I was out for a ride earlier today and had a bit of a mishap. I somehow managed to overshift my rear derailleur into the wheel. Didn't spot any obvious damage so I just untangled it and got back on the road. But the derailleur must have got a bit bent or damaged in some way I didn't notice because a little bit further down the road it snagged on a spoke and jammed the wheel - fortunately I was going quite slow uphill at the time. When I had a closer look, I saw that not only was the derailleur completely bent out of shape to the point where it was almost doubled back on the hub, the dropout had bent almost to snapping point too. Fortunately, I managed to bend the derailleur and the dropout roughly back into their proper position. The wheel was buckled a bit, but not too badly, so I managed to ride it home - lucky because if I hadn't been able to it would have meant a ten mile walk - but I'm worried that the damage to the dropout could be terminal.
The only upside of this would be that I would have an excuse to buy a new bike...
The only upside of this would be that I would have an excuse to buy a new bike...