1. Does the part give clear "warning" that failure is imminent (e.g. sound, feel, appearance), or will it just fail suddenly? (This characteristic is often a key design feature of safety-critical equipment)
2. When the part fails (note, different failure modes should be considered separately), what is the range of outcomes? (E.g. drive failure is dangerous if you're crossing the street, not so dangerous at other times; bell failure could occur at the worst possible time, etc). Then on the other hand we have structural failure of the frame and handlebars etc which are almost guaranteed injury.
So if you are riding a bike with lightweight racing components that aren't designed with a "leak-before-break" philosophy, riding in mountainous terrain in a crowded peloton, then yes - pretty much any small deviation from normal could cause a massive pileup. On the other hand, a leisurely commmuter ride on a quiet path has much more tolerance for component failure.
it still depends what component it is, when I was a teenager I was riding a bike with rim brakes, the bolt holding the front rim brake to the frame broke all of a sudden during very light braking, the caliper rotated and got caught between the spokes and the front fork leading to the front wheel immediately stopping leading to me performing a superman dismount (since then I've ALWAYS worn bike gloves when riding). There had been no signs at all that the bolt was about to fail.
In my experience (many years of riding, quite a few years of bike commuting full time included) most mechanicals on the front wheel mean a fall/crash, but everything else just leads to having to walk home if you don't have the right tools (carrying a couple spare chain links in addition to the typical flat repair stuff and a full set of hex keys lowers the chance you'll have to do so).
Sudden catastrophic failure is of the reason carbon fiber mountain bikes are a dangerous development.
Modern mountain bikes live in this weird consumer space. They are designed to stand up to incredible stresses while remaining light and agile. But they're increasingly purchased by people who don't really need high performance gear, they just like the idea of owning "the best" stuff.
I imagine the same thing is true with pickup trucks. What once was utilitarian becomes a vanity object. Now it's harder for people who genuinely need the performance.
What once was utilitarian becomes a vanity object. Now it's harder for people who genuinely need the performance.
The bike space is full of people screeching about how you'll catastrophically break stuff if you use your bike for all its worth, just like the vehicle space is.
And "the best" for those people is definitely not a mountain bike. But I'm sure it's the same factor as for SUVs, it looks cool and is big and scary. Pretty much everyone would be better off with a citybike and a decent geartrain + wheels
Regarding #1, on mountain bikes, carbon handlebars don’t give any warning before breaking. I quit using them after seeing one that broke on a friend’s bike. That could have been catastrophic.
I think this depends a lot on the rider and their level of experience (just like it does with drivers). Modern ICE cars are so quiet (to the point that many cabins feature ANC to help mask engine noise) that you'd never be able to hear a whining belt or misfiring spark plugs, and perhaps not even squeaking brake pads. Bikes are similar but the rider is much more directly connected; even so, many riders are pretty oblivious to how they work or how to fix problems.
I don’t think automotive anc is typically that sophisticated. It plays certain fixed frequencies based on speed, load, etc. You can still hear mechanical issues especially higher frequencies which aren’t masked at all and a misfire typically causes a noticeable roughness, but that would be detected by the computer is most instances.
Comments
There are a couple of extra factors to consider:
1. Does the part give clear "warning" that failure is imminent (e.g. sound, feel, appearance), or will it just fail suddenly? (This characteristic is often a key design feature of safety-critical equipment)
2. When the part fails (note, different failure modes should be considered separately), what is the range of outcomes? (E.g. drive failure is dangerous if you're crossing the street, not so dangerous at other times; bell failure could occur at the worst possible time, etc). Then on the other hand we have structural failure of the frame and handlebars etc which are almost guaranteed injury.
So if you are riding a bike with lightweight racing components that aren't designed with a "leak-before-break" philosophy, riding in mountainous terrain in a crowded peloton, then yes - pretty much any small deviation from normal could cause a massive pileup. On the other hand, a leisurely commmuter ride on a quiet path has much more tolerance for component failure.
it still depends what component it is, when I was a teenager I was riding a bike with rim brakes, the bolt holding the front rim brake to the frame broke all of a sudden during very light braking, the caliper rotated and got caught between the spokes and the front fork leading to the front wheel immediately stopping leading to me performing a superman dismount (since then I've ALWAYS worn bike gloves when riding). There had been no signs at all that the bolt was about to fail.
In my experience (many years of riding, quite a few years of bike commuting full time included) most mechanicals on the front wheel mean a fall/crash, but everything else just leads to having to walk home if you don't have the right tools (carrying a couple spare chain links in addition to the typical flat repair stuff and a full set of hex keys lowers the chance you'll have to do so).
Sudden catastrophic failure is of the reason carbon fiber mountain bikes are a dangerous development.
Modern mountain bikes live in this weird consumer space. They are designed to stand up to incredible stresses while remaining light and agile. But they're increasingly purchased by people who don't really need high performance gear, they just like the idea of owning "the best" stuff.
I imagine the same thing is true with pickup trucks. What once was utilitarian becomes a vanity object. Now it's harder for people who genuinely need the performance.
The bike space is full of people screeching about how you'll catastrophically break stuff if you use your bike for all its worth, just like the vehicle space is.
And "the best" for those people is definitely not a mountain bike. But I'm sure it's the same factor as for SUVs, it looks cool and is big and scary. Pretty much everyone would be better off with a citybike and a decent geartrain + wheels
Horses for courses. The sort of person riding a high end mountain bike is not using it to buy groceries in the city.
Regarding #1, on mountain bikes, carbon handlebars don’t give any warning before breaking. I quit using them after seeing one that broke on a friend’s bike. That could have been catastrophic.
I think this depends a lot on the rider and their level of experience (just like it does with drivers). Modern ICE cars are so quiet (to the point that many cabins feature ANC to help mask engine noise) that you'd never be able to hear a whining belt or misfiring spark plugs, and perhaps not even squeaking brake pads. Bikes are similar but the rider is much more directly connected; even so, many riders are pretty oblivious to how they work or how to fix problems.
I don’t think automotive anc is typically that sophisticated. It plays certain fixed frequencies based on speed, load, etc. You can still hear mechanical issues especially higher frequencies which aren’t masked at all and a misfire typically causes a noticeable roughness, but that would be detected by the computer is most instances.
As TFA states, it depends on how much you're relying on it to keep balanced.