Forgot to tighten a crank bolt three rides ago and paid the price on a busy street

Last Saturday I was cruising down 12th Avenue in Portland, standing up to pedal through a light, when my left crank arm just slipped off the spindle. I nearly ate pavement right in front of a bus. Turned out I had swapped pedals three rides ago and never torqued the crank bolt back down. It was a 15 second fix with my 8mm hex, but I could have gotten seriously hurt. Now I keep a torque wrench in my bag and double check every bolt after any work. How do you keep track of all the small adjustments you make during a tune up?

3 comments

3 Comments

king.aaron7d ago

Oh boy, I feel this one deep in my bones. Now I have a little ritual where I give every bolt a quick wiggle check before I roll out, and my wife makes fun of me for looking like I'm petting my bike. But hey, I'd rather look silly in the driveway than faceplant in traffic again.

verawhite16d ago

15 second fix with my 8mm hex" - do you check it before every ride now?

viola_ward16d ago

Oh man, my buddy Dave had the exact same thing happen! He was on a group ride and his crank arm literally fell off going up a hill, nearly took out the guy behind him. Now he does the hex check before every single ride without fail, even on his grocery getter.