😠 I recently had a slight mishap while riding my bike. I almost had a collision with an absent-minded driver.... I was in the far right lane preparing to go straight and a driver cut in front of me trying to make a quick right and needless to say, I had to curb my bike. The aluminum frame seems to be fine as well as the major components (derailleurs, cranks, wheels, brakes). Those parts look untouched. What pisses me off is that I don't know what might be wrong with it. The chain derailled and I had to reset that, but the crash caused a heck of a lot of scuffing on the brake housings, my handlebar tape is all cut up and thrashed (although still intact) and my Speedplays got some serious scrapes (although those seem to work fine). Am I getting too petty with appearances at this point? I have never had any accidents of this nature and was just wondering if anybody out there has any words of wisdom or comfort for me, as my once-perfect, un-blemished bike, is now cosmetically scarred...... Should I just move on and get over it??
😠 I recently had a slight mishap while riding my bike. I almost had a collision with an absent-minded driver.... I was in the far right lane preparing to go straight and a driver cut in front of me trying to make a quick right and needless to say, I had to curb my bike. The aluminum frame seems to be fine as well as the major components (derailleurs, cranks, wheels, brakes). Those parts look untouched. What pisses me off is that I don't know what might be wrong with it. The chain derailled and I had to reset that, but the crash caused a heck of a lot of scuffing on the brake housings, my handlebar tape is all cut up and thrashed (although still intact) and my Speedplays got some serious scrapes (although those seem to work fine). Am I getting too petty with appearances at this point? I have never had any accidents of this nature and was just wondering if anybody out there has any words of wisdom or comfort for me, as my once-perfect, un-blemished bike, is now cosmetically scarred...... Should I just move on and get over it??
Thanks for the feedback
Bikes that get ridden get dinged and scratched. Be lucky you didn't end up with some serious damage or disability and move on. I have more scars than my bikes tho...
I don't blame ya. It's kinda like your bike is suddenly impure now. I get the same feeling with new cars. Sounds like a good excuse to get new parts or a new bike.
I don't blame ya. It's kinda like your bike is suddenly impure now. I get the same feeling with new cars. Sounds like a good excuse to get new parts or a new bike.
😠 I recently had a slight mishap while riding my bike. I almost had a collision with an absent-minded driver.... I was in the far right lane preparing to go straight and a driver cut in front of me trying to make a quick right and needless to say, I had to curb my bike. The aluminum frame seems to be fine as well as the major components (derailleurs, cranks, wheels, brakes). Those parts look untouched. What pisses me off is that I don't know what might be wrong with it. The chain derailled and I had to reset that, but the crash caused a heck of a lot of scuffing on the brake housings, my handlebar tape is all cut up and thrashed (although still intact) and my Speedplays got some serious scrapes (although those seem to work fine). Am I getting too petty with appearances at this point? I have never had any accidents of this nature and was just wondering if anybody out there has any words of wisdom or comfort for me, as my once-perfect, un-blemished bike, is now cosmetically scarred...... Should I just move on and get over it??
Thanks for the feedback
There are worse things that can happen, just move on and be thankful you weren't run over...
Not sure what it's like in the US but I would try to catch the number plate of the car (difficult to do when you're busy picking yourself off the pavement, I know) and report it to the police. I'm the kind of person who normaly gets quite angry about things like that so an official way of getting it off yopur chest is often the productive way (of course you could just follow them home and egg their car later!). The more times a driver gets reported for that sort of thing the less patience the law will have with them (hopefully). Thanfully we don't have too many [censored] drivers like that in Australia but there are still people who behave like morons on the road and they should never be tolerated. Enquire of them if they can read, and, if so, then tell them to go home and learn to drive.
😠 I recently had a slight mishap while riding my bike. I almost had a collision with an absent-minded driver.... I was in the far right lane preparing to go straight and a driver cut in front of me trying to make a quick right and needless to say, I had to curb my bike.
Next time you are faced with the decision of crashing into a curb or the [censored], plow into the [censored]’s car and let his insurance buy you a new bike.
I don’t really mean that because you could get hurt doing it but I would love to do that someday to the next [censored] that does it to me.
P.S. Its a sore subject with me because I have had like a half dozen near misses in exactly the same situation. Sorry it happened to you.
Same exact crash circumstances happened to me at the end of this season with pretty much the same results. Took off into a ditch and then tried to coast through it and up out of it. Hit a rut on the way out which floored me and the bike. Makes me think every once and a while that had I been able to see the rut and bunny hop it, or had I been pedalling, I may not even have crashed. I was mad as hell though for a few minutes. 😄 Driver didnt even stop. 😠 I got shifter/brake scrapes and the left pedal got dinged a little. 🙄 Your dings and scrapes sound a bit worse though.
You should be mad, but you should also count yourself lucky. Could have been a lot worse. A bike that is ridden for many miles is going to get wear. Keep on riding and dont worry about it, although a little TLC from your favorite LBS would be advised just to make sure everything is in working order.
Next time you are faced with the decision of crashing into a curb or the [censored], plow into the [censored]’s car and let his insurance buy you a new bike.
The same thing happened to me this summer in Spain, where a driver passed me, made the right, but someone was blocking the right turnoff so he couldn't proceed at normal speed. I ran into his backend and perhaps left a peasized dimple there. I got back on and left, thinking I did him a favor.
He turned a few streets and stopped me, asking me what I was going to do about his car now that it was "damaged". It really seemed like a much more US thing, seeing that people in Europe routinely ram each other when parallel parking. I was surprised as hell he had the nerve to come after me and say this.
I had someone do the same thing once, although he changed from the left of the two lanes, and tried to make a right turn in front of me into a parking lot. Luckily, I was able to stop as I contacted his car, but for some strange reason, my fist kept moving at very high speed, right through his windshield :eek: :eek: 😄 😄 . Not quite sure how that happened 😉 . Cost me about $75 when I finally had to go to court, and about an hour off work. Worth it in the end though....talk about getting things off your chest!
This might just be me but although I don't like the aspect of hurting myself or my bike when I fall, I do like knowing that my bike has withstood these attacks and it kinda makes me feel like my bike is a work-horse that wont give out. I guess some people might be angry at a bike for it giving you an ER visit but I couldn't wait to get back on it. I dunno I'm really weird though. But I say just look at it as something you and your bike have gone through.
I guess some people might be angry at a bike for it giving you an ER visit but I couldn't wait to get back on it. I dunno I'm really weird though. But I say just look at it as something you and your bike have gone through.
I just keep in mind that it wasn't the bike that sent me to the ER. It was the pavement. 🙂
The chain derailled and I had to reset that, but the crash caused a heck of a lot of scuffing on the brake housings, my handlebar tape is all cut up and thrashed (although still intact) and my Speedplays got some serious scrapes (although those seem to work fine).
Chain derailed and reset = not a problem Scuffing on the brake housing = not a problem Handlebar tape cut up = not a problem Scrapes on Speedplays = not a problem
