Can you tell us more about the fork and what happened? Was it a 16" or a 20" fork? Old or new? Unicrown style or lugged style? Could you tell us exactly where on the fork the fracture happened? Guesstimate the # of miles on the bike? Sorry to inflict these tedious questions on you, but we want all the details. Please.
And if you do not mind my asking - how much do you weigh?
I have never heard of an ordinary P-38 fork failing before. I vaguely remember Zach Kaplan having a fork failure years back, but I believe that was on a one-off fork he used with a disc brake. Not a standard P-38 fork. Contact Tim Brummer at Lightning, if you have not done so already. He will probably want you to send him the broken fork, and will also probably be happy to send you out a replacement.
I have heard of older P-38 frames developing fatigue cracks around the headtube area, and around the seat. (It happened to me, among others.) This was more of a problem with the pre-1996 bikes. To the best of my knowledge, the frames made since 1996 have been almost entirely trouble-free.
Thanks for responding. Got the bike new from Lightning end of 2003. Probably have 50,000 miles on it. I weigh between 120-125. I'm assuming it's a 20" fork since I have a 406 wheel. Caliper brakes. Fork broke, clean break, two pieces, about 1 inch below the bend, so on the vertical piece. Not lugged, so I guess unicorn. The fork was sent to Tim by my bike shop. Sounds like the plan is for them to send me a new fork, but haven't heard for sure if it will be my nickel or theirs. No history of crashes that would compromise the fork.
I had just returned from a 1,000 mile solo trip on my Volae and hadn't even unpacked it yet. Was riding the Lightning which had been in the trainer all winter. I live in Chicago so terrain is FLAT. Front wheel felt weird, like maybe the QR was loose. Stopped to check, QR was fine, but the fork was being held together by the QR and a coiled computer cable.
P-38 fork failure
First of all, glad that you were not injured.
Can you tell us more about the fork and what happened? Was it a 16" or a 20" fork? Old or new? Unicrown style or lugged style? Could you tell us exactly where on the fork the fracture happened? Guesstimate the # of miles on the bike? Sorry to inflict these tedious questions on you, but we want all the details. Please.
And if you do not mind my asking - how much do you weigh?
I have never heard of an ordinary P-38 fork failing before. I vaguely remember Zach Kaplan having a fork failure years back, but I believe that was on a one-off fork he used with a disc brake. Not a standard P-38 fork. Contact Tim Brummer at Lightning, if you have not done so already. He will probably want you to send him the broken fork, and will also probably be happy to send you out a replacement.
I have heard of older P-38 frames developing fatigue cracks around the headtube area, and around the seat. (It happened to me, among others.) This was more of a problem with the pre-1996 bikes. To the best of my knowledge, the frames made since 1996 have been almost entirely trouble-free.
Safe riding,
Joel Dickman
broken fork
bentwanderer
Thanks for responding. Got the bike new from Lightning end of 2003. Probably have 50,000 miles on it. I weigh between 120-125. I'm assuming it's a 20" fork since I have a 406 wheel. Caliper brakes. Fork broke, clean break, two pieces, about 1 inch below the bend, so on the vertical piece. Not lugged, so I guess unicorn. The fork was sent to Tim by my bike shop. Sounds like the plan is for them to send me a new fork, but haven't heard for sure if it will be my nickel or theirs. No history of crashes that would compromise the fork.
I had just returned from a 1,000 mile solo trip on my Volae and hadn't even unpacked it yet. Was riding the Lightning which had been in the trainer all winter. I live in Chicago so terrain is FLAT. Front wheel felt weird, like maybe the QR was loose. Stopped to check, QR was fine, but the fork was being held together by the QR and a coiled computer cable.