sol
Child Protection Officer
Joined: 23 Dec 2005
Posts: 1459
Location: on the river
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 Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:57 am Subject: ITM Millenium Handlebar stem safety warning! |
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From Twickenham CC Chairman, in case any of you have said handlebar:
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You may remember that I suffered inconvenience and pain last year when my handlebars fell off whilst I was riding, and I lost steering and brakes. I was using an ITM Millennium stem (about £50, not cheap kit!), which uses just 2 bolts to hold the handlebar clamp. Both these bolts failed without warning. I walked the half-mile home and considered that I was lucky to be alive. My BC Gold membership and insurance covered the cost of the repairs to the car I ran into.
This Saturday night, riding back from the Nocturne, the same thing happened to Steve Home, except that only one bolt failed on his ITM Millennium stem, and he maintained some control and stopped safely but shaken. One dreads to think what the consequences might have been had the bolts failed during the Elite Criterium, or whilst riding at speed in the traffic on the Embankment, or whatever.
Steve and I had often talked about the possibility of this happening to him, and I was going to give him some bolts so he could replace his, but we'd simply never got round to it.
The bolts fail due to metal fatigue. Now, I'm a big lump, but Steve is not. If YOU are using an ITM Millennium stem or similar with 2-bolt handlebar clamp, and you haven't had the bolts changed recently and torqued properly, you are risking danger. A one-off might be expected, but this is becoming a pattern, and if you speak to ITM they will be surprised that such a thing could possibly happen to one of their fine products.
Please don't leave it, sort it out before it's too late!
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