Broke 2 of 4 my RR handlebar stem bolts

[mrgold35]

I was riding the single track trails after work near the Rio Grande river and found myself eating a little mud after misjudging my traction and speed on a tight muddy curve. More embarrassed than hurt and I got up to look around to make sure I didn't have an audience. The RR must have landed wrong and I ended up shearing the upper two bolts that secure the handlebar to the stem. I had to ride the RR home 5 miles looking like I was dipped in dirt (2 miles of dirt/paved bike trails + 3 miles of 4pm rush hour traffic). A little hard to do with my handlebars floppy around; but, better than pushing the bike that distance. I rode the exact same trail the day before with zero issues. Everything seems to be A-OK other than the two broken bolts. I'm glad I always wear a bike helmet because my head did make contact with ground.

I will be commuting with the wife's RR until I can mine back up and running.

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[vincent]

Glad you are ok!

 

[SCbiker]

That's unnerving ! Glad you are largely umscathed . Were those stainless steel fasteners ? Always thought they were grade 5 ... Stay safe !

B.

 

[walawn]

Buy grade 8 tractor bolts. You'll bend the bars before the bolts break.

 

[mrgold35]

Buy grade 8 tractor bolts. You'll bend the bars before the bolts break.

I might come out cheaper breaking the bolts compared to bending the handlebars?

 

[walawn]

@mrgold35 If you in a crash bad enough that you bend the bars you'll probably be in the hospital or worse. I agree that it would be cheaper to buy two bolts versus another handlebar. I'm talking about minor crashes where the bolts break and there is no damage to the bars. That way when you take a spill your bike can still be ridden home. From my extensive research, and working hands-on with the Radrover, all of the non-ebike parts are low quality and prone to breakage or failure. They are just enough to make the bike work but have no durability or reliability. I had parts break 100 ft. from my back door headed out on my first ride. All of the money is put into the motor, controller, battery, wheels, and LCD. I've ended up upgrading almost every non-ebike component of my Radrover from brakes to shifting to tubes to tires and so much more.

 

[mrgold35]

The spill was me just being overconfident in my bike riding ability at 51 years old. I'm always worried each spill could be a life-time injury compared to doing the same face plant 30 years earlier and laughing it off. I really do love my Radrover and have to check into upgrading any regular bike components that might leave me stranded or pushing the bike for miles. I already did the Mr. Tuffy liner+Stan's tire sealant and upgraded the pedals to sealed MTB pedals that are wider and more of those little spike grips (size 14 shoes).

I used the combination of the throttle and PAS-3 to get home with my floppy handle bars. This was 3rd time having a throttle really helped me get home when I had issues with the bike (lost bolt to left pedal crank and the crank fell off during morning commute, shoe lace wrapped around gear at 5:30am and used the throttle to get to more lighted area, and broken handle bar stem).

 

[mrgold35]

UPDATE:

Ended up going with the Sunlite 0-60 degree Adjustable Stem, 95mm, black, Amazon, $32. I also had to order and add 2 spacers from Wheels Manufacturing 1 - 1/8 inch spacer, bag of 5, Amazon, $10. Since I'm 6'3" and the wife is 4'11", the RR handlebar were just A-OK splitting the difference between us. I can now adjust the handlebar height to fit us both a little better AND switch bikes at any time. No issues with cables being stretched too tight either.

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[walawn]

cool!