{"id":2748,"date":"2016-11-08T19:20:22","date_gmt":"2016-11-08T10:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2016-11-08\/2748"},"modified":"2016-11-08T19:20:22","modified_gmt":"2016-11-08T10:20:22","slug":"update-on-my-bike-mount-failure-k-edge-comes-through","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2016-11-08\/2748","title":{"rendered":"Update on my Bike-Mount Failure: K-EDGE Comes Through"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>800 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 6400 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nGiving It Another Try<\/span>\nK-EDGE has restored my trust in its mount\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Two weeks ago in “<\/span>Pleasant Social Ride to Onyu Pass<\/a>”<\/span>\nI reported<\/span> about how the K-EDGE bicycle mount for my cycling computer and front video camera had failed on a bumpy<\/span> downhill. I had been<\/span> using a K-EDGE Garmin Mount XL to hold a Garmin<\/span> Edge 820 and a Cycliq<\/span> Fly12.<\/p>\n\n

The summary of this followup is that I am<\/span> now using another copy of the same mount, and that I think<\/span> it can be trusted if\nyou don't touch the two screws joining the halves of the mount together<\/i>. Details follow.<\/p>\n\n

In the post two weeks ago, I included<\/span> this photo showing the bike-side half of the mount with part of a\nsheared<\/span>-off bolt sticking out:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Venus 60mm Super Macro f\/2.8 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 6400 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nFate of the Earlier Mount<\/span>\none bolt gone, the other ripped in half\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

Modern mounts from K-EDGE see to come in halves joined by two screws:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>320 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 6400 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nJunction Between the Halves<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Venus 60mm Super Macro f\/2.8 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 3600 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nAccessory Side of the Mount<\/span>\nwith holes for two screws\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I suppose this two-part design makes it easier to offer a wide<\/span> variety of bike-mount solutions, since\nthey don't have to design and manufacture every permutation of “<\/span>attaches this way”<\/span> and “<\/span>supports these accessories”<\/span>. Having\nmutually-interchangeable halves lets them mix and match on the fly.<\/p>\n\n

To recap about the failure I experienced<\/span> two weeks ago, while riding down a very<\/span> fast, bumpy descent,\nthe whole thing appeared to snap in half at a particularly<\/span> nasty bump. Inspecting it later showed that\none of the pair of bolts had snapped, and that the other was missing. My guess<\/span> is that one bolt had\nworked loose at some point, leaving all the stresses to the other bolt, now compounded by the extra leverage the lack of the\nsecond bolt created.<\/p>\n\n

A few things lend credence to my theory. One is that<\/span> some weeks\/months back, during a less<\/span>-bumpy ride, I had noticed<\/span> that one of the bolts had worked loose. I was happy<\/span> to catch it before it got lost, and tightened it up. So, a bolt<\/span> working\nloose is not without precedent.<\/p>\n\n

Second is that the video of the descent prior to failure was ridiculously shaky... the extra “<\/span>give”<\/span> from the lost bolt showing up in the result.<\/p>\n\n

What still perplexes me, though, is that after noticing the loose screw the first time, I used<\/span> Loctite 222<\/a> to secure them both. I think<\/span> that there\nare more different Loctite products than atoms in the universe, but this seemed to be an appropriate one for this situation. Yet,\nthe screw was nowhere to be found. (Had the first screw also broken in half, part of it would have remained in the mount just as\npart of the second screw remained in the mount.)<\/p>\n\n\n

K-EDGE mounts are well respected, and the one\nI had<\/span><\/a> is highly rated at Amazon by what seem to be real reviews. The bolts<\/span>\naside, it seems rock solid, so I sent<\/span> them a note<\/span> asking whether they had\na unibody<\/span> version of the mount.<\/p>\n\n

I didn't expect much. A different company (TiGRA), for example, didn't even response when I reached<\/span>\nout to them after their mount disintegrated<\/a>, sending my iPhone 6+\nsmashing into the pavement.<\/p>\n\n

But K-EDGE responded right away. They noted that they tend to see this kind of separation after a\ncrash.<\/span> I suppose<\/span> that in the case of a crash,<\/span> such a\nseparation<\/span> is a feature<\/span>: the mount separates upon impact, lowering the stress on your\nmuch-more-pricey bike and accessories (or, more importantly, giving way to your body being flung about instead of impaling a cycling<\/span> computer in your gut).<\/p>\n\n

In my note to them I didn't ask for anything but information, but in their first response they asked me to fill out a warranty<\/span>\/return form, and asked for more details about the failure. I sent them<\/span>\na bunch<\/span> of photos and the video that my Fly12 was taking at the time of the failure.<\/p>\n\n

Their second response, which came equally quickly, is a model<\/span> for excellent customer relations. They had never seen a failure<\/span>\nlike this, which one supposes would make them skeptical of the story they were hearing, but if they harbored any suspicion, they\nkept it to themselves. First they addressed the current situation: they said they were expressing me two copies of the mount (at\ntheir expense, to my address in Japan, even though I had<\/span> bought the mount in America), which I could<\/span> do with what I wanted.<\/span> They\nnoted that if I didn't<\/span> trust the mount, I could<\/span> sell them to fund whatever mount solution I might<\/span> decide to go with. That last bit\nabout selling them showed me that they weren't just going through the “<\/span>give him something to shut him up”<\/span> motions. They truly\ncared. Seth Godin<\/a> would be proud. I was impressed<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

Then on to why the mount failed in the first place. They said that thought that perhaps\n“<\/span>the bolts were over torqued causing them the break under extreme stress<\/i>”<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

This mention of “<\/span>over torqued”<\/span>\nobviously means \"we think you must be inhumanly strong... Superman must cower in your presences, and women must swoon at your devastating good looks<\/i>\". It's a plainly<\/span>-superficial attempt to flatter, and, I must say<\/span>, remarkably effective. \ud83d\ude00<\/p>\n\n

Seriously, though, I highly doubted that I had<\/span> over-torqued them, but a couple<\/span> of messages later they informed me that the\ntorque specification for these screws is 0.88 Newtons. That seems ridiculously<\/i> low to me... about finger tight? If that's\nthe case, then yes, I certainly<\/span> did over-tighten them.<\/p>\n\n

There is no mention of this on their web site, the product packaging, or the product itself. That's a big<\/span> problem.\nThey said they're in the process of updating things to make this information available, but at the moment the only place\none can find this information seems to be this blog post. I hope it<\/span> helps someone.<\/p>\n\n

At this point I don't fully understand why there was a failure,<\/span> and especially how a bolt<\/span> could have come loose and gotten\nlost when I had<\/span> secured it with Loctite. Maybe the Loctite product I used<\/span> wasn't appropriate, or maybe I just<\/span> didn't apply\nit properly. Or maybe<\/span> it has a shelf<\/span> life that I exceeded.<\/span> (I've had it lying around for ages.)<\/p>\n\n

In any case, I'm willing to give the mount another try so long as I don't<\/span> mess with the two little\nscrews, leaving them just as they arrived. However, still being a bit<\/span> leery of the screws, I marked<\/span> them with nail polish so that I can<\/span> see at a\nglance<\/span> if they make any movement:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Venus 60mm Super Macro f\/2.8 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>30 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 360 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nMarked<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

For the first few rides I also wrapped them with tape, to physically restrict their ability to just fall out....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Venus 60mm Super Macro f\/2.8 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>30 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 450 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nSwaddled Like a Newborn<\/span><\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

I rode hundreds of kilometers and there was no apparent movement in the screws, so I got<\/span> rid of the tape.<\/p>\n\n

The bike-side part is attached to the bike with a screw,<\/span> and for this<\/i> screw the unit itself is\nmarked “<\/span>Max 2Nm”<\/span>, so I took<\/span> care to respect\nthat:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Venus 60mm Super Macro f\/2.8 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>30 sec, f<\/span>\/4, ISO 560 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nA Bit<\/span> Shy Of 2 Newton-meters<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 6400 —\nimage data<\/a><\/span>\nReady To Ride<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n

And of course I'll still certainly use the cord that came with the Fly12 to tether the whole thing to the bike; it saved\neverything the first time.<\/p>\n\n

So there we have it. K-EDGE seems like a great<\/span> company with a great<\/span> product\nthat has not-so-great instructions that most folks won't notice (because most folks, I'd guess, won't fiddle with the screws to\nbegin with). But it seems<\/span> the tightness really matters, so the information should be out there; that it's not reflects back on the\ncompany reducing its “<\/span>great”<\/span> rating. Hopefully they can get their\nsite\/packaging updated and remove all qualifications for “<\/span>great”<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago in \"Pleasant Social Ride to Onyu Pass\" I reported about how the K-EDGE bicycle mount for my cycling computer and front video camera had failed on a bumpy downhill. I had been using a K-EDGE Garmin Mount XL to hold a Garmin Edge 820 and a Cycliq Fly12.<\/p>

The summary of this followup is that I am now using another copy of the same mount, and that I think it can be trusted if you don't touch the two screws joining the halves of the mount together. Details follow.<\/p>

In the post two weeks ago, I [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2748"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2748\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2748"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2748"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2748"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}