Hose clamps on Gold Rush failed!



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Alan Weiss

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You may be aware that Bob Bryant of RCN has complained for years about the hose clamps on Easy
Racers seats. I never knew what he was complaining about until today. The two hose clamps on the
bottom of my Gold Rush's Koolback seat (the ones that connect the back of the seat to the seat
bottom) both failed catastrophically. That is, they broke completely. I don't know exactly when it
happened, I think it was at the end of my previous ride or the beginning of my ride today. But after
10 miles or so, when I had just felt a tad uncomfortable during the ride, not knowing exactly if I
was centered in the seat or not (this feeling had never happened to me before), I leaned back and
the seat leaned back, too! I thought that the seat support bolts had come loose, but it was the seat
bottom, now pivoting on the middle support.

One good thing about hose clamps, though, is that they are available everywhere. One mile down the
road and I was at a hardware store, bought two hose clamps, and installed them without a hitch.

Just though I'd relate my experience, and ask if anyone else has ever had those two little
clamps fail?

Alan Weiss NJ Gold Rush, E2 tandem, and Leitra rider
 
>Just though I'd relate my experience, and >ask if anyone else has ever had those two little
>clamps fail?
No, but after 11,000 miles of pushing "pretty hard" on mine, maybe I should inspect them in the
morning. Did you replace them with the "all stainless" models?
 
Shwackman wrote:
>
> >Just though I'd relate my experience, and >ask if anyone else has ever had those two little
> >clamps fail?
> No, but after 11,000 miles of pushing "pretty hard" on mine, maybe I should inspect them in the
> morning. Did you replace them with the "all stainless" models?

See < http://www.showoffstainless.com/clamps.html >.

Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)
 
"Alan Weiss" <[email protected]> wrote in message .
> You may be aware that Bob Bryant of RCN has complained for years about the hose clamps on Easy
> Racers seats.

Hose clamps?

What the heck kind of contraptions are you guys riding?

My road bike has a full titanium bolt kit installed.
 
Fabrizio Mazzoleni wrote:
>
> "Alan Weiss" <[email protected]> wrote in message .
> > You may be aware that Bob Bryant of RCN has complained for years about the hose clamps on Easy
> > Racers seats.
>
> Hose clamps?
>
> What the heck kind of contraptions are you guys riding?
>
> My road bike has a full titanium bolt kit installed.

Hey Fab,

If you keep slumming over here in a.r.b.r., soon you will be tempted to finally ride a recumbent.
The thought of buying one will enter your subconscious, and then your conscious mind. Finally you
will give into temptation. After that you will grow a beard and start wearing dorky riding gear.
After you have been fully assimilated, you will sell all your upright bikes.

Be afraid, be very very afraid. :)

Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)
 
Fabrizio wrote:

> Hose clamps? What the heck kind of contraptions are you guys riding?

Peter Ross always used to say of hose clamps that if they were good enough for Rolls-Royce, they
were good enough for him. Bob Bryant, needless to say, disagreed.

> My road bike has a full titanium bolt kit installed.

Are you boasting, confessing or complaining? The only steel parts on my mountain bike were the
spokes and frame.

Dave Larrington - http://legslarry.crosswinds.net/
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
http://www.bhpc.org.uk/
===========================================================
 
"Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> If you keep slumming over here in a.r.b.r., soon you will be tempted to finally ride a recumbent.
> The thought of buying one will enter your subconscious, and then your conscious mind. Finally you
> will give into temptation. After that you will grow a beard and start wearing dorky riding gear.
> After you have been fully assimilated, you will sell all your upright bikes.
>
> Be afraid, be very very afraid. :)

Fabrizio once admitted that he spent some of his off season time looking at bent pictures. Seems to
me his bent closet door is already cracked open.

skip
 
I hope the new clamps are all stainless. They look to be.

As far as inspecting your bike, I would be very surprised if it were fruitful. How can hose clamps
fail? I still don't know how mine did.

Alan Weiss NJ Gold Rush, E2 tandem, and Leitra rider

Shwackman wrote:
>
> >Just though I'd relate my experience, and >ask if anyone else has ever had those two little
> >clamps fail?
> No, but after 11,000 miles of pushing "pretty hard" on mine, maybe I should inspect them in the
> morning. Did you replace them with the "all stainless" models?
 
Don't forget that along with growing a beard, he will also have to grow an aero belly!

"Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> Fabrizio Mazzoleni wrote:
> >
> > "Alan Weiss" <[email protected]> wrote in message .
> > > You may be aware that Bob Bryant of RCN has complained for years about the hose clamps on Easy
> > > Racers seats.
> >
> > Hose clamps?
> >
> > What the heck kind of contraptions are you guys riding?
> >
> > My road bike has a full titanium bolt kit installed.
>
> Hey Fab,
>
> If you keep slumming over here in a.r.b.r., soon you will be tempted to finally ride a recumbent.
> The thought of buying one will enter your subconscious, and then your conscious mind. Finally you
> will give into temptation. After that you will grow a beard and start wearing dorky riding gear.
> After you have been fully assimilated, you will sell all your upright bikes.
>
> Be afraid, be very very afraid. :)
>
> Tom Sherman - Various HPV's Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)
 
On Tue, 29 Apr 2003 01:51:30 -0500, Tom Sherman <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hey Fab,
>
> [...] After you have been fully assimilated, you will sell all your upright bikes.
>

Resistance is futile. We are BORG.

Bicyclists On Recumbents Galvanizing [1]

Jon Meinecke

1. To arouse to awareness or action; spur
 
"Dave Larrington" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> Fabrizio wrote:
>
> > Hose clamps? What the heck kind of contraptions are you guys riding?
>
> Peter Ross always used to say of hose clamps that if they were good enough for Rolls-Royce, they
> were good enough for him. =========

If it wasn't for hose clamps, many an invention never would have made it past the proverbial drawing
board (not to mention a very angry hpv rider watching his fairing vanishing into the sunset).

Chris Jordan Santa Cruz, CA
 
Alan Weiss asks: "How can hose clamps fail? "

By over tightening is my guess. I've stripped a few in my time.

--
Miles of Smiles,

Tom Blum Winter Haven, Florida (remove "nospam" to reply) Homebuilts: SWB Tour Easy Clone Speed
Machine Clone

www.gate.net/~teblum
 
"Dave Larrington" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...

> Peter Ross always used to say of hose clamps that if they were good enough for Rolls-Royce, they
> were good enough for him. [...]

Yes, but:
1) Look where Rolls ended up.
2) They used them on _hoses_ , where they belong, not to hold the seats together.
3) They don't sound so bad when you call them "jubilee clips". Sounds rather festive, actually, not
like cutting a cost/design corner.

:)
Johnriley1 (at) rogers.com
 
Ok Fab, I'll get some titanium hose clamps if I have to.

Fabrizio Mazzoleni wrote:
> "Alan Weiss" <[email protected]> wrote in message .
>
>>You may be aware that Bob Bryant of RCN has complained for years about the hose clamps on Easy
>>Racers seats.
>
>
> Hose clamps?
>
> What the heck kind of contraptions are you guys riding?
>
> My road bike has a full titanium bolt kit installed.
 
It was Shwackman himself that once said... "Hose clamps look like ****, but when you need a hose
clamp, nothing else will work." A very true statement.
 
"David" <[email protected]> wrote in message ..
> Ok Fab, I'll get some titanium hose clamps if I have to.
>
>
It's not an issue of what they're made out of, the thing is they're still damn hose clamps.

Here's the difference between someone like you and someone like me, when you want to buy parts for
your bent you go to some scruffy hardware store and have to mix with dirty working types like
electricians and plumbers, whereas an elite level roadie like me goes to places with name like La
Bicicletta and PedalSport.
 
Dave Larrington wrote:
> ... The only steel parts on my mountain bike were the spokes and frame.

What materials were the chain, rear cogs, hub, headset, and BB bearings, hub axles, BB spindle,
brake and shifter cables, and fasteners (bolt, screws, etc.) made out of?

Tom Sherman - Recumbent Pedant Quad Cities USA (Illinois side)
 
That may be, but I've had my bike about 3 years and never tightened them. I didn't even NOTICE them
until they failed!

Alan Weiss NJ Gold Rush, E2 tandem, and Leitra rider

Tom Blum wrote:
>
> Alan Weiss asks: "How can hose clamps fail? "
>
> By over tightening is my guess. I've stripped a few in my time.
>
> --
> Miles of Smiles,
>
> Tom Blum Winter Haven, Florida (remove "nospam" to reply) Homebuilts: SWB Tour Easy Clone Speed
> Machine Clone
>
> www.gate.net/~teblum
 
[email protected] ('BentRider) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> It was Shwackman himself that once said... "Hose clamps look like ****, but when you need a hose
> clamp, nothing else will work." A very true statement.

Stainless or not, the standard worm-screw hose clamp is barely suficient for it's intended purpose -
low pressure hoses. Even then, there are several better choices. Permantely incorporating them into
a structural design is not only ignorant, but a serious liability risk. Makes one question the
entire design of the produce it was/is used on.

Here's a good example: http://www.kkai.com/mt24.html
 
Funny, no one to my knowledge has ever proposed a better solution. And, as far as I know, this is
the 1st reported failure, ever. Before berating one of the greatest HPV designers of all time, maybe
you could do a little research. You claim to have "several better choices". Please enlighten us.

"Chuck M" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] ('BentRider) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > It was Shwackman himself that once said... "Hose clamps look like ****, but when you need a hose
> > clamp, nothing else will work." A very true statement.
>
> Stainless or not, the standard worm-screw hose clamp is barely suficient for it's intended purpose
> - low pressure hoses. Even then, there are several better choices. Permantely incorporating them
> into a structural design is not only ignorant, but a serious liability risk. Makes one question
> the entire design of the produce it was/is used on.
>
> Here's a good example: http://www.kkai.com/mt24.html
 
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