My First Spill



Uawadall

Well-Known Member
Jun 14, 2015
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I don't know what it was, but my instincts were telling me to stay home this morning..I was 16 miles into my ride and I still am not 100% certain why, but I skid badly on the road. I think I may have hit a rough patch of road and some gravel, but that happens often enough without my bike skidding like that. Sometimes I ride aggressive, standing, leaning significantly forward and swaying the handle bars, but this wasn't one of them. I was riding upright and at a moderate pace. I read a post a few days ago where people were going back and forth about wether you have time to think about landing on your shoulder to protect your hand, but....you really don't. Luckily I did land on my shoulder, but it was just instinctual and not planned at all.

Luckily I didn't sustain any real injuries, i'm just a little sore and scrapped up my knee, elbow, stomach and bruised my thigh a little. Even my gear was mostly undamaged, I will need my bike serviced due to my seat post rotating 45 degrees(put it back into place, but don't trust it) and my handle bar that got bent(ditto the seat post). I couldn't ride it home because the gears weren't working correctly either. A driver saw it and she was the traumatized one :D . She offered me a ride and kept on saying "that was scary, wasn't that scary, that was scary"l....lol

A few questions:

-Of course I need new handlebars, they were bent at least 2 inches and will now have a weak point, Is that something that is easily replaced by yourself?

-The seat was turned 45 degrees,but looks fine, Is a replacement 100% necessary for that as well?

-The frame and forks looked good on inspection, is it advisable to have a pro evaluate them?
 
I can't answer your questions except to say, have a qualified bike mechanic look over the bike and replace whatever is damaged.

Given my inexperience, I just do whatever the mechanic tells me to do. After all, I ride my bike, and I don't want an injury happening to me due to a damaged part.

The real success story here is that you escaped serious injury. You could be in agony as a result of the accident but a Higher Presence smiled upon you.

Bob
 
Aluminum handlebars? Do not try to bend them back, they will be seriously weakened. Bars are cheap so it is best to replace them.

Your rear derailleur cage and or hanger was probably bent. They can be bent back to make them function well enough.

The seatpost rotated in the seattube? Not a problem, just readjust and make sure that the collar is at the proper tension.

How are your tires? A seriously underinflated tire can result in skidding and bad handling problems.
 
1. I would not mess with the handlebars without a torque wrench. Even then actually.
Why not have it installed at the shop? They will probably place it for free if you buy it from them.

2. So was the seat post just rotated? Check it for cracks and peels and just re-Fasten at the correct torque.

3. What kind of frame is it? A good time to check the frame is when you wash the bike. The shop can probably check it too.
 
maydog said:
Aluminum handlebars? Do not try to bend them back, they will be seriously weakened. Bars are cheap so it is best to replace them.

Your rear derailleur cage and or hanger was probably bent. They can be bent back to make them function well enough.

The seatpost rotated in the seattube? Not a problem, just readjust and make sure that the collar is at the proper tension.

How are your tires? A seriously underinflated tire can result in skidding and bad handling problems.
My tires were fully inflated, 105 psi or so.Thinking back to earlier in my ride, I was riding briefly on a full gravel road and my wheel started skidding. I didn't think much of it until now, but that was also strange(thought it was just due to the road). I'm starting to think it was possibly a wheel alignment problem. Yeah, the seat post just rotated and looks otherwise fine. I also agree that the rear derailleur is probably causing the gears to not be functioning right. That was the side that I fell on.



Volnix said:
1. I would not mess with the handlebars without a torque wrench. Even then actually.
Why not have it installed at the shop? They will probably place it for free if you buy it from them.

2. So was the seat post just rotated? Check it for cracks and peels and just re-Fasten at the correct torque.

3. What kind of frame is it? A good time to check the frame is when you wash the bike. The shop can probably check it too.

I bent it back thinking I could at least make it home the 6 miles. Maybe I should be glad the gears weren't working, no sense in riding a damaged bike. Your right, I should just by it in a shop and have them install it. I'll also have them check the bike and get a tune up. Its a Cannondale Synapse alloy frame.
 
Maybe you can also ask them to check the tension in all the bolts, they might look ok but they might be loose. Maybe ask them to fasten everything with weldtite.

Aluminium frames are usually quite thick walled and might survive a small crash. Maybe check the weaker parts like the seat stays more.
 
I think the frame is fine and the gears are running better after loosening the brake levers a bit, but I noticed the front wheel isn't true. It kind of goes side to side and im not sure if that happened before or after the accident. I didn't want to spend any more money on the bike this late in the year, but maybe this is the time to do some upgrades I planned on doing.
 
This thread reminds me of a boy of about 16 that used to ride with the group up the Antipolo town via the mild zigzag ascent. I was not there when it happened but got to know the story from those I know in the group. They were about 30 riders and the boy was in the last pack. During the descent, no one noticed that the boy was having difficulty with his brakes until they saw the bike (with the boy, of course) skidding and down the shoulder which was about 5 feet below the concrete road. It's not a ravine though and the boy suffered minor injuries only - that was his first spill.
 
Replacing the handlebars is actually pretty easy. I'd say the hardest part is wrapping the bar tape on after you're done. If you have ever done this, it would be very easy to do the bar replacement yourself.

Squeeze the brake levers as if applying the brakes. Look straight in with a light, loosen that bolt with an allen wrench.

If you can do that, remove the bar tape. The loosened brake levers slide right off the ends of the bar. When you put the new bars back on, just slide then right back on and position them the way you want them, then tighten the bolts.

To remove the bars, take off the face plate at the front of the stem. 4 bolts. Pretty simple.

Now wrap the bars with new tape.

Lots of do it yourself instructions on sheldon brown dot com ...also park tool dot com. Watch a few youtube videos, very easy.
 
Uawadall said:
I didn't want to spend any more money on the bike this late in the year, but maybe this is the time to do some upgrades I planned on doing.
You can probably get a better price doing repairs off season. Mr. Beanz makes a good point that handlebars are easy to change -- the first time is the hardest. But since your wheels are not quite right, maybe a visit to the shop is the best alternative. The mechanic will surely devote more time to you because he or she doesn't have the pressure of all those other bikes to fix and customers impatiently waiting for theirs. Plus you never know when a good off-season day comes around and you want to ride.

Bob
 
# Bob

A torque wrench is about 100€...

Also one of my nastiest accidents was due to a loose handlebar.
 
"A torque wrench is about 100€..."

A Snap-On 'CDI' brand pre-set torque wrench can be purchased for around $25-$30 here. There are also several brands (Pedro's new TorqBar comes to mind) of less expensive options available.

A Park Tools torque wrench is about $90-$95 on Amazon.

Any option for a torque wrench for those lacking a bonafide feel for fasteners is less expensive and less aggravating than crash injuries, replacement parts and repairs.
 
I have looked at some of the "how to" youtube videos and have found some great deals online for cheap parts. In saying this, I still brought it to a bike shop and am having them install a new handlebar, chain and giving the bike a tuneup. I currently don't have all the tools and experience to trust that i'll catch everything thats wrong with it. I also think supporting local bike shops with a purchase here and there goes a long way. Sure the prices are much more expensive than doing it yourself and buying online, but its good to support LBS's once in a while. I'll start stocking up on tools little by little so I can perform my own bike check next time.
 
CAMPYBOB said:
Any option for a torque wrench for those lacking a bonafide feel for fasteners is less expensive and less aggravating than crash injuries, replacement parts and repairs.
Hmm, havent searched much for them.

oh I have a feel, but its still not the correct torque. :D
 
$160 for a new chain, handlebars and tuneup -_- ..I'll learn to due my own maintenance on my bike soon, but don't mind spending a little money at shops. Who else is going to plan these bike tours, grow the cycling community, and let me test ride bikes?
 
Volnix said:
What did you get for handlebars? :)
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/ftb/road-components/handlebars/expert-alloy-shallow-bend-handlebar

They look to be more or less these ones. I told the guys to get bars that are most like the cannondale C4 handlebars that were on my bike. I ride an alloy Synapse, its more of a comfortable stance as opposed to an aggressive one. I thought about getting different types of bars, but I've been comfortable with my old setup.

I road for the first time since the fall today and am happy to say, it didn't have much of a mental impact on me. Went to ride with my bike club and none of my usual group showed up <_< . Those guys are a lot of fun torrid it, but were cold weather wussies today,lol...I road with the group thats one level up and will join up with them next year. They seem to be a speed that I can be challenged by, but not so fast that I will fall behind. It was a windy one, mother nature was flailing around my bike like crazy...The new chain and tuneup really helped.
 
Just let someone inspect it for you. Good to know you suffered no serious injuries though.
 
The mental effect of the fall is often harder to get over than the bike damage and the injury you get.

A lot of people will try and avoid getting into situations like that again but I found that the best way of getting over it is to ride normally.

Treat the fall as a one off, and if it happens again, so what, everybody is unlucky every now and again.
 

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