It’s common to hear horror stories about component failures that won't just leave you stranded, but can directly lead to injury, or, in rare cases, even worse.
I often hear people warn against messing around with “safety-critical components” such as steerer tubes and handlebars, but that it’s fine to buy cheap copies of other, less-critical, parts. Now, I don’t want to sound like an anxious, fear-mongering, panphobe, but I’m increasingly of the opinion that every part on a modern bicycle is safety-critical. More simply, I think many of us, whether you’re a rider, mechanic, designer, or manufacturer, should be taking product safety more seriously.
This edition of Threaded breaks the mold of tool geekery and mechanic insights. Rather, my goal is to get you thinking more broadly about your equipment and servicing choices. It’s a public service announcement that’s been on my mind for far too long. Unfortunately, much of this article is based on personal experience or firsthand reports.
In other words, like many mechanics, I’ve Seen Some Shit.
Everything can be scary
Bicycles are marvellous inventions that, for many of us, serve a purpose that extends well beyond efficient transport. However, the simplicity and minimalism that make bicycles so special also demand respect.
We’re increasingly in a time where individuals without prior experience are encouraged to take on a new task or a skill through the assistance of a YouTube buddy or Reddit thread. There’s a lot of joy in that, sometimes money to be saved, but I fear many have become numb to or even ignorant of the risks such an approach may present.
I'm not here to gate-geek who should and shouldn't work on bikes, but I do feel that too many people are taking on installation and service tasks, laughing it off as "just a bicycle", without consideration or knowledge of what's at stake.
Sure, a lot of this is stuff you can check yourself, but when we talk about a safety-critical mindset, it’s helpful to have an independent expert eye – someone who has Seen Some Shit and knows what to look for. If this is you, awesome. Otherwise, ask around your local area for trusted mechanics who have been at it a while and have built a trusted reputation for detail.
This especially applies in modern performance-oriented bicycles where the use of lightweight materials only increases the window of risk. For example, tightening a handlebar used to be simple, but now one needs to find the narrow window between not having a bar slip from a lack of clamping force while avoiding a bar that structurally fails through too much clamping force. Shooting on either side of the goal can be extremely dangerous.
It’s now common for many to use a torque wrench for parts like stem bolts, but such a tool is only as good as its user and also the quality of the parts being bolted together. I’ve seen the simplest of tasks go wrong through just a smidge of human error and/or poor design. Add in that many of us are pushing our bikes and bodies harder than ever, and the risk of component failure only grows.
And it’s not just your own safety you may be risking. Those who ride in groups should be even more aware and attentive to issues, as even the simplest skipped gear could cause a ripple in the wheels following behind if the pace is high enough.
What I’m getting at is that I want us, as cyclists, mechanics, or product makers, to stop thinking about whether an individual component is safety-critical, and rather look at the bike as a safety-critical object made up of numerous safety-critical pieces. Sure, a failure in the front end, whether it be a snapped steerer tube or handlebar is ultimately damn scary and perhaps an area that demands more respect than other pieces. However, there are instances where a failure from any other component could result in a loss of control.
Now, allow me to scare you about everything before providing some useful tips.
After steerer tubes and handlebars, next on my list of things that haunt me are tyres blowing off rims, whether the fault of the tyre or wheel. We see crashes occur at the top end of road cycling due to such product failures, and these are often relatively new products installed by professionals. Add in some improper installation, a prior incident, or just misuse (such as inflating a hookless wheel beyond its maximum), and it’s a recipe for failure.
Brake failure is obviously another big scare, and the prevalence of hydraulic disc brakes has introduced a new level of complexity to overcome. Faulty, leaky brakes do exist in the market, but most often it's poor setup or neglect that presents the most danger.
Then we arrive at the pieces many don’t consider to be safety critical. Have you ever stomped up a road climb alongside speeding traffic? Now imagine if your chain were to skip a cog, suck on the chainring, or worse, snap as you have your weight off-centre in an effort to produce more power. It’s in circumstances like this that your drivetrain or even rear hub can become safety-critical components.
Even simple things scare me. Slipping mountain bike grips or loose-fitting lever bracket (hood) covers on your dropbar shifters can slip and cause an unwanted weight shift. Accidentally pulling a foot out of a pedal is also often bad news, as I can attest from a broken rib a couple of months ago while riding a brand new pair of pedals that weren't set tight enough.
I’ve also seen examples of broken seatposts apple-coring riders, and one case of a failed saddle rail skewering genitalia. Sheesh kebab! I’ve been wary of low-cost, no-name, ultra-lightweight posts ever since, and no, these issues aren’t exclusive to carbon fibre.
Heck, even a bad or broken bottle cage can be a safety concern. I had an old racing friend give up cycling after wholly exploding his knee after wiping out on a dropped bottle in front of him. Those things are far more dangerous than a banana peel in Mario Kart.
Threaded is an ongoing series created for professional mechanics and enthusiast home mechanics in search of continuous improvement, or at least, ways to bring more efficiency, precision, or just joy to the work.
It’s photographed, written, and created exclusively by me, Dave Rome. With approximately 20 years of experience on the tools, and more than a decade of documenting others doing it, I aim to share my passion for finding quality tools and tips on how best to use them.
This series takes many hours in the week to create and I feel the information shared is worth paying for. While most Threaded editions have a paywall, this one just requires an email registration to read. It's merely through the support of our members (readers) that this content exists.
Modern bikes, modern problems
This is the part where I start speaking more softly, so you need to lean in and listen (read) more carefully. Modern bikes are increasingly creating barriers to safety.
OK, so many of the latest and greatest bikes are actually damn good. They’re tested more than ever before, and are often designed to withstand repetitive forces far better than bikes of the past. I’d also say, in general, things are made more consistently, too. Rather, my big issue is one of integration, and the barriers this presents to easy safety inspection.
Dropbar bikes have become increasingly integrated. In many cases, the brake hoses are now out of view and bikes look sleek as a result. However, through-headset cable routing creates complexity and increases the cost of a simple fork steerer inspection.
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