Coming Unhinged

First one and then the other.

A couple weeks ago the front hinge on the lid of my Team failed just about the only way a hinge can – catastrophically. Well, mostly I just wanted to say “catastrophic failure” because it sounds more epic that way.

Anyway, I was opening the lid to get out of the velo and the front end just slid off and landed on the ground. It really was a cringe-inducing sight and I think I shrieked (on the inside). It was like seeing someone with a broken bone when your gut just says “that is not supposed to bend that way”. I was really worried about the torquing that happened to the rear hinge as the lid twisted down to the ground. In turned out a couple different things had happened, the hinge pin had vibrated out and the hinge plate that is sandwiched in the fiberglass of the lid had come loose, probably after the fall. Well, I flanged the pin with a center punch to get it to stay put and epoxied the hinge plate back into the lid after consulting with Ray at bluevelo (still amazing on the support). Things were good as new.

Then yesterday when I was opening the lid it let out a blood-curdling “crack”. Looking closer I saw that the reinforced area around the hinge had started to crack away from the main shell of the lid on the outside where the fiberglass is thinner. It still looked like I could nurse it through until the weekend if I was careful. But climbing out this morning at my office I saw that the hinge plate had actually come loose as well, just like the front hinge had. I grumbled and tried to get out gingerly (not always an easy feat in a velomobile), but I jostled things just enough to knock the lid off the rear hinge. In a stomach-turning, fingernail-bent-backwards moment of déjà vu, I watched the lid thud down to the ground, twisting on the front hinge in a way that is just so wrong.

There may have possibly been some underlying damage from when I rolled the velomobile a while back, but I’m not sure. I think that the fiberglass around the rear hinge probably got damaged during the fall from the front hinge. Now I’m just hoping that I didn’t do similar damage to the front area that will cause further failure. So far it looks as though the epoxy job is holding up.

On my way home the lid actually bounced back off the hinge plate when I hit a bump, so it’s definitely not staying on the road right now. I think I should be able to get it patched up tonight though.

The lid has actually always concerned me a little because it can be pretty flexy and I worried about it putting strain on the hinges. After seeing a number of velos at the LCVMG with gas springs on their lids, I’m thinking this might not be a bad idea to help stabilize the lid a little more.