SR Suntour RAIDON Owner's Manual page 39

The basics of metal fatigue
Common sense tells us that nothing that is used lasts forever. The more
you use it in, the shorter its life.
Fatigue is the term used to describe accumulated damage to a part caused
by repeated loading. To cause fatigue damage, the load the part receives
must be great enough. A crude, often-used example is bending a paper
bicycle in a garage does not fatigue. Fatigue happens only through use.
a crack forms in a highly stressed area. As the load is repeatedly applied,
and immediate failure of the part.
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What to look for:
SIMPLE RULE 1 :
GROW AND GROW FAST.
Think about the crack as forming a the part.
only become more dangerous.
CORROSSION SPEEDS DAMAGE. SIMPLE RULE 2 :
Clean your bike,
are in a corrosive environment. Think lubricate your bike,
about the corrosive solution as further protect your bike from
salt, remove any salt as
soon as you can.
SIMPLE RULE 3 :
CAN OCCUR NEAR A CRACK.
any staining to see if it is
that a crack exists.
SIMPLE RULE 4 :
GOUGES, DENTS OR SCORING
CREATE STARTING POINTS FOR or score any surface.
CRACKS.
Think about the cut surface as a focal attention to this area or
replace the part.
the scored line.
SIMPLE RULE 5 :
MAY MAKE CREAKING NOISE AS YOU
RIDE. the source of any
is causing the noise
promptly.
Fatigue Is Not A Perfectly Predictable Science
Fatigue is not a perfectly predictable science, but here are some general
Factors that shorten product life:
Factors that lengthen product life:
WARNING: Do not ride a bicycle or component with any crack,
bulge or dent, even a small one. Riding a cracked frame, fork or
compo nent could lead to complete failure, with risk of serious
injury or death.
B. Understanding Composites
All riders must understand a fundamental reality of composites. Composite
What Are Composites?
plastic, molded to form a shape. Carbon composites are light relative to
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