At a seminar a couple of weeks ago I was walking past the exhibitors tables when a broken bicycle fork caught my eye. Since I ride my road bike 2 to 5 days a week during the summer (it seems I am becoming more and more of a weekend warrior) this grabbed my attention. I stopped and began speaking with Erin Higinbotham, a licensed engineer from Robson Forensic. These expert witnesses testify in many types of accident cases, including what I was interested in at that moment, a broken front carbon fork on a road bike.

My curiosity got me and I asked what happened. This particular case involved a man who crashed his bike and was paralyzed. Witnesses related that the biker was suddenly catapulted from his bike and landed on his head. The biker did nothing to cause the accident and it was related that only the front fork of the bike appeared to be damaged. Robson determined that the crash was caused by a sudden defect in the fork of the bicycle. The failure of the fork caused the bike to come to an abrupt stop and catapult the biker off of the bike.

Testing of carbon forks has shown that they can fail under stress past their yield point. The carbon forks are extremely light and make bikes handle better. They also make the ride more comfortable. Unfortunately when stress is placed on a carbon fork past the yield point they will eventually collapse. This stress can be from running into a curb or hitting a pothole. I was told that it can occur over time just from wear and tear. It was explained that the resin is strong but it is a wrap.  This wrap can loose its integrity easier then a steel fork.

I ride a Lemond Zurich that is part carbon, including the fork. I went home and immediately examined my fork to make sure I didn’t see any signs of stress. Thankfully everything looked okay. I am not screaming the sky is falling. I just urge cyclists to examine their equipment regularly or have a qualified technician look at it to make sure there are no structural problems with your bike. I ride the roads of Jefferson and Oldham County regularly. These roads are dangerous enough for bikers. Bicycle accidents can occur due to inattentive drivers of cars and trucks. Bicycle safety has to be a priority. We need to do everything we can to be safe and minimize the chance of an accident and make Kentucky roads safe.