"Phil, Squid-in-Training" wrote in
message ...
"JP" wrote in message
news:cY3Pd.23899$s16.11910@trndny02...

Here it is a year ago when I first identified the crack:
http://plaza.ufl.edu/phillee/rbt/p1.jpg
http://plaza.ufl.edu/phillee/rbt/p2.jpg

You found a crack in an integral structural portion of
the front fork,

Sure did. Not sure about the back fork though.

the fork that hits everything first,

If you're a smooth rider, it doesn't.

the fork that absorbs the impact on downhills,
log piles, rock gardens, running over wildlife.

Where did I say I did all this? Does riding a mountain bike *require*
doing
all these?

Yet you continued to ride on it.

And...

The mind boggles.

Yeah, it'd boggle my mind too if I were small-minded.

Are you campaigning for a Darwin Award?

Nope - I wanted to ride. If you can't accept a certain level of risk, go
cry back home.

--
Phil, Squid-in-Training

For me the risk is inherent in the activity.
Then again my wheels go over bumps.
I don't use equipment I can't trust.

But please for the benefit of my narrow mind..

if you are such a smooth rider then why do you need
suspension in your front fork?


I'd hardly be the one crying back home with a shredded face
and dislocated shoulder resulting from the inevitable endo
when the fork failed. I'd never trust a casting with a crack.
Using the words "catastrophic failure" is a stretch.
Failing with no warning in use is catastrophic.
Failure after six months advance warning is rider error.
Failure after the series of events you described is predictable.

Oh right, you're a student.
You haven't yet learned that you can be seriously, irreparably damaged.
Blind faith in your own indestructable immortality.
You were lucky.