:10 pm
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share yr stories - i was just wondering how durable these sucker's are ;)
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I'm sure you'll get great responses here. Personally, while I haven't done some the the north shore drops, but I have not pampered my carbon. It has been one of, if not the, most durable bike in my midwest ozark hills clan. I have dropped it off hillsides and into trees, fallen on railroad rails, and generally jumped it, bashed it, and roused it about. Nooooo signs of breaking or wear. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!
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awesome! great feedback there GET ;)
i'm not hard on my gear and don't have many off's so it sounds [so far] like i'll have no problems.
i am after all a xc rider and tend 2 keep my wheels on the ground as much as possible...
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thats the way i am too. but captainamerica is generally a nutcase when he's in the saddle and he's put his down hard several times with no bad outcomes. everyone says that they are pretty much bullet proof and you don't here about too many getting broke (i know grimjack ;))
.............peace [smiley=nod.gif]
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dave will surely post up a real good story about how he "wrinkled" up his Oz real good..
not really cracked but compression wrinkled... it looked neat, cuz carbon usually splinters, but Daves ended up "wrinkled" like a old lady's skin.... :o
Daves got real bad luck with bike frames/parts... god forbid he ever launchs a 10' drop, his bike will prolyl give off a thermo-nuclear reaction... [smiley=bomb.gif] [smiley=dead.gif] :-X
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and i called you the madman [smiley=laughing.gif]
............peace [smiley=nod.gif]
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yeah i always seem to break myself instead...
[smiley=furious.gif]
suks actualyl cuz its not my choice...
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BTW, the outside shell of the Oz frame is actually a thermoplastic. Inside is a flat carbon fiber "backbone". The frame is a 3-piece clamshell kind of assembly. So it is not surprising that the outer skin would "wrinkle". I guess its possible to break just about anything.
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a couple of years ago now, i was riding my favorite single trak down in a canyon behind my neighborhood. it was thorn and thistle season but i had my mr. tuffies in the tubes and was feeling confident.
this trail crosses the sometimes rapid running stream and in a particular spot, has a 55-75 degree drop into the bottom. i usually ride up to it, check it out, back up a ways then make a run at it for the ten foot drop or so to the bottom.
this time however i'd been there a couple of days before so the everchanging drop was familiar 'cept this time i hit it going slow for some reason and the front wheel dropped quicker than expected and hit a newly exposed tree root about half way down instead of rolling neatly into the stream bottom. the crosslink compressed and i went headover launching the carbon to what i would considered for the time, a world record 18 feet 9 inches from the spot of my personal impact, and across/onto the bank on the other side, crashing against some large boulders and trees.
i remember thinking, "GODFREY DANIEL MOTHER OF PEARl !" (to quote one of the fabulous furry freak brothers from the 70's) in the instant i did my best to separate myself from my ride. i landed on my back on my waterpack, which saved my hide, my helmet was thoroughly trashed and my left shoulder wasn't functional - but i was alive and that was a good thing.
staring up at the canopy of trees and after i caught my breath and senses and being glad only my legs were laying in the water, i maneuvered my left arm back to near it's original position and held down the clavacle by cinching down the water pack straps.
back to the bike, i waded over bike to find minor scratches that could easily be buffed out and a front tire that seemed to have only 10-15 pounds max of pressure in it - mr. tuffy missed a thorn and my front tire collapsed and stuck on the rut instead of bouncing off and rolling over it. (this analysis was supplied to me by kiwi at the time) did my best to ride home one armed.
i buffed out the surface scratches in the bike in the weeks to come, the deep gouges still remain as a reminder - shoulder still bothers me when i try to sleep.
an aluminum bike would have pretzel'd.
OP
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Ouch to that OP! I haven't had any diggers of that caliber but numerous offs here and there without a problem. Some were in rock gardens, and having been a Kestrel owner I expected the worse but the Oz has held up fine everytime..
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southern kiwi
just go check out the reviews on 4500c, 5500c & Oz-M reviews on mtbreview.com
Most of those folks say the frame is bomb proof, and they won't be looking for another frame for life, period!
I can't see me selling mine......ever. That's not to say I would never get a stable mate to keep her company in the garage.
Oz-SUB
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i have had to lay her down a few times :-*, but nothing extraordinary or worth repeatiing. she has a few scrathes on her swingarm, and QR's, but the frame is still fine.
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OP - that's a very vivid picture you painted - thanks for sharing it with us :)
i'm feeling very confident with all the feedback so far... ;)
however, i've decided i REALLY need to move somewhere where i have good trails in my neighbourhood [rather than having to drive to get to them]...
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heheh i feel your pain OP...
my (broken clavical) side bothers me when i try to sleep on it to...
im guessing its never gunna go away.... [smiley=dead.gif]
broken bones should be illegal.... >:(
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OP and IFO- don't worry re: clavicle pain. Mine was a compound butterfly fracture and within 4 years pain free. I know that sounds like 4 ever but hang in there...
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Ok, ok, I guess I have to chip in here, as I am the only person to EVER break one of those frames.
I put that frame through hell, without a doubt. Thing is, I'd check it out after every ride where I crashed with a fine toothed comb, and never did a problem arise. And I crashed plenty, believe it... and the frame took everything I could dish out, and more. Mind you, at the time I was riding essentially XC - I'm STILL afraid of drops, but even so, high speed crashes on sharp rocks do as much or more damage than 15 foot hucks, I figure.
It wasn't until I started riding better, with no crashes at all, when the frame wrinkled on the downtube.
Now I can't say what the cause was, but I'm guessing that it was a manufacturing flaw, as K2 replaced it without complaint. Either that or it was a goodwill gesture, but whatever the case, it speaks well of K2. Either these frames are so tough that they can stand up to my riding even when flawed, or K2 is so customer oriented that they are willing to replace a frame that was used beyond it's design.
Sounds like a win-win situation to me.
Bottom line: There are many of these frames still in use around the world, and I am the only person I know who has managed to injure one. That's a tough bike.
PS: I've also broken an Ellsworth Joker, which is a supposedly bombproof frame. Someone ever comes out with a GrimJack-proof frame, I'm all over it like stink on a baby! [smiley=laughing.gif]
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Now I can't say what the cause was, but I'm guessing that it was a manufacturing flaw, as K2 replaced it without complaint. [smiley=laughing.gif]
What did they replace it with? I didn't think they have any carbs left.
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They had at least one left then, 'cause that's what they gave me! :)
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the only other damaged carbon frame i saw was for sale last year - the pics are on my old computer.
the guy said he was stuffing the bike in the trunk of his car and wasn't quite all the way in. his friend grabbed the trunk lid and pulled it down. it caused a wrinkled section in the top tube near the head. he sent me some closeup pics that i forwarded to k2 tech and they said the bike should still be quite rideable.
passed on it tho' -
the worst thing i can think of that happens to the main triangles, and similar to the dropouts, is that the seat tube clamp internals can work loose over time and need to be rebonded. oh, and the clouding of the finish due to carbon/plastic separation - that's minor tho and a good layer of mud and dirt covers that easily.
(different manufacturers for the swingarms and main frames)
OP
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They had at least one left then, 'cause that's what they gave me! :)
When was this? And have you ridden the new one as hard or harder than before?
thanks for sharing.
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share yr stories - i was just wondering how durable these sucker's are ;)
I once took a bad line and stupidly followed it right off the edge of a near cliff. I travelled with the bike for a bit but a tree was nice enough to stop me from rolling all the way down. Unfortunately, the bike continued on its own for another hundred feet before it got tangled in some other tree. After a few minutes taking stock of myself to make sure I still had all my body parts, I made my way towards my bike and checked it out. Aside from brake levers, saddle and barends turned all sorts of wrong ways, the bike was fine. I did end up retruing the wheels though. My last big crash however was also a stupid one (bike came out fine)...
http://journals.neebu.net/khuon/archives/000012.html
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"I landed pretty much face first. My bike actually flipped over my head and landed in front of me. My helmet visor went flying one way... my Rudys snapped (@#!#^$*!!)."
Did you get your Rudy's replaced? Rudy has a pretty good replacement policy. One of buddies accidently stepped on his and he had his replaced at a reason replacement cost.
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When was this? And have you ridden the new one as hard or harder than before?
thanks for sharing.
This was some time ago by now, and I never rode the replacement. I sold it to Mike over the pond for his wife's ride.
I would have ridden it, problem was it took a few months to get. Had to send it across the border into the USA to the mail order place where I bought it, then they had to ship it to K2, back to the mail order place, then back to me. Biggest problems were customs both ways of course, it waited several weeks either direction according to the online tracking system.
Add to that the fact that I had a few extra thousand bucks burning a hole in my pocket from a bonus at work, and the fact that I found an Ellsworth Joker frame for cheap... and I liked the similarities between the EVO / Oz series and the Joker... so I bought a Joker the day after I discovered the wrinkles in my Oz, and never went back.
I rode the Joker for quite some time, until I snapped it up at Whistler, likely from screwing up a table top jump. Ellsworth replaced the frame free under warranty - their lifetime warranty truly is hassle free! But had the same problems with customs... the first time I shipped it, it was actually refused entry into the US!!! So, I sent it across the border with a riding buddy who shipped it USPS, then waited like 6 more weeks while it came back through Customs. Of course, by then I'd bought a Santa Cruz Bullit, which I am riding now.
I still have a spare Joker frame in case I break my Bullit, too. 'Course, now I'll never break another frame, but it's nice to have the insurance! [smiley=nod.gif]
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"I landed pretty much face first. My bike actually flipped over my head and landed in front of me. My helmet visor went flying one way... my Rudys snapped (@#!#^$*!!)."
Did you get your Rudy's replaced? Rudy has a pretty good replacement policy. One of buddies accidently stepped on his and he had his replaced at a reason replacement cost.
Yep. I exercised their replacement policy. Since the frame wasn't broken under warranty (my fault as opposed to manufacturer defect) but the lenses were covered under their "normal use no-fault guarantee", they ended up charging me about half the price of the frame which was around US$50 to get the whole thing replaced. Still a bit of cash but I have no complaints.
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the oz is the bike I broke me sternum on...aaarrrghhh!!! [smiley=turtle.gif]two years of it abusing me and so far nothing outside of small scratches on the downtube and swingarm.