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broken bike.jpgCyclist screamed “My brakes have gone” before crash that killed her, inquest told
A student who died when she crashed on her bike as she descended the Winnats Pass in Derbyshire’s Peak District screamed “my brakes have gone” just before hitting a drystone wall, an inquest has heard.
August Atkinson, aged 22 and studying veterinary science at the University of Bristol, had gone for a ride on her Genesis Equilibrium bike, a birthday present from her parents whom she was visiting that weekend.
They believe that the bike’s disc brakes were faulty, although the coroner presiding over the inquest into her death, which happened in April 2014, has said he does not believe there was a significant issue with them, reports The Sun.
Ms Atkinson had returned to her family home near Sheffield for the weekend and went out for a ride with her friend and housemate at university, Kieran Patel, with whom she was planning on riding from John O’Groats to Land’s End.
The pair became lost, meaning their planned 25-mile ride turned into a 40-mile one.
At the inquest at Chesterfield Coroners’ Court, Mr Patel said that Ms Atkinson had owned the bike for eight months but had “only been out on it a few times.”
He and Ms Atkinson’s father changed the inner tubes on her bike before they set off on the ride, and he told the inquest that there had been an issue with her front quick release lever, but they resolved it.
They rode up Winnats Pass, with Mr Patel saying, “The wind took it out of us we were tired.”
When they reached the summit, they took a wrong turn, meaning they had to climb the pass again.
“August complained her legs were cramping,” Mr Patel said. “I guess we had a little bit of apprehension about going down Winnats Pass, but nothing major.
“Going down I was cycling in front. I was constantly using my brakes on and off.
“August was behind me, coming down steadily, my speedometer said I was going at about 20mph.
“Then, August came past me on the right-hand side. She was getting faster; she must have been travelling at 30 to 40mph.
“She shouted ‘My brakes have gone’. She was freewheeling, she couldn’t stop.”
Ms Atkinson got through a sharp left-hand turn halfway down the descent, but witnesses said she was “wobbling” and “fishtailing” as she tried to slow down.
At the foot of the pass she swerved to avoid traffic and went over a grass verge before hitting the wall, sustaining fatal facial and chest injuries.
Police Contsable Ian Philips, who investigated the fatal crash, told the inquest: “Something affected her ability to bring the bike to a safe speed. We don’t know exactly what happened.”
Assistant Coroner Peter Nieto has said that he is considering a conclusion of accidental death, but Ms Atkinson’s parents believe the brakes were at fault.
Her mother, Elizabeth, said: “August was a sensible, level headed person, she was not a risk taker or someone who had lapses in concentration.
“She must have had control on the descent because she made it around a sharp bend and steered around cars.
“I know we are never, ever going to prove it, but it seems to me that something has let her down at that point.
“What I have found out since my daughter’s death is that there have been problems with the brakes on these bikes,” she added.
But Mr Nieto said that none of the evidence presented at the inquest suggested the brakes had been a factor in her death.
He said: “There were a number of factors which could have been involved in August’s tragic collision on Winnats Pass.”
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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65 comments
Such a tragedy...
I agree with others that there needs to be more awareness of brake maintenance in general. Rim brakes for me are still good on my Fb road bike and my MTB has Shimano Hydraulics. I feel the Hydraulic brakes are the way forward if we are progressing, rather than Mechanical - TRP Spyres tested on a road bike on the hoods were good, and very good in the drops, but in the hoods definitely didnt have as much bite as my flat bar road bike with rim brakes. That's probably due to the immediacy of flat bar brakes. A big supposed selling point of disc brakes is the reduced maintenance, perhaps with Hydraulics but I still dont buy it, for me rim brakes are easier to replace although need doing more often.. There are youtube videos by reputable organisations but a proper article here would be good too.
Agree on the need for regular articles on keeping all the various types of brakes maintained. Do bike shops remind people when they leave with a new bike to come back regularly to have them checked?
RIP sister.
Magazines & websites often have articles of the "x number of things to check before you ride", you know breaks, creaky headsets and the like. I'm sure many of us think they're common sense and of course we ALWAYS undertake these checks but invariably we skip them 'cos we're pushed for time and just want to ride. A simple check may not have changed this tragic outcome but it may have done. I for one now a have large note of the garage door reminding me to check my bike before I leave, doing the same may mean your loved ones never have to think how important you were to them
I had the front wheel Hayes CX Expert brake fail on my Trek CrossRip commuter bike when I tested it as usual after making a cable adjustment.
When I applied full force to the handlebar lever, there was a snapping noise and the brake actuation lever came all the way up without moving the pads. Pushing it back down again re-engaged the brake with an audible click, and the unit then appeared to work normally up to a certain lever pressure, failing again in exactly the same way when the force was increased beyond that.
I returned the bike to the store I'd bought it from, explained the situation, and left it with them. To be honest I was expecting to hear that my cable adjustment had somehow taken the lever beyond its designed range of motion (i.e. user error). Instead, the bike store replaced both front and back Hayes CX Expert calipers with Avid BB5 calipers without charging me anything and without further explanation.
Had I not tested my front brake with full force, I have no doubt that it would have failed in service, most likely at the time when it was most needed. If the rear had followed suit then I would most likely not be typing this comment now.
Given my experience, I find it utterly believable that Ms Atkinson was killed purely as a result of her brakes failing.
Inexperienced cyclist possibly uncomfortable with using the dropped handlebars, easy to imagine that on a steep descent, perhaps she let her speed build up on the less steep section to try and catch up with her friend, then frightened of the speed she had built up and scared of going over the handlebars panicked to the position where she failed to use the brakes with any effect. Very tragic, many of us were fortunate enough to have first experienced and learned from such fears in much more benign circumstances.
I think on the whole they are easier to maintain,Ive swapped a set of disc pads out in quicker time than it takes to unbolt one rim block, let alone fiddle with trying to put back in and aligning it. I think the issue and lots of the posts on this story have highlighted this, and especially with mechanical disc brake setups, is people just arent aware, because it isnt something the bike shops, or the bike manufacturers really emphasise and it isnt something we are used to with rim blocks, that you do need to be almost checking pad wear as frequently as tyre pressure to keep on top of it.
The pad only has to wear enough, to the point that piston no longer pushes it against the disc, and then you have no brakes, regardless of how much pad material is left, and that adjustment to keep the pads making contact against the disc is a continual moving target, thats the big difference.
Now I'm regularly riding two quite different bikes (1 light and rim-braked, the other a heavy disc-braked tourer) I've started doing this. Not least because one has crosstops and the other doesn't!
Stuff works loose all the time. For example, Shimano don't loctite the chainring threads on road chainsets and those can work loose really easily - only an 8mm thread. I check brakes and QRs before every ride - that way my brain hopefully knows which bike I'm on and I don't reach for the crosstops! Also check that wheels are no less true than last time and tyre pressures (thumb rather than gauge). That's a minimum before chucking my leg over it.
I do something very similar. Each time before I ride my bike, I very quickly check the headset for play, check the whole bar/stem/steerer isn't going to slip and I do a quick brake test as soon as I've left my drive.
I think it's something everyone should get into the habit of really.
Wonder what quick release issue was and how resolved if sticky and wd40 used to fix could explain front brake no working. Bike hadn't been used for a while so normal practice lube chain. Disc brakes deadly if got oil on them feel OK used gently but when needed let you down
Tub
Wonder what quick release issue was and how resolved if sticky and wd40 used to fix could explain front brake no working. Bike hadn't been used for a while so normal practice lube chain. Disc brakes deadly if got oil on them feel OK used gently but when needed let you down
Tub
Bet it was a combination of things. Tired hands maybe, especially if, being female, her hands were small. Poor spannerwork? A quick release was incorrectly set and fixed. Why was it wrong in the first place and how was it fixed? Poor technique and a really bad place to use such technique.?
Some disc calipers go "over cam" meaning you pull hard and they suddenly lose all braking. Back off and it comes back. Old Tektros did this and I think others.
I beg to differ with the cooment that most people can't set up disc brakes. No more complex than any other part and more straight forward than something like a headset. Same as oil n the car. Any numpty can do it. However I still reckon that some one cocked up and would as likely blame those who worked on her bike before the event as the assembling mechanic.
Doubt it will ever come out and doubt it matters really. She will still be dead.
Mattscm, Setting up any bike brake properly requires experience, or a willingness to be shown / study materials, written or online.
Disc brakes require specialist tools such as bleed kits, pad spacers, rotor truing tools, retaining compound, and the outer cables need to ideally be compressionless, with the ends properly-squared and fitted with decent ferrules in order to avoid excess lever throw due to outer system compression prior to braking force transmission through the inner to the caliper arm. Anything on your bike, but especially where large forces / critical safety-of-life systems are involved requires a torque wrench to do it properly. Into The Sea with anyone who says otherwise.
At the juncture of these three requirements - knowledge, tehcnique and tools - many people can't be arsed / have better things to do. This is why bikeshops exist.
The supposition 'any numpty can do it' also applies to hangliding, making sourdough loaves or knitting. I can't do any of these things and have absolutely no intention of trying anytime soon.
To say these things are so easy 'any numpty can do them' is to fly in the face of actual observable fact, and to make out that the person(s) who worked on the deceased's bike had a skill/awareness level below that of 'numpty'.
Bicycle brakes are way too simple really in order to fail simultaneously in a catastrophic degree on a practically new bicycle. Loose cables resulting in brake levers ending on the hoods or hand fatigue seems like a more likely cause.
In any case it is a shocking, tragic accident, I am wishing all the best to her beloved ones.
It's hard to be libelous towards a building especially when not naming it...
I did say "my guess would be"... accent on the word "guess"... that's all anyone is doing here is discussing their impressions and thoughts and ideas... there's no "finger pointing" or "libel"... what are you, a lawyer, or you have an interest in a bike retailer...? in any case behave yourself more civilly... telling everyone to shut up and wait for an official report rather defeats the purpose of having a discussion forum...
Those comments under The Sun article...what is wrong with those people?
Anyone who reads the sun is beyond saving I'm afraid.
Don't read it.
Don't read the comments even.
nbrus, I suppose we haven't much context on when she called out that her brakes had gone.
Watching simonmbs video adds some context to me though if we think they failed high up, she'd never have made it so far. I've only ever been up it but I'd suggest you can hit 40mph on the way down before it even gets steep and the bends, cattle grid, cars, car park, walls etc. come into it.
btw, on that video, it looks like the mountain biker carried on whilst knowing he didn't have stopping power. Surely you'd stick it on the grass and walk!
I agree, simonmbs video seems like a possible cause were it not for the info stated by others that her brakes were mechanical discs and not hydraulic, so there is no hydraulic fluid to overheat and boil. Mechanical failures usually leave behind evidence (e.g. snapped cable), unless it wasn't an actual failure, but just poor braking efficiency.
http://road.cc/content/review/108846-genesis-equilibrium-disc-road-bike
No fault was found with the brakes after the crash and the fact that she made it around one sharp turn on a steep descent, it would appear that her brakes were actually working, but they didn't have enough stopping power for the steep descent. As she had only ridden her bike a couple of times since new, then the disc pads/rotors may well not have bedded-in yet reducing their ability to stop. There are also other potential issues from pad/rotor alignment or contamination, but these are things we don't have supporting evidence for. Many of us tend to ignore our brakes until we notice a problem while riding, but this tragic accident has made me think a lot more about checking my brakes regularly.
Very sad.
Its easy to forget that descending can be terrifying even to experienced riders, Winnats pass is a severe gradient, and then to add fatigue and poor weather.
The first time I rode with modern road levers on rim brakes (having come from a hybrid with mech discs) I went down my local 25%er on the hoods. Utterly terrifying - big lad, small hands, weak wrists from too much keyboard use. Fitted crosstops before I went out on the bike again. The worst thing was that if you're out of control on the hoods its very difficult to switch into the drops to get more leverage so you're basically a passenger.
Still have the same bike as my "best" dry bike, now upgraded to 105 levers, brakes, and pads. It stops better in the dry, even from the hoods, than my heavy steel tourer.
I think an article on brake failure would be a good one to put together, also one on the various types of road discs. There's a perception that discs let you descend faster and brake later - yes, providing they're maintained and set up properly. Mine need constant fettling compared to my rim brakes - there's a lot to be said for the simplicity of those, if you're riding in the dry.
From personal experience I know there's a strong desire to stay on the bike if you're out of control but its probably better to crash earlier than crash when you're totally out of control.
A little context...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36TP0YB_a6s
Bit of a stupid move at 2'14" barging through that cattle grid, innit? Then charging through a carparking/pedestrian area. Hope that was shared as an example of how not to use a bicycle on a public road.
Also the getting angry about being held up by the motorists who were descending cautiously in front of him.
My experience with mechanical discs is that they work great until they stop working and there is very little warning that they are going to fail until they do. A 40 mile ride around the peaks involves a lot of drag braking for someone who doesn't ride a great deal as they are naturally more cautious. If the fixed pad wasn't wound out much at the start of the ride, it could easily have been worn away. This results in only one pad touching the rotor and all of a sudden, you've got no brakes. If the front goes, the rear only is no use at all on steep descents. I've experienced it myself, luckily with a flat, straight run off at the bottom. The bike companies really need to explain the basic maintenance of these types of brakes when they fit them to bikes, I'm surprised that there haven't been more problems.
As they said it was a brand new bike, my guess would be the shop that sold may not have set it up properly. A mechanic in this thread pointed out the possible result of mechanical disks being out of adjustment (although the manufacturers site for that model says Shimano hydraulics for the current model).
I bought a bike from Evans Cycles in London last year and had to return 3 times and demand that they set it up right, everything was out of adjustment including the brakes (cantilevers, pads not even hitting the rims). Someone who is not experienced in bike maintenance simply wouldn't have the knowledge to realize and wouldn't ask to have it done right, which the employees of chain stores take advantage of to push bikes out the door, because they don't have enough trained staff to take the time to fully set up all bikes sold. Have personal experience in that area in a large chain store having worked as a mechanic there a couple of years in the last century.
Total conjecture and pretty much a libelous statement, you don't know anything with all due respect, it appears that the coroner doesn't either.
To even suggest that the bike shop is to blame is utter bollocks, there are far more well explained reasons here as to why the event happened. making unfounded statements that point the finger is well out of order and can land you in a shit heap of trouble!
Entirely the wrong place to introduce this anecdote of yours.
So in your story you:
Personally, if I was in your position, I would have fixed the issue myself and sent pictures of the problems to head office to be resolved and compensated. I would do this because:
Having not gone down this logical route makes me question the authenticity of your story
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