Bending Bike Broke: Frame break on a folding bicycle

The steel frame of my Dahon "Boardwalk 6", 6 speed 20" 2003 model folding
bicycle broke in half Tuesday. At the time I was riding it at a bicycle path road crossing in Canberra. Fortunately there was no on-coming traffic and my helmet and clothing protected me from serious injury.

Broken Bicycle Frame

The tubular steel frame broke approximately 40mm ahead of the hinge in the middle of the bicycle. There was some rust visible in the underside of the fracture, which suggests that the frame has started to fail some days or weeks before the break. It would be prudent for anyone with one of these bicycles to check for cracking in the underside of the frame at this point.

Back Half of Bicycle with Break

As I have previously praised this bicycle on-line (to the point where some people thought I was marketing them), I thought it appropriate to bring this problem to people's attention. I still have a 16" Dahon which I am confident in using. I have also send the details to the manufacturer and the sales outlet for the bicycle.

Front Half of Bicycle with Break

The Bicycle in happier days:

• Broadband by Bicycle, From O'Connor to Forrest By Bicycle for a workshop on Broadband and E-Culture in Canberra
  
• Bicycle Bag to Brisbane, A Two Wheeled Tour Through a Subtropical City, E-Publishing, Broadband and Digital Media
  
• Beijing By Bending Bicycle, On a Visit to China to Help with the Beijing 2008 Olympics Web Site
  
• Berlin By Bending Bicycle, Bycycle touring and some thoughts on ICT research and development collaboration with Europe