Death Squirrel: Redeux

Scott Gordo said:

Mark Hickey said:

"* * Chas" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

It looks like maybe the squirrel got caught in the spokes and caused the
rider to run into something like the back of a car which resulted in the
broken forks???

Nope - that's a classic squirrel fork break. Happened to a good
friend of mine (who was probably bigger, was going faster, and who was
attacked by a larger squirrel). His incident sheared off both legs of
his (carbon) fork completely.

Same thing happened in Prospect Park last year. In that case, the rider
didn't look a whole lot better than the Kamikaze squirrel.

Do we think that steek forks would have held up better? Bent instead of
catastrophic break? (Not that any material would have saved the rider
from a faceplant.)

I suspect that the steel forks would have bent rather than break -
though as you point out, the end result is essentially the same either
way. Face plant plus trashed fork.

I forgot to mention - my buddy was riding Campy Shamal (16-spoke)
wheels. Rather than going to dual disc wheels, I just moved to the
desert where there are no squirrels.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 18:21:00 -0700, Mark Hickey <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Scott Gordo said:

Mark Hickey said:

"* * Chas" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>It looks like maybe the squirrel got caught in the spokes and caused the
>rider to run into something like the back of a car which resulted in the
>broken forks???

Nope - that's a classic squirrel fork break. Happened to a good
friend of mine (who was probably bigger, was going faster, and who was
attacked by a larger squirrel). His incident sheared off both legs of
his (carbon) fork completely.

Same thing happened in Prospect Park last year. In that case, the rider
didn't look a whole lot better than the Kamikaze squirrel.

Do we think that steek forks would have held up better? Bent instead of
catastrophic break? (Not that any material would have saved the rider
from a faceplant.)

I suspect that the steel forks would have bent rather than break -
though as you point out, the end result is essentially the same either
way. Face plant plus trashed fork.

I forgot to mention - my buddy was riding Campy Shamal (16-spoke)
wheels. Rather than going to dual disc wheels, I just moved to the
desert where there are no squirrels.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Dear Mark,

" . . . the desert where there are no squirrels."

You poor sweet innocent trusting soul!

Pick your coast, East or West:

Florida, home of http://www.habcycles.com:

"Here at the University of Florida, we have quite frankly, insane
evil, squirrels."

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/campus/florida.html

Arizona, the supposedly safest desert:

HARRIS' ANTELOPE GROUND SQUIRREL
Ammospermophilus harrisii
Sonoran Desert, Arizona

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/current/antelope/

Chee--no, that would be inappropriate, wouldn't it?

Good luck,

Carl Fogel

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 18:21:00 -0700, Mark Hickey <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Scott Gordo said:

Mark Hickey wrote:
> "* * Chas" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

> >It looks like maybe the squirrel got caught in the spokes and caused the
> >rider to run into something like the back of a car which resulted in the
> >broken forks???
>
> Nope - that's a classic squirrel fork break. Happened to a good
> friend of mine (who was probably bigger, was going faster, and who was
> attacked by a larger squirrel). His incident sheared off both legs of
> his (carbon) fork completely.

Same thing happened in Prospect Park last year. In that case, the rider
didn't look a whole lot better than the Kamikaze squirrel.

Do we think that steek forks would have held up better? Bent instead of
catastrophic break? (Not that any material would have saved the rider
from a faceplant.)

I suspect that the steel forks would have bent rather than break -
though as you point out, the end result is essentially the same either
way. Face plant plus trashed fork.

I forgot to mention - my buddy was riding Campy Shamal (16-spoke)
wheels. Rather than going to dual disc wheels, I just moved to the
desert where there are no squirrels.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Dear Mark,

" . . . the desert where there are no squirrels."

You poor sweet innocent trusting soul!

Pick your coast, East or West:

Florida, home of http://www.habcycles.com:

"Here at the University of Florida, we have quite frankly, insane
evil, squirrels."

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/campus/florida.html

Arizona, the supposedly safest desert:

HARRIS' ANTELOPE GROUND SQUIRREL
Ammospermophilus harrisii
Sonoran Desert, Arizona

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/current/antelope/

Chee--no, that would be inappropriate, wouldn't it?

Scary. This one is really dangerous looking:
http://www.scarysquirrel.org/current/antelope/antelope2.jpg

Ron

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mark Hickey said:

Scott Gordo said:

Mark Hickey said:

"* * Chas" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

>It looks like maybe the squirrel got caught in the spokes and caused the
>rider to run into something like the back of a car which resulted in the
>broken forks???

Nope - that's a classic squirrel fork break. Happened to a good
friend of mine (who was probably bigger, was going faster, and who was
attacked by a larger squirrel). His incident sheared off both legs of
his (carbon) fork completely.

Same thing happened in Prospect Park last year. In that case, the rider
didn't look a whole lot better than the Kamikaze squirrel.

Do we think that steek forks would have held up better? Bent instead of
catastrophic break? (Not that any material would have saved the rider
from a faceplant.)

I suspect that the steel forks would have bent rather than break -
though as you point out, the end result is essentially the same either
way. Face plant plus trashed fork.

I forgot to mention - my buddy was riding Campy Shamal (16-spoke)
wheels. Rather than going to dual disc wheels, I just moved to the
desert where there are no squirrels.

Since the spokes at and near the contact patch move very
slowly relative to the SFW (squirrel frame of reference),
large gaps in the spoke pattern are perfect for squirrel
sport. Another reason for 36 spoke wheels.

--
Michael Press

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 18:21:00 -0700, Mark Hickey <[email hidden]>
wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I forgot to mention - my buddy was riding Campy Shamal (16-spoke)
wheels. Rather than going to dual disc wheels, I just moved to the
desert where there are no squirrels.

Dear Mark,

" . . . the desert where there are no squirrels."

You poor sweet innocent trusting soul!

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Arizona, the supposedly safest desert:

HARRIS' ANTELOPE GROUND SQUIRREL
Ammospermophilus harrisii
Sonoran Desert, Arizona

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/current/antelope/

Chee--no, that would be inappropriate, wouldn't it?

Heh heh heh... I've actually seen a couple of those - they look like
chipmunks on steroids (but are still too small to snap a fork,
fortunately). The good news is, they're not urban dwellers, and they
appear to be entirely devoid of the Mountain Dew Kamikaze Syndrome
that affects their larger, coarser cousins (I've never seen one as
road kill). I'm putting the threat level somewhere south of being hit
by a meteor. ;-)

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

On Sat, 09 Sep 2006 06:48:02 -0700, Mark Hickey <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

On Fri, 08 Sep 2006 18:21:00 -0700, Mark Hickey <[email hidden]>
wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I forgot to mention - my buddy was riding Campy Shamal (16-spoke)
wheels. Rather than going to dual disc wheels, I just moved to the
desert where there are no squirrels.

Dear Mark,

" . . . the desert where there are no squirrels."

You poor sweet innocent trusting soul!

<snip>

Quoted message said:

Arizona, the supposedly safest desert:

HARRIS' ANTELOPE GROUND SQUIRREL
Ammospermophilus harrisii
Sonoran Desert, Arizona

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/current/antelope/

Chee--no, that would be inappropriate, wouldn't it?

Heh heh heh... I've actually seen a couple of those - they look like
chipmunks on steroids (but are still too small to snap a fork,
fortunately). The good news is, they're not urban dwellers, and they
appear to be entirely devoid of the Mountain Dew Kamikaze Syndrome
that affects their larger, coarser cousins (I've never seen one as
road kill). I'm putting the threat level somewhere south of being hit
by a meteor. ;-)

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame

Dear Colonel Thursday,

If you can see them, they're not Apach--

Er, squirrels.

Cheers,

Kirby York, Captain, U.S. Army

"Michael Press" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Mark Hickey said:

Scott Gordo said:

Mark Hickey wrote:
> "* * Chas" <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

> >It looks like maybe the squirrel got caught in the spokes and

caused the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> >rider to run into something like the back of a car which

resulted in the

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> >broken forks???
>
> Nope - that's a classic squirrel fork break. Happened to a good
> friend of mine (who was probably bigger, was going faster, and

who was

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> attacked by a larger squirrel). His incident sheared off both

legs of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

> his (carbon) fork completely.

Same thing happened in Prospect Park last year. In that case, the

rider

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

didn't look a whole lot better than the Kamikaze squirrel.

Do we think that steek forks would have held up better? Bent

instead of

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

catastrophic break? (Not that any material would have saved the

rider

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

from a faceplant.)

I suspect that the steel forks would have bent rather than break -
though as you point out, the end result is essentially the same

either

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

way. Face plant plus trashed fork.

I forgot to mention - my buddy was riding Campy Shamal (16-spoke)
wheels. Rather than going to dual disc wheels, I just moved to the
desert where there are no squirrels.

Since the spokes at and near the contact patch move very
slowly relative to the SFW (squirrel frame of reference),
large gaps in the spoke pattern are perfect for squirrel
sport. Another reason for 36 spoke wheels.

--
Michael Press

Where do you think the term "Squirrel Cage" came from?

Chas.