RIP Susie Longbolts

[Benjamin Park]

My dear friend Susie Longbolts, whom many of you helped guide me to purchase, passed away suddenly after she fell off a rack at highway speed. I did manage to grab her off the highway risking life and limb and am trying to salvage what I can.

I'm just bummed out- I loved that bike!

If any of you want to sell yours, or know of one that's for sale, please PM me.

Ben in ATL

[Curtis McKenzie]

Ben,

That picture is so painful to view.  So sorry to hear about the accident.  I hope a replacement can be found.

Take care,

Curtis 

El Cajon, CA

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[Bicycle Belle Ding Ding!]

Oh, wow. Gulp. I have some questions, if the OP doesn’t mind me asking…

1. Was there risk of the Susie to coming through the windshield of a car behind you? I am SO glad no one was hurt. A Susie coming at you at highway speeds could mortally wound you.

2. What went wrong that the bike came free from the rack? There are probably things that other people (I’m looking at me!) might learn from this experience to avoid the same situation. 

Oh, and do call Riv and see if they have a frame in the warehouse for just such a thing. They have held frames for sentinel events in the past.

All the best,

Leah

[Benjamin Park]

Hi Leah, yes there was certainly a risk of Susie hurting someone physically. Thankfully this did not happen and in fact I don't think anyone even ran it over. Cars were definitely swerving though.

The bike was on a hitch rack that carries the top tube. The top tube was held down by rubber straps with holes - look for Thule and you'll see pictures of what I'm talking about. The straps were tight- I made double sure of that. My mistake was not using a fail-safe strap for peace of mind.  Actually it was my friend's rack and I know he feels bad (even though it's not his fault). I believe that the force of the air on the highway caused the straps to just get pulled off.

Thanks for the advice, I'll plead to Will and see if they can do anything!

Ben

[Jon Dukeman]

Curtis

Sorry for your loss. 

Call Mack's Bike & Goods. 

847 877 8877.

He might have a frame/ fork Available in your size.

Jon

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[Jared Wilson]

OUCH! I have someone looking at mine (blue, size L) in the morning, if for some reason it doesn't sell I'll send you a PM.

Jared

[John Rinker]

Youch! I'm with Curtis- very painful to see this photo. 

So sorry this happened. I have what sounds like the same rear Thule rack, and from now on will double up the rubber straps with voile straps AND the fail-safe strap (and Gorilla tape!)

Good luck with the replacement.

John

[Manuel Acosta]

Hey Ben Sorry about bike stuff.

Maybe check with a frame builder and ask if you can do a custom with the frame. Maybe cheaper than a new bike? 

[rlti...@gmail.com]

I always assumed that a bike falling off of a rack on the highway would survive & just be scraped up. Looks like my assumption was wrong. Maybe due to the curved “top tube” on that frame?

I just sold my Thule rack with the rubber straps that secure the frame. Mine had three straps for each bike. Two held the top tube and one held the seat tube. I never had an issue with it and thought it would keep bikes out of the wind behind the vehicle.

Robert Tilley

San Diego, CA

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 13, 2021, at 2:00 PM, Benjamin Park <benjami...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi Leah, yes there was certainly a risk of Susie hurting someone physically. Thankfully this did not happen and in fact I don't think anyone even ran it over. Cars were definitely swerving though.

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[dougP]

Whoa!  That's some damage.  Glad no one following was involved. 

I used to have one of those racks where the bike's top tube sits in rubber trays & is retained by rubber straps with holes.  After a couple of straps broke, I started using a pair of Velcro straps on each mount plus tieing the seat tube or down tube to the vertical tube of the rack.  Even with that, it was not confidence inspiring on the highway.  Eventually I went for one of Thule's wheel tray mount hitch racks & am much more comfortable with that.

dougP

[Drw]

Heart breaking. Im trying to figure out if that would hurt more or less than having a rivendell stolen. Sorry for your loss. 

[brendonoid]

Just here to add my condolences and mourn the fact that there is one less Susie in the world in my size.

I like to run a strap around the bike up to a roof rack when possible so if all else fails and the rack falls off the tow hitch, the whole lot will swing and scrape along the back of the car without hitting the ground. I don't feel so paranoid after seeing this.

[Joe Bernard]

Depends on what it encounters as it's tumbling. The crack at the downtube/headtube junction and buckle in the toptube tells me the bars hit the ground or another object pur-ty dang hard. 

On Friday, August 13, 2021 at 4:48:06 PM UTC-7 Robert Tilley wrote:

[Matthew Williams]

Oh, looking at that photo is painful. Ouch! I'm very glad neither you nor anyone else was hurt.

I'll add a Susie for you to my watchlist--what size do you need?

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[Eric Daume]

My friend's mountain bike fell off his car (twice! in one trip), and survived with only minor scratches on a few components. Maybe aluminum is more real than steel.

Eric

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