2000M Cracking: Deceptive Construction?

[fountainpenkid]

A week ago, during my second night back at college, after a great first orchestra rehearsal, I crashed my bike at 15mph, with only a pinkie skinned down to the bone and a deeply bruised hip to show for it. Sorta. Only an hour after the fact did I remember I still had my new beater pen, a Lamy 2000M with a *wonderful* OB nib, in my pocket during the fall. The obvious damage was to the clip: the tip of it is now deeply scoured...I suspect this saved my thigh a good bit of road rash. I thought that was the extent of it. But yesterday when I went to fill it, to my dismay the piston unit cracked in my hand. I will fix the broken plastic with the proper solvent. Now, it definitely saw a good amount of force during the crash, but, as anyone who's handled one knows, the thing feels indestructible. I feel short-changed, as for me, the pen just begs to be taken everywhere, to see no babying, but it seems the plastic they use is just not up to the task. Of course, it is not advertised as I describe it, but it gives every impression of it--aside from during the filling process. Am I expecting too much? Has anyone had this pen--or any one like it--break on them?

Thanks!

[Dr.Danger]

Yes, I do believe that you are expecting too much.

[carlos.q]

No doubt the Lamy 2000 is built like a tank. But even tanks are destroyed if hit hard enough.

[Woody]

Remember it's only a pen. I'd be more concerned with that bruise and finger. This is a $150 pen compared to the incalculable put on your body. I've taken a tumble like that. I'm glad your able to type and write.

[fountainpenkid]

Remember it's only a pen. I'd be more concerned with that bruise and finger. This is a $150 pen compared to the incalculable put on your body. I've taken a tumble like that. I'm glad your able to type and write.

I know. And believe me, during my recovery, the last thing on my mind was the pen. It's only now, after I'm healed and the pen has failed, that I'm considering these things.
I've given it a little more thought, and I actually still retain my original position: if a product is made to feel a certain way, it should actually fulfill the expectations of the impression it gives.

[inklord]

This might have been a case of just the right force (strength and direction) acting at just the right spot on the pen - so I'd not be too hard on the L2kM.
Believe it or not, a regular L2k might have fared better: The extremely rigid steel exterior of the Lamy 2000M will transfer any forces directly to the much softer inner parts wherever it's "articulated" i.e. at the transition from piston turning knob to body and at the transition from grip section to main body (though here it's protected by the cap), and the piston guide unit is rather vulnerable to lateral forces. The Makrolon with its greater "give" might have translated some of the forces acting upon it into elastic ("give" and bounce back) or plastic (in other words gouging) deformation and saved the guts of your pen. One of my L2k's has survived serious drops onto concrete, been stepped on accidentally with no ill effect etc. ... I'd have it repaired at Lamy.
Best wishes for your healing and the repair of your pen!

[Alexandero]

I suppose expecting a lamy 2000 to be so durable is a bit unreasonable. Cheap disposable "rugged" pens also get cracked and mutiltaed in similar accidents so the lamy 2000 is actually quite respectable in the case that it "only" suffered the damage that it has considering it has much more moving parts and delicate areas compared to a ballpoint or rollerball.

[gbryal]

Of course, it is not advertised as I describe it, but it gives every impression of it--aside from during the filling process. Am I expecting too much? Has anyone had this pen--or any one like it--break on them?

I don't understand: you think the Lamy ought to survive a bike crash because it looks like it could?

[fountainpenkid]

Of course, it is not advertised as I describe it, but it gives every impression of it--aside from during the filling process. Am I expecting too much? Has anyone had this pen--or any one like it--break on them?

I don't understand: you think the Lamy ought to survive a bike crash because it looks like it could?

Not looks, but feels. Its 50+ grams yet, as inklord points out, the normal plastic joints (I'm still waiting to hear back from Lamy about the specific type) make the pen weaker under certain conditions than one might expect.

Is this a huge deal, along the lines of TWSBI's continued cracking problems? No--and maybe it's not even enough of a deal to deserve a topic about it. But personally I think the engineering should have better accounted for the outer material's perceived and real strength.

[carlos.q]

Not looks, but feels. Its 50+ grams yet, as inklord points out, the normal plastic joints (I'm still waiting to hear back from Lamy about the specific type) make the pen weaker under certain conditions than one might expect.

I believe the 50+ gram Lamy 2k is the steel model. The Makrolon model is about half that weight.

[jar]

LOL

Too funny.

Ever see a really heavy car after a wreck?

Normal use does not include crashing a bike.

[fountainpenkid]

LOL

Too funny.

Ever see a really heavy car after a wreck?

Normal use does not include crashing a bike.

You're right about normal use, of course. But the piston knob likely didn't take any more lateral torque during the fall than it would have if I had slipped while walking on the asphalt. The joint there felt a bit too flimsy even before the fall.

[jar]

LOL

Too funny.

Ever see a really heavy car after a wreck?

Normal use does not include crashing a bike.

You're right about normal use, of course. But the piston knob likely didn't take any more lateral torque during the fall than it would have if I had slipped while walking on the asphalt. The joint there felt a bit too flimsy even before the fall.

Slips and falls are not considered normal use.

[fountainpenkid]

LOL

Too funny.

Ever see a really heavy car after a wreck?

Normal use does not include crashing a bike.

You're right about normal use, of course. But the piston knob likely didn't take any more lateral torque during the fall than it would have if I had slipped while walking on the asphalt. The joint there felt a bit too flimsy even before the fall.

Slips and falls are not considered normal use.

And I said as much... I compared my accident to a slip/fall not to compare it to 'normal use' but in an attempt to show the limited extent of abuse.
I'm not too inclined to argue my point any further, as it seems it's more of a personal opinion than anything else, but I maintain my feeling that a product that feels more solid than it really is is (i.e, that I would expect it to survive under these abnormal conditions) is a flawed product. I actually don't think my expectation that the pen would survive intact is that unreasonable: I've heard plenty of stories of pen survival under more testing conditions--my father's Parker 75, for instance, was once run over by a car on the street (fell out of his pocket as he was walking), and survived functionally unharmed. Is it then crazy to expect that the 2000M, a pen more with more (and stronger) metal than the 75 should survive at most a few hundred pounds of force from a bike crash?